Restaurants in Singapore
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328 Katong Laksa
As controversial food subjects go, the source of the original, authentic Katong laksa is one of the most emotive. Several laksa stalls along this stretch have been engaged in Singapore’s infamous ‘Laksa Wars’ for years, bickering over who was first. Decide for yourself. You won’t go wrong at any of them, but this is, commercially at least, the most successful.
reviewed
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Chatterbox
Chatterbox has ditched its old dull lobby digs for floor-to-ceiling 38th-floor views of the city. Its chicken rice is still legendary (both for its taste and high cost). Boiled chicken is plunged into ice then served cold with warm broth, fragrant rice, rich soy, chilli and freshly ground ginger. Singaporeans still flock here to pay 10 times what they’d pay at a hawker centre.
reviewed
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Din Tai Fung
The queues at this Taiwanese restaurant are a testament to its excellent food. While waiting, watch chefs at work through ‘fishbowl’ windows; they painstakingly make 18 folds in the dough used for the xiao long pao (steamed pork dumplings). Delicate dumplings are served steaming fresh in bamboo baskets and explode with flavour in your mouth.
reviewed
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Maxwell Road Hawker Centre
One of Chinatown’s iconic hawker centres, Maxwell Rd is best viewed at lunchtime, when it’s heaving with people, though that might not be the best time to be a foreigner wandering bewildered among the hundreds of stalls. Its most famous resident is the Tian Tian chicken rice stall (No 10).
reviewed
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E
Killiney Kopitiam
The original local coffee joint, which spawned a whole host of imitators and an empire of franchisees, is still the place for breakfast. The waiter yells your order at ear-splitting volume and the coffee – shaken by the resulting seismic disturbance – inevitably arrives erupted into the saucer.
reviewed
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Old Airport Rd Food Centre
One of the great things about eating in Singapore is that the most unappealing-looking places often house the most revered hawkers. This hidden nook boasts Matter Rd Seafood (sign is famously misspelled, but famous for white-pepper crab), Toa Payoh Rojak and much beloved fried Hokkien prawn noodle.
reviewed
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Crystal Jade Kitchen
This busy, carpeted Cantonese place is one of many reliable Crystal Jades across the city. There's an extensive numbered 'I want that one' menu (try the congee) and several set menus.
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Tiffin Room
A Raffles institution to rank with the Long Bar and Bar & Billiard Room, this priceless dining room, complete with lazy ceiling fans, takes our prize for best buffet in town. The largely North Indian food is superb and the temptation to overeat almost irresistible. The tourist-friendly reduced chilli content is the only disappointment.
reviewed
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Kinara
Take a riverside table or eat inside the renovated shophouse, decked-out like a haveli (ornately decorated Indian residence) with copper, iron, teak and sandstone. Try the tandoori hari machli aftab (boneless fish tikka marinated and cooked in the oven).
reviewed
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Komala Vilas
This McDonald’s of Indian fare serves decent, cheap vegetarian meals all day long. Try some spicy samosas (stuffed pastries), or order the thali. Its outlet at 82 Serangoon Rd sells sugary Indian sweets.
reviewed
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Café Iguana
Finding good Mexican in Singapore is like looking for El Dorado, but if you're itching for fajitas and nachos, this breezy riverside place just might be your city of gold. The margarita jugs kick like a mule.
reviewed
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Lau Pa Sat
Steamed dim sum, chilli crab and sizzling satay under a magnificent wrought-iron structure.
reviewed
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Zam Zam
These guys have been here since 1908, so we figure they know what they’re doing. Tenure hasn’t bred complacency – the touts try to herd passers-by through the door as frenetic chefs whip up murtabaks (flaky, flat bread filled with mutton, chicken or vegetables).
