Singapore Little Black Book

Eat
Discover why Singapore is one of the most exciting culinary
destinations on the planet
Eat: Hawker food
The food is fantastic and made to order; prices are rock-bottom (a dish plus drink
costs about $5); and they’re noisy, vibrant and bustling warrens of local life – an
antidote to the sanitised, manicured side of Singapore. Hawker centres are a treasure
trove of taste sensations, gathering under one roof a world of cuisines – Chinese,
Malay, Peranakan, Indian, Eurasian.
Hawker centres have been around since the late 1950s, often attached to wet
markets selling fresh produce. But it wasn’t until the government clamped down
on street food (mainly for hygiene reasons) in the early 1980s that they became
ubiquitous, each neighbourhood having its own designated centre. There are around
120 hawker centres in Singapore, each sheltering anywhere from 50 to 100 or more
food stalls, often family-run and each specialising in a few dishes, drinks or desserts.
All stalls get a cleanliness rating (A to D) posted on the front of their stall.
Table sharing is the norm at a hawker centre. To reserve (or ‘chope’) a space, locals
sometimes place a packet of tissues on a seat while they’re ordering their food, but see
right for a detailed guide to hawker ettiquette.
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The fine art
of ordering at a
hawker centre
No reservations
Find your table before you
order. Communal sharing of
the tables is usual here so
there’ll be no ‘table for
two’. You could have someone
from the group sit at the
table while others go to
order. Take note of your
table number before you head
to a food stall to order.
Decisions, decisions
Do a scout of the stalls to
see what takes your fancy
according to menu and price.
By all means order from more
than one stall. It’s not a
bad idea to check out the
cleanliness rating on the
front of each stall when
making your final selection.
The waiting game
To place your order, join
a queue and wait for the
cook’s assistant to call
you.
Help yourself
If the stall bears the sign
‘self-service’ it means you
need to take your plate to
your table yourself. Other
stalls will ask for the
number of your table and
deliver the food to you.
Cash on delivery
If it is being delivered,
you pay when your food
arrives.
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Top 5
Hawker centres
Makan Sutra
Gluttons Bay
1 Makan Sutra Gluttons Bay
Offering a spectacular view of the Marina Bay
skyline, this open-air, moon-lit hawker centre
stocks a wide range of famous local treats
such as fried carrot cake, oyster omelette,
chilli crab and roti jala (lacy pancakes
served with curry). 8 Raffles Avenue.
2 Zion Riverside Food Centre
Slurp sweet Asian desserts at
Mohammed Sultan Rd Cheng Tng (stall
32) or rojak (spicy mixed vegetable and
fruit salad) at Clementi Brothers Rojak
(stall 21). Cnr Zion Rd & Ganges Ave.
3 Tiong Bahru
After you spend time sniffing around the
fresh produce section, eat roast pork
from Tiong Bahru Roasted Pig Specialist
(stall 02-38) and fluffy pancakes from
Mian Jian Kueh, a few stalls down at No.
34. Cnr Lim Liak St & Seng Poh Rd.
4 Chomp Chomp
Arguably one of Singapore’s finest is,
sadly, only accessible by car, but jump
in a cab and the tastiest grilled stingray
awaits (stall 1). In the evening, bag a
seat on the timber deck facing the road;
it’s cooler there. 20 Kensington Park Rd.
5 Maxwell Road
Recently renovated, the frantic hawker
centre in the heart of Chinatown threatens
sensory overload – the congee at Zhen
Zhen is superb. 11 South Bridge Rd.