(Cody Long / Los Angeles Times)
10 must-try restaurants, hawker stalls and bars to visit in Singapore
From the mall food halls to the hawker centers to the fanciest of fine dining rooms, this tiny country really does offer a taste of everything. And you can usually get it at all hours of the day or night.
The following is a list of my favorite places to eat and drink in Singapore. There’s plenty more to discover, but this is a great place to start.
For years, chef Malcolm Lee’s restaurant Candlenut struggled. At one point, he wondered if he’d made a mistake, but he doubled down on Peranakan cooking and a cuisine he saw disappearing.
Showing Places
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Artichoke
Middle Eastern $$
I was introduced to Artichoke in an episode of Phil Rosenthal’s “Somebody Feed Phil” show. Chef-owner Bjorn Shen bills Artichoke as the least authentic Middle Eastern restaurant. He’s mostly correct, though Artichoke is more unconventional than it is inauthentic. A Lambgasm dish invites five or more people to feast on a bone-in lamb shoulder and “get dirty.” Before the Lambgasm, order any of the small plates with an emphasis on anything seasonal. Heirloom tomatoes are halved and served in a jumble of raw onion, fresh herbs and za’atar spice over a smear of labneh on the plate. The lamb kebab was first-rate. But the dish that stuck with me was the fried chicken kebab, served as five large nuggets of fried chicken on a metal skewer, each piece topped with a dollop of toum and a shake of za’atar. The chicken was fried well, encased in a shell of craggy, crisp coating that was light and reminiscent of good karaage.
161 Middle Road, Singapore 188978, +65 9650 2290
161 Middle Road, Singapore 188978, +65 9650 2290
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
The Bar Kakure
Japanese $$
The bartenders at this upstairs speakeasy are methodical and meticulous, each motion carefully calculated and fluid. Drinks are innovative and presented in ways that will have you reaching for your phone. Our group gasped when the Beauty & The Beast arrived. First, the bartender presents a glass with a tiny rose in an ice cube at the bottom. He pours the pink grapefruit vodka, Cointreau, rose syrup and lemon juice over the ice. Then he tells us to take out our phones. “You will want to record,” he says. He shines a black light onto the drink then applies a few spritzes from a tiny spray bottle and glitter explodes and swirls around the glass. If you’re looking for something a little more classic, the Negroni Diablo is the gin, Campari and vermouth drink you know and love, with a float of activated charcoal. It’s served with a tiny spoon so that you can stir the black into the red and create your own swirl.
29 Scotts Road, Singapore 228224, +65 9061 6109
29 Scotts Road, Singapore 228224, +65 9061 6109
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Candlenut
Singaporean $$
Malcolm Lee’s Dempsey Hill restaurant was my introduction to Peranakan food, a cuisine that mostly combines influences from Malay, Indonesian and Chinese cultures, ingredients and techniques. You can order a set menu, or choose from a la carte offerings of curries, stews, stir-fries and sambals. Either way, make sure there’s a bowl of Lee’s Mum’s chicken curry on the table. The turmeric-stained broth is redolent with galangal, makrut lime and lemongrass, and fortified with ground candlenuts. And it stings with chilies. The restaurant is located in an upscale retail and restaurant complex, so make sure you plan for some shopping before or after your meal.
17a Dempsey Road, Singapore 249676, +65 1800 304 2288
17a Dempsey Road, Singapore 249676, +65 1800 304 2288
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Maxwell Food Centre
Singaporean $
This is the place to go for Hainanese chicken rice. It’s where Anthony Bourdain ate chicken rice and where an ongoing debate over who makes the best will probably rage on forever. Does Ah Tai or Tian Tian make the best? The latter is the one Bourdain visited, and the recipient of the most international press. The line wraps around the stall and down out the back of the center. The other is rumored to have been started by an ex-chef from Tian Tian, now making their own chicken and rice a few stalls down.
