Where to Eat in Singapore: Best Restaurants & Food Courts

Food Courts and Hawker Centers

When you come to Singapore, you absolutely have to eat at a hawker center (or better yet, several). The term “hawker center” is used mainly in Singapore; in other countries, people tend to call them food courts.

At a hawker center, you’ll find dozens of small food stalls where you can sample cuisines from right across Asia.

Some stalls offer just a single dish, while others let you choose from several options.

How eating at a hawker center works

Since people in Singapore genuinely eat at all hours of the day and night, hawker centers and food courts are buzzing around the clock.

If you’re on your own, you’ll always find a seat at one of the many tables. If you’re in a larger group, your best bet is to grab a table first and then go get your food.

Our tip: Keep an eye out for the stalls with the longest lines. Those are usually the best ones, and we’ve rarely been wrong when we’ve joined the queue.

Trays are cleared away at most hawker centers. If you’re expected to clear your own, there will always be a sign telling you so.

Is it safe to eat at food courts?

If you’re worried about whether your stomach can handle hawker center food, we can put your mind at ease.

Hygiene standards in Singapore are seriously high. There are regular inspections, and every stall displays a hygiene rating: Grade A is the best, and Grade B is also good. If you want to play it safe, these ratings are a reliable guide.

Since hawker centers are always busy, the food is always fresh. Vendors simply can’t afford to serve anything less than fresh ingredients. Most of the customers are locals, and word would spread very quickly if they did.

So don’t be afraid! If you have trouble with spicy food, just mention it when you order.

Our tip: Many locals always carry a pack of wet wipes. You can use them to wipe down your table or utensils before eating and clean your fingers afterward — there are no napkins at hawker centers. We always stock up on wet wipes too.

How much does food cost at a hawker center in Singapore?

Food at hawker centers is very affordable. You can get a dish for as little as 2 to 3 dollars (around $1.50 to $2 USD). Pricier items might run 6 to 8 dollars (about $4 to $6 USD), but you’ll rarely pay more than that.

Our favorite food courts and food markets in Singapore

On our trips through Singapore, we’ve tried quite a few food stalls and hawker centers. Here’s a rundown of the stalls we loved most and which food courts we’d recommend — this is our Singapore food guide, straight from personal experience.

Liao Fan: Michelin-starred cuisine for just $2.50

Let’s start with what was probably our most extraordinary culinary experience in Singapore. We ate at a Michelin-starred chef’s stall and paid less than $2 for it!

The Michelin Guide did indeed award a Michelin star to the humble little stall Liao Fan in Chinatown some time ago. Liao Fan isn’t the only stall mentioned in the Michelin Guide, but it’s the only one that actually received a star.

The food couldn’t sound more ordinary: chicken with rice and soy sauce. Basically the same dish you’ll find at every third place in Singapore.

Still, we absolutely had to try it — so we joined the long line at 10:00 AM and waited about 45 minutes.

Well, what can we say: it really is incredibly delicious. Whether it’s truly the best chicken and rice in Singapore, we can’t say. But hey — Michelin-recognized cooking in Singapore otherwise costs a fortune.

Since then, the little food stall has expanded and opened a full restaurant right next door. There you can get the award-winning food without a long wait.

The taste is the same, but the atmosphere feels more like a fast food restaurant.

Our tip: We weren’t able to find reliable opening hours for the stall — the information online is contradictory (if you find out, feel free to let us know). When we visited, the stall opened at 11 AM and we were there more than half an hour before that. The line was still manageable at that point. Later in the day, the wait can apparently be up to three hours — that would have been too long for us.

You’ll find the food stall in Chinatown. Next to the Chinatown Visitor Centre there’s a plain-looking building. Head up to the second floor, where you’ll find a food court — just follow the crowds. If you’d rather skip the wait, the restaurant is right next to the building, on the other side of the street!

You can actually watch our experience standing in line in our Singapore video.

Lau Pa Sat

Lau Pa Sat is the most famous food court in Singapore and, visually, by far the most beautiful. It’s an absolute must-see, even if you’re only making a brief stopover in Singapore.

The gorgeous 19th-century market hall sits right in the middle of the Financial District’s skyscrapers and looks a little out of place at first glance. Of course it isn’t — at lunchtime and after work, people pour out of their offices and fill up here.

You’ll find at least one stall representing almost every Asian cuisine. We even spotted a döner grill. And for just S$5.50 (about $4 USD) per glass, you can get freshly tapped Tiger Beer.

If you come to Lau Pa Sat in the evening, definitely try a few skewers at one of the satay grills. Every evening, countless grills are set up outside where you can grab those delicious skewers.

Maxwell Food Centre

Maxwell Food Centre in Chinatown is also one of Singapore’s most well-known hawker centers. Here you’ll mainly find dishes from Chinese cuisine.

There’s also a small craft beer stall with more than ten different beers on tap.

Tiong Bahru Market

If you ask us which food court in Singapore is our favorite, we’d most likely say Tiong Bahru Market.

Unlike Lau Pa Sat or Maxwell Food Centre, you’ll barely find any tourists here. Maybe that’s because the Tiong Bahru neighborhood is a bit off the beaten tourist path.

If you want to learn more about Tiong Bahru, be sure to check out this article:

Our insider tips for Singapore

Since we had some time, we joined the lines at the two stalls with the longest queues. Both rank among the most well-known and best food stalls in the market:

Tiong Bahru Fried Kway Teow: Kway Teow is a classic dish from Singaporean cuisine. It consists of stir-fried rice noodles mixed with soy sauce, plenty of spices, clams, sausage, and meat. Very, very tasty! You can choose between a large and a small portion. We went with the large, of course.

Jian Bo – Tiong Bahru Shui Kueh: This stall serves Shui Kueh — steamed rice cakes eaten with a savory dipping sauce. Honestly, it wasn’t really our thing, but it wasn’t bad either. Maybe you’ll enjoy it more than we did.

Timbre+

If you’re into something a bit hipper, the relatively new food court Timbre+ is just the right place for you.

Here you’ll find not only great food but also a solid selection of craft beer and live music. Highly recommended!

Makansutra Gluttons Bay

Right next to the Esplanade, there’s a small food court. What makes this little spot special is that it’s completely outdoors, making it a fantastic vantage point in Singapore for taking in the Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore skyline.

Prices are a little higher here than at many other food courts in the city — you’re paying for the location. Compared to most restaurants, though, it’s still very affordable.

Sidewalk Food Court

Not far from Marina Bay, behind the National Gallery and almost directly next to the Old Hill Street Police Station, you’ll find the SideWalk Food Court.

You can sit inside or outside. The food court is fairly compact, but in the back left there’s Burmese food that was genuinely delicious and completely authentic.

Our tip: This is where we found the cheapest beer we came across in Singapore.

Our restaurant recommendations for Singapore

Of course, we didn’t eat exclusively at food courts and hawker centers — we also tried a number of restaurants in Singapore. Here are our favorites from our Singapore food guide.

Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung is a genuine institution in Singapore, and we were pretty skeptical about whether the restaurant could really live up to the hype.

It can! We had some of the best dim sum of our lives here. Only our favorite dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong comes close.

Din Tai Fung’s roots are in Taiwan. The first restaurant opened in Taipei in 1972, and just under 20 years later the New York Times named it one of the top ten restaurants in the world — and the success story of these steamed dumplings took off from there.

Today there are more than 170 locations in 13 countries, including Japan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, the UAE, and the Philippines.

There are 24 Din Tai Fung restaurants in Singapore alone. Just search for Din Tai Fung in Google Maps and find the closest one to you. Here you can also find a list of all Din Tai Fung locations.

We visited the branch at Paragon on Orchard Road — the first Din Tai Fung location to open in Singapore.

Our tip: During peak times, especially in the evening, lines often form outside the restaurant and you’ll probably have to wait a while. If you come outside of main meal times, you’ll usually get a table right away. We went at 2:00 PM and didn’t have to wait at all.

Jumbo Seafood

This restaurant is probably the most well-known spot for Black Pepper Crab and pretty much all things seafood in Singapore. There are several Jumbo Seafood locations in Singapore; we tried the riverside location, which is right on Clarke Quay.

Eating at Jumbo Seafood is definitely an experience, and we really enjoyed the Black Pepper Crab. We don’t have a comparison to other restaurants serving Black Pepper Crab, but it was a lot of fun to sit by the water, watch other guests tackle their seafood, and try to eat crab with a fork and tongs yourself. Everyone gets a bib, which makes the whole thing even more entertaining.

It’s not exactly cheap, though. For two people, expect a bill of around $100, especially if you want to try the famous crab dishes. There are significantly more affordable options on the menu as well.

The restaurant was packed, and we were glad we had reserved a table outside by the water! If you’re planning to go in the evening, definitely book a table in advance.

Sushi Tei at Paragon

One of the great things about Singapore is that you can find everything there — including great sushi. Sushi Tei is a chain, so just check which location is closest to your hotel in Singapore.

Since we stayed at the YOTEL Hotel on Orchard Road, the Sushi Tei at Paragon was the most convenient for us. The sushi was good (after our trip to Japan, sushi outside of Japan is “just” good rather than excellent) and very reasonably priced!

Heads up: There’s a wrapped wet towel placed at your seat. If you use it, be aware that it will be added to your bill at the end. It probably won’t cost much, but it leaves a bit of a bad taste when you don’t know about it beforehand.