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10 Foods You Must Eat in Singapore

10 Foods You Must Eat in Singapore

I know that Jewel Changi has already opened, and being the center of four airport terminals means that its location is highly accessible wherever you are coming from. And that is the whole point of Jewel, so you don’t have to go to the CBD area just to grab your favorite foods.

But still you have to come to the city where all the fun happens, just to eat the best that Singapore has to offer. Singapore is not only a culinary melting pot for Malaysian, Malay and Indonesian cuisines, but also for a lot of Chinese dishes coming from Hokkien, Teochew and Hakka regions.

I’m leaving out the usual chili crabs and cereal prawns. Those are basic.

Warning: Tons of noodles in this list.

1. Char Kway Teow

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For those of you who are new to noodle language, kway teow is a kind of flat rice noodles, and is a favorite in Malaysia and Singapore alike. The sauteed mix of kway teow absolutely baffles me, but often cockles, char siew and beansprouts make up this dish. You can try one at Vivo City’s Food Republic, all for a cheap $5.90 for a small portion.

Where to eat this dish: Food Republic @ Vivo City, 1 Harbourfront Walk, #03-01 VivoCity, Singapore 098585

2. Hong Kong style noodles

One of my favorite noodles is this egg-based HK style noodles and is almost my quintessential dish whenever I come to Singapore or virtually anywhere that offers this noodle style on their menu. You can choose between Char Siew, Roast Pork or even Roast Duck in hawker centers.

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10 foods you must eat in singapore 9

While this list isn’t exhaustive, this is your teaser and the tip of the iceberg of the best foods in Singapore.

Where to eat this dish: Kam’s Roast | Hawker Chan Liao Fan

3. Lei Cha

Lei Cha or Thunder Tea is a dish that originated in the Hakka region. This is perhaps the healthiest dish in this post. Often, Lei Cha is accompanied with tea leaves soup that you use to pour over your rice dish. The rice dish is typically made up of various vegetables, tea leaves and peanuts, and often Lei Cha can already fulfill your fiber needs of the day! If you don’t like rice, you can choose noodles. But personal preference, I love rice with tea leaves soup.

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10 foods you must eat in singapore 8a

Where to eat this dish: Living Wholesome Vegetarian, 51 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, #02-188, Singapore 588172

4. Singaporean Laksa

Laksa is quintessential to Singapore. You cannot go to Singapore without eating Laksa! There are tons of places where you can grab a bowl, but I would recommend Wangz Laksa set. It comes with a cup of coffee and kaya toast bread that’s surely going to fill you up.

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Where to eat this dish: Wangz Cafe, 68 Orchard Road, #B2-35/36 Plaza, Singapore 238839

5. Kaya Toast Set

Do your breakfast like a Singaporean and grab a Kaya Toast Set. Kaya Toast is spread with Kaya spread (which is made of coconut) and butter that’s crunchy and delicious in every bite. It usually comes with 2 soft boiled eggs. Put drizzle of soy sauce (just a little bit!) on your eggs. It’s easy as that. Thinking of getting coffee? I recommend Kopi O, which is coffee with sugar, or Kopi-C, which is with coffee and condensed milk.

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Of course, just go to any hawker center and you’ll be just fine.

Where to eat this dish: Toast Box

6. Prawn Mee

Hokkien Prawn Mee is usually one of the recommended dishes in Singapore and if you’re wondering to get one, you can head to Da Shi Jia at Killiney Road (Michelin Bib Gourmand 2023). At Killiney Road is where you can find the second generation of hawker centers, or what they’re saying is the future of hawker centers in case the older generations are unable to continue (highly unlikely). But this evolution shouldn’t stop them from making your tastebuds water.

Prawn Mee has typical bee hoon and thick noodles but it’s the broth that makes it really heartwarming to the stomach. I recommend putting sambal on it!

Don’t forget to order the crispy Fried Beancurd Skin Prawn Roll. And don’t share with anyone else. You wouldn’t want to.

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Da Shi Jia Big Prawn Mee

Where to eat this dish: Da Shi Jia Big Prawn Mee, 89 Killiney Rd, Singapore 239534 (Michelin Bib Gourmand 2021, 2022)

7.Rojak

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A traditional fruit and vegetable salad dish mixed with a sauce that’s made of palm sugar, tamarind, peanuts and chili, Rojak typically has Java apples, pineapples, cabbages and cucumbers. The result is an unforgettable and tangy dish that can only be found in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. I asked mine to be added with tofu and you tiao, because here the spongy textures absorb a lot of the sweet and sour sauce. Yum.

Where to eat this dish: Food Republic @ Vivo City, 1 Harbourfront Walk, #03-01 VivoCity, Singapore 098585

8. Chili Ban Mee

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Chili Ban Mee’s noodles differ a lot from the rest because of its heavy and thick noodles that normally doesn’t absorb quite the sauce. Usually you can have some meatballs, fish balls and ground meat on it but it can get really dry. A good ban mee has a nice soft boiled egg on it and the noodles envelope the flavors. Also don’t forget to add dried chili. It’s the kick you need for this awesome dish.

Where to eat this dish: Food Republic @ Vivo City, 1 Harbourfront Walk, #03-01 VivoCity, Singapore 098585

9. Salted Egg Fish Skin

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No I’m not talking about Irvine’s salted egg chips that had some lizard stealing a bite in their famous chips. These are the real Salted Egg Fish Skin that only you can get in dimsum restaurants in Singapore. It’s so addictive but make sure you share with your friends. Fried and salted egg foods are packed with cholesterol.

Where to eat this dish: Crystal Jade Kitchen, 2 Lor Mambong, Holland Village, Singapore 277671

10. Fried Fish Bee Hoon with X.O. Brandy

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Yes, you heard it correctly. This milky noodle soup has some X.O. brandy in it, but won’t be enough to make you wasted. For a rainy weather, this releases all the internal heat in your body and make you sweat, which is really good for your health. I’m not much of a fan of thick glassy bee hoon. They’re damn slippery but for anyone on a diet, this shouldn’t make you gain weight.

Where to eat this dish: Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon, 19A Dover Cres, Singapore 131019