reviewed
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Hong Lim Complex
If you're sick of bumping elbows with tourists, head for this pocket of old-time Chinatown, where 'uncles' sit around watching the world go by and foreign faces still draw attention. The food centre is routinely overflowing with people - try the famous Outram Park Fried Kway Teow (Block 531A, 02-18), its Cuppage rival (Block 536, 01-129). If the hawker centre looks too full or intimidating, try Wuhan Food House (01-33).
reviewed
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Erich's Wuerstelstand
An eccentric Austrian hawking very low-priced sausages and sauerkraut from a stall in Chinatown - it's hardly a surprise this place has achieved a certain fame. And deservedly so: what could be better than a hearty sausage and beer (from across the lane) after a hot day in the city? Check out the German and Austrian breads and hearty Central European meals at his Backstube and Imbiss outlets opposite.
reviewed
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Island Creamery
Small and nondescript, with only a handful of tables, Island Creamery serves ice creams and sorbets that are the stuff of legend. Local flavours are a speciality, including teh tarik (Indian spiced tea), cendol and the refreshing Tiger Beer sorbet. Others, like burnt caramel, black forest, Horlicks and berry are just plain superb. Be prepared to eat standing up.
reviewed
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Ya Kun Kaya Toast
Though a large chain of Ya Kun outlets has spread across the island, this is by far the most atmospheric and the closest to the original. It’s packed with office workers during the week; try to get an inside table to watch the brusque staff in action. Polite they are not, but at least they won’t tell you to have a nice day, or ask if you want fries with that.
reviewed
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Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant
Order with haste so you can start enjoying 60th-floor views. Standout dishes like braised abalone with mushrooms and smooth beancurd with wolfberries will temporarily tear your eyes away from the windows. Ask for a tea performance: tea masters assume martial-arts stances while pouring the drink out of a long-spouted teapot. There’s a branch at Parkroyal Beach Rd.
reviewed
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Garibaldi
Swish, sequestered Garibaldi is the pick of Singapore’s Italian crop (and Singapore tries hard) : Italian chefs and debonair staff, and over 150 Italian wines. The menu is classico; try the antipasti, then the homemade tortellini di granchio e cozze (handmade crab tortellini with mussels, zucchini and saffron sauce).
reviewed
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Guan Hoe Soon
This modest brick-fronted restaurant is the oldest Peranakan restaurant in Singapore (established 1953). Lee Kuan Yew gets his takeaway here. The definitive Peranakan ayam buah keluak (chicken with black nut) is a standout. Ask for the babi panggang (charcoal-grilled pork) on weekends.
reviewed
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Au Jardin
The dinner degustation is filled with wagyu, Alaskan crab, foie gras and all the good things in life. The genteel garden-house setting helps calm the nerves when the bill arrives. Come for Sunday brunch. Why? Your mind and stomach will turn to mush with the choice of 14 Provençal-inspired buffet dishes.
reviewed
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Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro
When your meal is lying on a bed of ice, or swimming around in a tank by your ankles, you can be pretty sure it’s fresh. Order up the well-known fish and chips, or try one of the more sophisticated offerings, or go on Tuesday, when oysters are $1 each. You can also buy fish to take home.
reviewed
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Riders Cafe
It’s a S$10 taxi ride to get here from Orchard Rd but where else in Singapore can you chow down on eggs Benedict while watching horses being groomed and trained? The nonair-conditioned setting, in an utterly charming retro black-and-white colonial bungalow, completes the experience.
reviewed
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Banana Leaf Apolo
Supremely tourist-friendly restaurant famed for its fish-head curry (dig into the delish meat on those fishy cheeks!). Can’t face a fish face? Standards like rogan josh (tomato and red-pepper lamb curry) and lamb vindaloo (spicy Central or South Indian curry) are less confronting.
reviewed
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El-Sheik
Desert hues wash over this up-market Lebanese option on the fringe of Kampong Glam. If the English Premier League in the front room proves distracting, take your tub of blue Mediterranean honey (!) and jaw-clenchingly strong coffee and head for the lantern-lit roof terrace.
reviewed