Though the line at Tian Tian is intimidating, head to the back and be patient. It moves quickly. At peak lunch hour during the week, I waited a total of 15 minutes. The rice is slick with chicken fat, each kernel plump with broth. The chicken is tender but needed a boost from the chile sauce.
The line at Ah Tai is significantly shorter. Here, the rice is on the drier side but the chicken is juicy and even more savory.
The pro move: Try both. You’re thousands of miles away from home, so you might as well stage your own taste test. To make the perfect bite, scoop some of the rice from Tian Tian and a piece of chicken from Ah Tai and eat it together.
1 Kadayanallur St., Singapore 069184, +65 6225 5632
Though the line at Tian Tian is intimidating, head to the back and be patient. It moves quickly. At peak lunch hour during the week, I waited a total of 15 minutes. The rice is slick with chicken fat, each kernel plump with broth. The chicken is tender but needed a boost from the chile sauce.
The line at Ah Tai is significantly shorter. Here, the rice is on the drier side but the chicken is juicy and even more savory.
The pro move: Try both. You’re thousands of miles away from home, so you might as well stage your own taste test. To make the perfect bite, scoop some of the rice from Tian Tian and a piece of chicken from Ah Tai and eat it together.
1 Kadayanallur St., Singapore 069184, +65 6225 5632
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Newton Food Centre
Singaporean $
This is the hawker center that was featured in the movie “Crazy Rich Asians,” so expect a crowd. It’s also one of the best places to sample carrot cake, a savory dish made from stir-fried radish cakes. Heng Carrot Cake serves both white and black carrot cake and you can order a plate of both. The chopped radish cake is chewy and mild, with the crunchy bits that crisp up around the edges being the best parts. I prefer the black cakes, which get a hit of sweet soy sauce in the pan, helping caramelize those crunchy bits.
Alliance Seafood is a great place to try chili crab, a whole crab swimming in a tomato chile sauce that tastes a little like chile-spiked tomato soup with strands of cooked egg throughout. It’s sweeter than it is hot. Order the crab in a set with the fried cereal prawns (fried prawns coated in fried bread crumbs that do taste like breakfast cereal) and mantou fried buns. The more vessels you have for the sauce, the better.
Both the carrot cake and chili crab will be about a 30 minute to an hour wait, so order them first, then head to 22 Best Satay for an appetizer. The stall grills up chicken, mutton and prawns on a stick, served alongside a cup of peanut sauce.
Pro tip: Have someone in your group snag a table before you order any food. You’ll need to let the stalls know your table number so they know where to deliver your order.
500 Clemenceau Ave., Singapore, 229495
Alliance Seafood is a great place to try chili crab, a whole crab swimming in a tomato chile sauce that tastes a little like chile-spiked tomato soup with strands of cooked egg throughout. It’s sweeter than it is hot. Order the crab in a set with the fried cereal prawns (fried prawns coated in fried bread crumbs that do taste like breakfast cereal) and mantou fried buns. The more vessels you have for the sauce, the better.
Both the carrot cake and chili crab will be about a 30 minute to an hour wait, so order them first, then head to 22 Best Satay for an appetizer. The stall grills up chicken, mutton and prawns on a stick, served alongside a cup of peanut sauce.
Pro tip: Have someone in your group snag a table before you order any food. You’ll need to let the stalls know your table number so they know where to deliver your order.
500 Clemenceau Ave., Singapore, 229495
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Jigger & Pony
Cocktails $$
Occupying the No. 2 spot on the World’s 50 Best Bars Asia list, Jigger & Pony is a dark, sleek cocktail den at the bottom of the Amara Hotel. Reservations can be difficult, so plan ahead. The bar has an entire magazine menu, broken into three parts. You could read through it like an actual magazine, devouring the various profiles on producers, inspiration stories and heavily styled photos of the drinks themselves. There’s even a section devoted to non-alcoholic tipples. The Ugly Tomatoes cocktail, made from Hapusa Himalayan gin, ugly tomatoes, kummel and Seedlip Spice looks, like it belongs in a museum. Served in a glass surrounded by irregular curves, the foam top bleeds into a rust orange drink that’s savory and full of ripe tomato with hints of fennel, carraway and cumin. If you’re wondering where it is on the menu, just flip to the magazine’s Sustainability section. Before you think the bar takes itself a little too seriously, check out the list of punch bowls. This place also offers housemade potato chips as a bar snack. They’re dusted in what tasted like a chicken bouillon powder and heavily addictive. Good thing there are free refills.
