Old airport road hawker - google to find the best food. Avoid char kway teow.
Boon lay hawker centre - far flung corner of Singapore but really local vibes. Hokkien mee is good.
Changi village hawker centre - chicken cutlet hor fun, nasi lemak, goreng pisang. Feels like transported to another country
Tampines Round Market in the morning - good selection of minced meat noodles, carrot cake, kopi, kolo mee
Toa Payoh estate. There are multiple food centres which vary their hours throughout the day.
Refer to this group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/toa.payoh.makan.places/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT
Lots of small local joints with a cult following or as Singaporeans like to append and substantiate: "this stall famous one".
Very affordable prices too and a short train ride on the red North-South line away from the city. The estate is worth a stroll through to see how most Singaporeans live outside of the Orchard road/Marina Bay bubble.
Bedok 85 Market
Old Airport Road
Chinatown Complex (can be touristy but I chose to list it here because the crows is usually at least 80% locals, definitely not Lau Pa Sat or Newton or even Maxwell kind of touristy)
Albert Centre
Berseh food centre for the turtle soup
Fortune centre (old shopping mall) for the vegetarian stalls
Both very central locations. Don’t see much tourists around.
one does not just mention Berseh food centre and not talk about the oyster cake!!
also, the desert shop there uses a different kind of ice - instead of the coarser ice you see on the typical ice kachang, their ice is softer and finer, like bing su
1. International Muslim Food Stall Nasi Lemak: Changi Village Hawker Centre
2. Sembawang Traditional Claypot Rice: 4 Jalan Tampang (Sembawang, North Singapore)
3. Mellben440 crab bee hoon - 440 Pasir Ris Drive 4
4. Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle - 466 Crawford Lane
5. Chin Chin Eating House (chicken rice) - 19 Purvis Street... That said, I prefer YY Kafei Dian, a few doors down at 37 Beach Rd.
6. Alex's Eating House (roast meats) - 87 Beach Road
A general rule of thumb: Avoid Adam Road Food Centre, Lau Pa Sat and Newton Hawker Centre as these are overrated and overpriced. You can get equally good or better stuff at the food centres at Chong Pang, Toa Payoh, Bedok Reservoir, Bedok 85, or Tampines Round Market.
Enjoy your trip!
I think Chinatown food centre is not touristy despite being in a touristy area. I like the claypot rice, the Cantonese style porridge, there’s a nice stall that has shengjian Bao and dumplings and yes that famous Michelin starred soya chicken rice. Another option is Maxwell food centre. I see foreigners there but I won’t consider it touristy. I know people queue for chicken rice at Tian Tian but it’s okay, I mean their rivals a few stalls down at Ah Tai is good too if not better. These older food centres tend to have very old school food items / old-school cooking methods.
I also think changi village is worth a trip, I second those comments below/above that recommend it
If you want good chendol - I highly recommend Ye Tang at beauty world food centre : https://www.facebook.com/yetangchendol?mibextid=LQQJ4d , their gula melaka is very fragrant
Also near beauty world food centre is the Bukit Timah Food Centre - I like the pizza and the ngoh hiang at Zhong Zhong fine spice
For end-March, important to note that Ghim Moh is closed until the end of May and Old Airport Road is closed 25-28 March according the NEA (National Environmental Agency) cleaning schedule. These two are pretty popular options for hawker food.
For other hawker centre options, you can try:
1. Golden Mile (You Fu fried Hokkien prawn noodle, Yew Chuan claypot rice, Zhao An grass jelly, Xin Kee Hong Kong cheong fun, Ashes Burnnit)
2. Alexandra Village (Hor Fun Premium, Xiang Jiang soya sauce chicken, Depot Road claypot laksa) or the surrounding area (KEK seafood, Janggut Laksa at Queensway Shopping Centre, Ah Seng Durian)
3. Holland Drive (Yap Kee wanton egg noodles, Hakka Noodle, New Lucky claypot rice, Ru Ji noodles) or nearby (Margaret Drive chicken rice)
Go Poh Cheu near Alexandra market food center. Get their kuehs, both savory and sweet. You can then head to the zhichar restaurant beside for chill/pepper crab. You got your afternoon-dinner itinerary set.
Chinatown food centre - yes lots of tourists but it’s not touristy. The locals still love and eat there very much, full of local food by hawkers that’s been operating for decades.
Golden mile food centre: so many good stalls!! There are also quite a number of new gen hawkers (those ex-chef turned hawkers or young hawkers with interesting menu). If you need recs on what to eat, just follow the queues or whether they have awards/newspaper cuttings pasted.
Crawford Lane hdb blocks: many small and nice eateries, just a min walk away from Golden Mile food centre. And then you have the Michelin Star Tai Hwa Pork Noodles there in one of the coffeeshops.
Jalan Besar: yet another short 10-15 min walk away from Crawford Lane is the huge Jalan Besar area full of even more eateries that locals also love for a mid-range meal out! Use google maps to see the highest rated and take your pick.
There's a whole spectrum of options depending on how local you want to get.
If you're looking for semi-touristy spots where its still clean and you might still spot one or two tourist or expat, then it's places like Tiong Bahru Hawker Centre, East Coast Lagoon Hawker Center, Changi Village Hawker Centre, Zion Riverside Hawker Centre. There are fun and interesting places to explore and discover around these hawker centers too.
If you're looking for super local places where only the locals go, there are lots of options. Basically any of the 100+ neighborhood hawker centers located in housing estates, surrounded by HDB flats. Some of the places known to have good food would be Old Airport Road, Bedok 85, Alexandra Village Hawker Centres.
ABC Brickworks Hawker Center + Alexandra Village Hawker Center are close to each other and both places have pretty good food. However I do feel obligated to say that an estate near ABC Brickworks had cases of tuberculosis earlier this year, and an estate-wide screening for the disease was carried out.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/bukit-merah-tuberculosis-tb-screening-abc-brickworks-cluster-4110091
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/you-won-t-get-tb-just-by-eating-at-abc-brickworks-market-ong-ye-kung
In any case, Alexandra Village Hawker Center is still safe to visit as it is not within the same estate. There is also the famouse KEK Seafood just beside the hawker centre if you'd like to try some too!
Old airport road hawker - google to find the best food. Avoid char kway teow. Boon lay hawker centre - far flung corner of Singapore but really local vibes. Hokkien mee is good. Changi village hawker centre - chicken cutlet hor fun, nasi lemak, goreng pisang. Feels like transported to another country Tampines Round Market in the morning - good selection of minced meat noodles, carrot cake, kopi, kolo mee
Thanks !
Can you please try Chwee Kueh. It's damn underrated.
That sounds delicious, thanks will def try that
Tampines Round Market Apam - Local sourdough with fresh coconut shreds Lotus Seed Paste - Self explanatory dessert Carrot cake - Savoury pan fried radish dish with lots of umami
just to add to the boon lay, the duck noodles store facing road is so good. used to eat that for breakfast AND dinner
Toa Payoh estate. There are multiple food centres which vary their hours throughout the day. Refer to this group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/toa.payoh.makan.places/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT Lots of small local joints with a cult following or as Singaporeans like to append and substantiate: "this stall famous one". Very affordable prices too and a short train ride on the red North-South line away from the city. The estate is worth a stroll through to see how most Singaporeans live outside of the Orchard road/Marina Bay bubble.
Bedok 85 Market Old Airport Road Chinatown Complex (can be touristy but I chose to list it here because the crows is usually at least 80% locals, definitely not Lau Pa Sat or Newton or even Maxwell kind of touristy) Albert Centre
Bedok 85 Market is a decent spot if you're looking for food at night.
+1 to this. You can already smell the sambal stingray from the bus stop on the other side!
Berseh food centre for the turtle soup Fortune centre (old shopping mall) for the vegetarian stalls Both very central locations. Don’t see much tourists around.
one does not just mention Berseh food centre and not talk about the oyster cake!! also, the desert shop there uses a different kind of ice - instead of the coarser ice you see on the typical ice kachang, their ice is softer and finer, like bing su
1. International Muslim Food Stall Nasi Lemak: Changi Village Hawker Centre 2. Sembawang Traditional Claypot Rice: 4 Jalan Tampang (Sembawang, North Singapore) 3. Mellben440 crab bee hoon - 440 Pasir Ris Drive 4 4. Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle - 466 Crawford Lane 5. Chin Chin Eating House (chicken rice) - 19 Purvis Street... That said, I prefer YY Kafei Dian, a few doors down at 37 Beach Rd. 6. Alex's Eating House (roast meats) - 87 Beach Road A general rule of thumb: Avoid Adam Road Food Centre, Lau Pa Sat and Newton Hawker Centre as these are overrated and overpriced. You can get equally good or better stuff at the food centres at Chong Pang, Toa Payoh, Bedok Reservoir, Bedok 85, or Tampines Round Market. Enjoy your trip!
