There are many food specialties to try out in Singapore, so I’ve made you a list of the most famous and tasty ones !
If you are coming to Singapore, you cannot miss the food culture there.
Whether it is their famous Hainanese chicken, laksa or their delicious kaya toasts, I’ll list here what specialties you can find and where to try them.
The most famous dish in Singapore would have to be the Hainanese chicken. It is tender poached chicken served with fragrant rice, chili sauce, and a ginger-garlic paste. It is simple yet really tasty and the chicken almost melts in your mouth.
You can find it in any food court like Lan Pa Sat (see picture 2), but one of the most famous stalls is in the Maxwell Food Centre, look for Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice.
Other savoury food specialties are :
- Laksa : It is a spicy noodle soup with a coconut milk base, often filled with prawns, fish cakes, and tofu puffs. But be careful as it can get really spicy !
- Curry puff : This empanadas-looking baked pie is filled chicken, curry, potato and egg. It is considered one of the traditional dishes of Singapore and is my personal favorite. When arriving in Singapore, the first thing I do is heading to an Old Chang Kee stall and buying two of those (see picture 1).
- Chili crab : These are typically mud crabs, deep-fried in a chili and tomato gravy. Bread is often eaten with the chili crab, to soak up the gravy.
- Nasi Lemak : This Malaysian dish is an integral part of Singapore’s food culture. The flavour of this dish comes from the rice, which is cooked in pandan leaves and coconut milk. It is accompanied with samba chili sauce, fried anchovies and fried chicken wings (see picture 3).
- Char Kway Teow : Stir fried flat rice noodles with garlic, black soy sauce, Chinese sausage, bean sprouts, fish cakes and clams (see picture 4).
- Roti prata : This is a delicious flaky and crispy Indian flatbread, served with a thick curry sauce.
- Satay : Coming straight from Indonesia, it has become very popular in Singapore. It is marinated skewered meat, barbecued in open air and served with peanut sauce.
- Dim sum : Showcasing the Chinese cuisine, Dim Sum are a popular dish in Singapore. It consists of several dishes, such as BBQ Pork Buns, Xiao Long Bao, Siew Mai, Chee Cheong Fun… (see preparation in picture 2).
- Hokkien mee : Stir-fried egg noodles with prawns, slices of chicken or pork, squid and fish cake, eggs, seasoned with soy sauce, vinegar and chili.
There a few Singaporean desserts that you can’t miss, so let’s look into it !
Here are the three best ones and most easy to find :
- Pandan cake : This one is an absolute delight. This green fluffy chiffon cake gets its colour and flavour from pandan leaves and is baked with coconut milk (as shown on picture 2 below).
- Kaya toast : This sweet coconut jam on grilled toast is the star of a traditional Singaporean breakfast.
- Ice cream sandwiches : Scoops of ice cream filled in pandan flavoured bread of waffles (see picture 4).
Here are the other main Singaporean sweet food specialties :
- Chendol : Dessert made of shaved ice topped with green rice flour jelly, coconut milk, palm sugar syrup, and red bean paste.
- Ice kacang : A bit similar to Chendol, it consists of shaved ice drenched with different sweet syrups and topped with red beans, jelly and attap seeds.
- Tutu kueh : Another typical dessert you can find at Maxwell Hawker Centre in Chinatown. These are flower-shaped steamed rice flour cakes, filled with grated coconut or ground peanuts.
- Mango pudding : A bowl of ripe mangoes, condensed milk, sugar and gelatine of jelly (see picture 3).
- Jalebi : This sticky and crispy Indian dessert can be found in Little India. It is a deep-fried swirl drenched in sweet sugar syrup.
- Ladoo : Another dessert you can find in Little India. These are fried balls made of chickpea flour and then soaked in sugar syrup.
If you are coming to Singapore and Chinatown’s food courts, you must try the sugar cane juice. It’s quite sugary but sooo refreshing by this heat ! (see picture one below).
Another Singaporean delicacy you will mostly find in Chinatown is the Durian. Forbidden in public transportation because of its strong smell, it’s an expensive fruit in Singapore, recognizable by its spiky skin, as shown on picture 2.
First, I would recommend to favour food courts over restaurants. The main reason being the price of course, it’s around 5-10€ for a meal in a food court, whereas in a restaurant you can expect to spend at least 30€ per person. Also, even if you are not on a budget, don’t miss out on going to a hawker centre, this is where you will authentic, local specialties and a vibrant atmosphere.
Another tip if you do not have a high tolerance for spice, ask the cook or waiter beforehand to go easy on the spice !
Now, here the best places to eat Singapore’s specialties :
Maxwell Food Centre: Famous for its affordable and delicious local dishes, especially Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice.
Lau Pa Sat: I find it to be the best food court in Singapore, it has a lot of amazing food options, and is famous for its satay street. Vendors set up in the evenings to serve grilled skewers in an open-air setting. Personally, I would recommend Lion City Dim Sum stall (see third picture below), for their amazing baos (the sweet custard one is also delicious !). You will also find many stalls selling excellent roti prata there.
Old Chang Kee : This is a snack chain, with curry puffs being their specialty, and trust me you’ll want to try them. The puff pastry is crispy and flaky, the inside is generous and well spiced with curry, making it the perfect snack. Make sure to also try their crab stick, you will come back for more !
Toast Box : This breakfast chain makes delicious kaya toasts and pandan cakes, plus they have stores everywhere in the city.
That’s it for my recommendations on the food specialties to try out in Singapore. We had a wonderful time trying all the best food specialties in Singapore, and I’m sure you will too !
If you plan on visiting Singapore any time soon, check out my Three days itinerary in Singapore, or this article regarding everything to know before going to Singapore.
If you need a custom itinerary, you can fill this form and I’ll make your own personalised itinerary.