165 Tg Pagar Road, Amara Hotel, Singapore 088539, +65 9621 1074
165 Tg Pagar Road, Amara Hotel, Singapore 088539, +65 9621 1074
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Mizuki Tempura & Sushi
Japanese $$
This was my favorite place to stop in for lunch while shopping in one of the many malls along Orchard Road in Singapore. The restaurant offers reasonably priced set menus for both sushi or tempura. In less than an hour, the chef presented an omakase meal that rivaled those I’ve experienced in Japan. He sliced and patted 10 courses of nigiri. The fish was fresh, but the rice, served warm and seasoned with just the right amount of vinegar, was exceptional. If you’re looking for place for a solo lunch to recharge during your trip, this is it.
391 Orchard Road #05-32, Ngee Ann City Podium Block, Singapore 238872, +65 67346308
391 Orchard Road #05-32, Ngee Ann City Podium Block, Singapore 238872, +65 67346308
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Pangium
Singaporean $$$
Malcolm Lee’s second restaurant offers stunning views of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Here, Lee showcases Straits cuisine from all over the region, with a focus on dishes from his childhood. It’s a tasting menu, but the pacing and plating are more relaxed and playful. Ramekins of keropok, small puffed prawn crackers sit next to nghoh hiang (bite-sized sausage rolls wrapped in bean curd) on trays to start the meal. The pang susi, cracked and golden like a mini pineapple bun, is filled with savory ground Iberico pork, candied winter melon and roasted coriander. It’s a savory pastry that rivals all others. Also memorable was the sagun, or sweet coconut powder over young coconut sorbet.
11 Gallop Road Gallop Entrance, Singapore Botanic
11 Gallop Road Gallop Entrance, Singapore Botanic
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Song Fa Kway Chap
Chinese $
This stall in the Ion Orchard mall food hall beckons with hanging roast duck in the window. And next to them, a large Michelin Guide Singapore sign in the window. It doesn’t actually have a Michelin star, though, or a even a Bib Gourmand. If you read the fine print, you’ll find that the chef behind the restaurant has earned a Bib Gourmand for one of his other restaurants. A little false advertising, but we ordered a couple of braised duck rice sets anyway. The sets are presented as a plate of sliced duck, marinated egg and pickled mustard greens. Everything swims in a sweet soy sauce the chef ladles over the top before handing it over. On the side, there’s a cup of steaming duck broth and a mound of fried rice. With clean, satisfying, simple flavors, this place deserves all the awards.
2 Orchard Turn B4-03/04 Stall, #14, Singapore 238801
2 Orchard Turn B4-03/04 Stall, #14, Singapore 238801
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks
Taiwanese $
Also located in the food hall at the bottom of the Ion Orchard mall, the Shihlin line is always the longest. They specialize in fried chicken and fried chicken skins. Fried chicken skin dusted with curry cheese powder in a cone is the move. Use the provided long toothpicks to avoid getting orange dust on your fingers. They’re crunchy, salty, vaguely cheesy and more addictive than Cheetos. I’m still thinking about these weeks later. The chain has a handful of locations in California, but if you want those chicken skins, you’ll need to fly to Singapore.
2 Orchard Turn, ION Orchard, #B4-63, Singapore 238801 and at multiple locations around Singapore
2 Orchard Turn, ION Orchard, #B4-63, Singapore 238801 and at multiple locations around Singapore
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