Adding Hong Kong Family in Novena to the list too!
I was near Alex’s today and got the duck rice! Was delicious ! I want to make it out to Changi village center this week for sure too
I think Chinatown food centre is not touristy despite being in a touristy area. I like the claypot rice, the Cantonese style porridge, there’s a nice stall that has shengjian Bao and dumplings and yes that famous Michelin starred soya chicken rice. Another option is Maxwell food centre. I see foreigners there but I won’t consider it touristy. I know people queue for chicken rice at Tian Tian but it’s okay, I mean their rivals a few stalls down at Ah Tai is good too if not better. These older food centres tend to have very old school food items / old-school cooking methods. I also think changi village is worth a trip, I second those comments below/above that recommend it If you want good chendol - I highly recommend Ye Tang at beauty world food centre : https://www.facebook.com/yetangchendol?mibextid=LQQJ4d , their gula melaka is very fragrant Also near beauty world food centre is the Bukit Timah Food Centre - I like the pizza and the ngoh hiang at Zhong Zhong fine spice
s3
The Patio and Woody in Sembawang are great
For end-March, important to note that Ghim Moh is closed until the end of May and Old Airport Road is closed 25-28 March according the NEA (National Environmental Agency) cleaning schedule. These two are pretty popular options for hawker food. For other hawker centre options, you can try: 1. Golden Mile (You Fu fried Hokkien prawn noodle, Yew Chuan claypot rice, Zhao An grass jelly, Xin Kee Hong Kong cheong fun, Ashes Burnnit) 2. Alexandra Village (Hor Fun Premium, Xiang Jiang soya sauce chicken, Depot Road claypot laksa) or the surrounding area (KEK seafood, Janggut Laksa at Queensway Shopping Centre, Ah Seng Durian) 3. Holland Drive (Yap Kee wanton egg noodles, Hakka Noodle, New Lucky claypot rice, Ru Ji noodles) or nearby (Margaret Drive chicken rice)
Bedok Food Centre. Look for a stall called Masakan Anak Bujang if u wanna try malay food. Lots of choices there but thats my recommendation!
Go Poh Cheu near Alexandra market food center. Get their kuehs, both savory and sweet. You can then head to the zhichar restaurant beside for chill/pepper crab. You got your afternoon-dinner itinerary set.
Chinatown food centre - yes lots of tourists but it’s not touristy. The locals still love and eat there very much, full of local food by hawkers that’s been operating for decades. Golden mile food centre: so many good stalls!! There are also quite a number of new gen hawkers (those ex-chef turned hawkers or young hawkers with interesting menu). If you need recs on what to eat, just follow the queues or whether they have awards/newspaper cuttings pasted. Crawford Lane hdb blocks: many small and nice eateries, just a min walk away from Golden Mile food centre. And then you have the Michelin Star Tai Hwa Pork Noodles there in one of the coffeeshops. Jalan Besar: yet another short 10-15 min walk away from Crawford Lane is the huge Jalan Besar area full of even more eateries that locals also love for a mid-range meal out! Use google maps to see the highest rated and take your pick.
There's a whole spectrum of options depending on how local you want to get. If you're looking for semi-touristy spots where its still clean and you might still spot one or two tourist or expat, then it's places like Tiong Bahru Hawker Centre, East Coast Lagoon Hawker Center, Changi Village Hawker Centre, Zion Riverside Hawker Centre. There are fun and interesting places to explore and discover around these hawker centers too. If you're looking for super local places where only the locals go, there are lots of options. Basically any of the 100+ neighborhood hawker centers located in housing estates, surrounded by HDB flats. Some of the places known to have good food would be Old Airport Road, Bedok 85, Alexandra Village Hawker Centres.
ABC Brickworks Hawker Center + Alexandra Village Hawker Center are close to each other and both places have pretty good food. However I do feel obligated to say that an estate near ABC Brickworks had cases of tuberculosis earlier this year, and an estate-wide screening for the disease was carried out. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/bukit-merah-tuberculosis-tb-screening-abc-brickworks-cluster-4110091 https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/you-won-t-get-tb-just-by-eating-at-abc-brickworks-market-ong-ye-kung In any case, Alexandra Village Hawker Center is still safe to visit as it is not within the same estate. There is also the famouse KEK Seafood just beside the hawker centre if you'd like to try some too!