In this post you will find the most typical dishes in Singapore. I hope it gives you a good idea of what to eat in Singapore. All of these dishes can be found at hawker centres, which are food courts with many stalls serving traditional South East Asian cuisine at affordable prices.
What to eat in Singapore – Chicken Rice
This is considered Singapore’s national dish. Despite being very simple, it is actually quite tasty. There are usually two variations: roasted chicken or plain poached chicken, as shown in the photo below. The latter is considered the traditional version.
I prefer the roasted option, which comes with a golden skin. I also recommend ordering some stir-fried vegetables on the side.
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You can read more details in the post about Chinatown in Singapore.
Photo 1: Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice at Maxwell Food Centre
Photo 2: Chicken rice (roasted version) served with stir-fried vegetables
What to eat in Singapore – Chili Crab
This dish uses a type of crab that lives in brackish waters, such as mangroves and estuaries. This gives the crab a slightly sweet flavour, making it quite different from saltwater crabs. This type of crab is known as a mud crab.
The crab is served in a spicy sauce to which a beaten egg is added at the end to create a marbled effect. Small fried buns similar to brioche are usually served alongside it for dipping into the sauce.
There is also a version with black pepper sauce – Black Pepper Crab – which I actually prefer, as I find the original a little too sweet.
This is one of those dishes I tried once out of curiosity and tend to order it mainly when we have guests, but it is not something I crave regularly.
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Photos 3 & 4: Black Pepper Crab at Long Beach. The crab is shelled by the staff, which is very convenient.
Photo 5: Chilli Crab at Jumbo Seafood, East Coast
What to eat in Singapore – Nasi Lemak
This is one of those dishes I could eat every week. Nasi Lemak originates from Malaysia and consists of rice that has been cooked with coconut milk and pandan leaves.
It is typically served with cucumber slices, fried anchovies and peanuts. I usually opt for the version with a fried chicken leg (Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng), but there are also options with chicken wings or fried fish. Watch out for the red sambal sauce that comes with it though, – it’s veryyyyy spicy! 🌶️
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Photo 6: A nasi lemak set from a food court near where I live
What to eat in Singapore – Roti Prata
Simply known as Prata, this flaky Indian flatbread is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It is served with a curry dipping sauce. It’s one of my absolute favourites, if it weren’t so unhealthy, I’d eat it every day!
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Photo 7: Prata with curry sauce from Komala Vilas in Little India
What to eat in Singapore – Hokkien Mee
This dish is a Singaporean interpretation of a classic from China’s Fujian province. It consists of rice and egg noodles cooked in a rich seafood broth, and served with prawns, squid, pork, and egg. It is widely available at hawker centres in Singapore.
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What to eat in Singapore – Char Kway Teow
Lê-se chhá-kóe-tiâu e é um prato à base de noodles de arroz salteado no wok a altas temperaturas, o que lhe dá o característico sabor fumado (wok hei). Leva normalmente rebentos de soja, chouriço chinês e camarão.
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What to eat in Singapore – Laksa
This dish is definitely not to my taste, but it is so popular that I could not leave it out. It consists of an aromatic spicy coconut curry broth served with rice noodles and ingredients such as prawns, fish cakes, tofu, and cockles. You can find Laksa at various hawker centres.
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What to eat in Singapore – Kaya Toast
Kaya is a traditional Singaporean jam made with coconut milk and pandan leaves.
A typical Singaporean breakfast includes toast spread with kaya and butter, accompanied by soft-boiled eggs and local coffee known as kopi. The kaya itself is delicious, but I have to admit that I am not a fan of the soft-boiled eggs.
If you want to experience a traditional Singaporean breakfast, visit one Ya Kun Kaya Toast’s many locations.
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Other dishes I love that didn’t make the ‘official list’
If you’re wondering what else to eat in Singapore besides the classics, here are a couple of my personal favourites that deserve a mention.
What to eat in Singapore – Popiah
Popiah are rolls made with a thin, crepe-like wrapper and filled with a slightly sweet mixture of beansprouts, egg, braised radish, lettuce, and crushed peanuts. They can be spicy or not.
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It is probably my favourite food in Singapore. I even attended a popiah-making workshop at one of the most traditional establishments: Kway Guan Huat Joo Chiat Popiah, which has been producing handmade popiah since 1938. They now mainly sell kits for people to make their own popiah at home, though they also sell ready-to-eat popiah during limited hours, usually Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to 2pm.
Photo 8: The room where we had the popiah workshop, where the wrappers are still made like in the old days
Photo 9: Mural at Kway Guan Huat Joo Chiat Popiah
Here are a couple of hawker stalls where you can try popiah:
What to eat in Singapore – Carrot Cake
Despite its name, this is not a cake. It is a kind of stir-fried omelette with chunks of radish.
There are white and black versions – the black one is made with dark soy sauce, which gives it a caramelised colour.
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You can find this dish at any hawker centre. I usually order it from a stall called Fried Carrot Cake at Satay By the Bay, a place I often go to when I have visitors.
Now that you know what to eat in Singapore, head over to the post with the list of the most popular hawker centres, where you can find all these dishes:
Don’t miss these other posts about Singapore too:
