11. Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle
You’ve heard of Hawker Chan right? The street food stall that was awarded a Michelin star in 2016? Well, what many people don’t know is that two hawker stalls were awarded Michelin stars that year, the other being Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle. I think Hawker Chan got all the press because they were cheaper so it made for a better story.
In any case, most of the hawker stalls we went to are popular so as expected, many had long queues. This legendary noodle shop on Crawford Lane had the longest by a mile. I waited over an hour to get this bowl of bak chor mee, which is a vinegar and spicy sambal pork noodle dish made even more delicious with lard.
Served dry with a light broth on the side, the bak chor mee was topped with a myriad of ingredients like thin pork slices, meatballs, liver, dumplings, minced pork, and a sun-dried sliver of fish. All the toppings were wonderful and added much texture and flavor to the dish, but what makes this bowl of noodles really sing is the vinegar. It gives it a uniquely tangy and spicy flavor that’s unlike anything we’ve ever had. It was delicious and definitely worth the wait.
I wasn’t kidding about the line. Though it may not look very long, it moved at a turtle’s pace but no one seemed to mind. We ate here before they were awarded a Michelin Star so I can only imagine how long the lines must be now. Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle is a heritage stall that’s been open since 1935.
Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle
Address: 66 Crawford Ln, #01-12, Singapore 190466
Operating Hours: 9:30AM-9PM, Tue-Sun (closed Mondays)
What We Paid: SGD 6 per bowl of bak chor mee
How to Get There: Take the subway to Lavender MRT station. Head northeast on Kallang Rd. Turn right on Crawford St. Turn right on North Bridge Rd. Turn right on Crawford Lane and the food court will be on your right.
12. Five Star Hainanese Cuisine
Five Star specializes in Hainanese chicken rice, which is one of Singapore’s core dishes. You can’t visit this country without trying it at least once.
Hainanese chicken rice is prepared by poaching whole chickens at sub-boiling temperatures. The resulting stock is then skimmed off while some of the fat and liquid, along with ginger and garlic, is used to cook the rice. The result is an oily, flavorful rice sometimes known as “oily rice”.
Hainanese chicken looks colorless and bland but it’s actually very tasty. Served with a trio of dipping sauces that include pureed ginger, kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), and chili sauce, it’s an unexpected explosion of flavor that’s become one of my favorite dishes.
Five Star uses kampong chicken which is a breed native to Indonesia and Malaysia.
It seems that every Singaporean has their favorite Hainanese Chicken place. We went to Five Star based on my friend’s recommendation. He’s been living in Singapore for many years and he loves to eat so I trust his judgement. He was right. The Hainanese chicken rice here was delicious.
Five Star Hainanese Cuisine
Address: 419 River Valley Rd, Singapore 248318
Operating Hours: 11AM-2AM, daily
What We Paid: SGD 16 for the five star kampong chicken (half order)
How to Get There: Take the subway to Orchard MRT station. Head southwest on Paterson Rd. This will become Paterson Hill. Turn right on Grange Rd then make an immediate left on Hoot Kiam Rd. Turn right on River Valley Road and Five Star Hainanese Cuisine will be on your left.
13. Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice
Like many people, Ren and I are fans of the late great Anthony Bourdain. Any place he features instantly goes on our itinerary. Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice is one of those places. According to him, the rice at Tian Tian is exceptionally fragrant and flavorsome, and is delicious even on its own.
We’ve had Hainanese chicken rice many times before and this was indeed one of the best I’ve ever had. I enjoyed it even more than Five Star. Apart from the flavorful rice, the owners say their secret is in the sauce (which was indeed very tasty), but what I remember most was the texture of the chicken. It was perfect – soft, succulent, and very juicy.
Open since 1987, Tian Tian has become one of Singapore’s most famous chicken rice stalls. It’s a Michelin Bib Gourmand awardee and beloved by both locals and tourists alike. In 2013, Chef Gordon Ramsay challenged Tian Tian to a culinary showdown to see who could make the better chicken rice. Tian Tian won.
Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice
Address: 1 Kadayanallur St, #01-10/11 Maxwell Food Centre, Singapore 069184
Operating Hours: 10AM-5:30PM, daily
What We Paid: SGD 3.50 per plate of chicken rice (small)
How to Get There: Take the subway to Chinatown MRT station. Walk east on Cross St then make a right on South Bridge Rd. Walk straight and Maxwell Food Centre will be on your left.
14. 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles
Also known as hae mee or Hokkien mee, prawn mee is another noodle soup dish that’s popular in Singapore. 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles is said to serve some of the best prawn mee in the city. According to Dr. Tay, the owner is a third generation hawker whose grandfather started selling prawn mee from a pushcart in the 1920s.
Prawn mee consists of egg noodles served in a dark, flavorful soup stock with prawns, pork slices, fish cake, and bean sprouts. It’s topped with fried shallots and spring onions and is usually served with chopped red chilis in a light soy sauce with lime.
You can choose between a dry and a soup version. Dr. Leslie Tay recommended both but we went with the latter based on his slightly higher rating. (4.25 vs 4.5) The soup was bold and delicious with a deeply flavorful broth that tasted heavily of prawn.
Like Fatimah Stall Ar Rahman Royal Prata and Heng Gi Goose and Duck Rice, 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles is located at Tekka Centre food court in Little India.
545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles
Address: 665 Buffalo Rd, #01-326 Tekka Food Centre, Singapore 210665
Operating Hours: 6:30AM-2PM, Mon-Fri (closed on Saturdays and Sundays)
What We Paid: SGD 3 per bowl of prawn mee soup
How to Get There: Take the subway to Little India MRT station. Exit the station and make your way to the food court of Tekka Centre and look for stall #01-326.
15. Huat Huat BBQ Chicken Wings
We chanced upon Huat Huat and their bbq chicken wings at the Rasapura Masters food court in Marina Bay Sands. They were delicious so I wanted to add them to this list as a non-local dish you may want to try in Singapore. Only when I saw this list of the best bbq chicken wings in the city did I learn that they were actual Singaporean hawker fare! Coolness!
Unlike the wings I’m accustomed to, the skin on these bbq chicken wings are crisp but delicately thin. Paper thin in fact. It feels like it was stretched taut over the wing and crisped! There’s no heavy batter or thick sauce, just flavorful marinated chicken wings cooked over charcoal and served with lime juice and a spicy chili sauce. They’re really, really good and highly addictive.
As described, we ate at the Rasapura Masters food court branch but Huat Huat BBQ Chicken Wings has several outlets throughout the city.
Huat Huat BBQ Chicken Wings
Address: Huat Huat has a few branches in Singapore.
Operating Hours: Varies per branch
What We Paid: SGD 6.60 for 3 pcs
16. Red House Seafood Restaurant
Often referred to as the country’s national dish, chili crab is synonymous with Singapore and is considered one of its greatest culinary inventions. It’s probably the country’s single most important dish.
Chili crab is prepared by stir-frying crabs — commonly mud crabs — in a thick, tomato- and chili-based sauce. Egg is often added to make the sauce thicker and richer. Despite its name, chili crabs aren’t very spicy at all. They taste sweet and tangy with just a hint of spiciness.
If you were to have just one dish in Singapore, something to represent the cuisine as a whole, then it should probably be this.
Chili crab is best eaten with fried mantou bread to mop up the sauce. The fluffiness of the mantou with the sweet tanginess of the chili sauce was heavenly. The sauce is very flavorful so be sure to try it with some plain rice as well.
The best part of any crab? The sinful roe in its shell, of which ours had tons. Instead of the usual Sri Lankan mud crabs, Red House uses Scottish brown crabs which are said to be meatier and less pungent.
According to my friend who recommended Red House to us, chili crabs are delicious throughout Singapore so it doesn’t matter as much where you go. He specifically recommended this restaurant because they’re equally known for their black pepper crabs, which we’ll definitely try on our next visit to Singapore.
Red House Seafood Restaurant
Address: Red House Seafood Restaurant has three branches in Singapore.
Operating Hours: Varies per branch
What We Paid: SGD 138.60 for one chili crab, 2 pcs of fried mantou, mee goreng, rice, and drinks
17. Don Signature Crab
I love crab. It’s one of my favorite things in the world so any dish in which it figures prominently is definitely going on our itinerary.
Don Signature Crab is known for their crab bee hoon, a popular Singaporean rice vermicelli dish made with whole mud crabs cooked in seafood stock. The dish shot to international fame after Anthony Bourdain tried it at Sin Huat Eating House and included the restaurant in his list of 13 places to eat before you die.
Naturally, I wanted to eat it at Sin Huat Eating House but I was put off by its many negative reviews calling the place overpriced and poor value for money. Thankfully, I learned about Don Signature Crab from this article listing 15 of the best crab bee hoon restaurants in Singapore.
Crab bee hoon is available in a soup or dry version. The soup version is served with broth in a claypot while the dry version, which is what I had, is prepared by stir-frying the bee hoon in a wok before braising it in broth.
The crab is usually the star of any dish but in this one, it may be the noodles. Sweet and seafood-y, vermicelli noodles do a wonderful job of soaking up all that delicious crab flavor. The dry version comes with a ton of crunchy vegetables as well, which according to the owner, are bought fresh from the market daily. Delicious!
Because the dish is made with whole crab, it can be expensive which is why I chose Don Signature Crab. I was in Singapore by myself so I didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg for it. At Don Signature Crab, the smallest order of crab bee hoon goes for just SGD 25 which can be good enough for two people.
Don Signature Crab
Address: Block 206, Toa Payoh North 1, #01-1197, Singapore 310206
Operating Hours: 12NN-8:30PM, daily
What We Paid: SGD 25 – Crab bee hoon (small)
How to Get There: Take the subway to Braddell MRT station. After exiting the station, make a left then another left to cut through the apartment building complex. Don Signature Crab is in a small hawker center at the bottom of the hill.
18. The Banana Leaf Apolo
The Banana Leaf Apolo is a legendary restaurant in Little India that’s been open since 1974. They serve many delicious dishes, one of their most popular being fish head curry. A Singaporean dish with Indian and Chinese origins, it’s prepared by stewing a whole sea bream’s head in a Kerala-style curry with assorted vegetables and a secret blend of eighteen spices.
Served on banana leaves, the fish head curry is available in small, medium, or large sizes. We got the medium which was more than enough for both of us. The entire fish head was excellent but the best parts are the eyeballs (pictured below), jaw, and tongue.
I believe this was the fish’s tongue. Be sure to pair this dish with plenty of rice and/or naan bread. The curry has a sourness and depth of flavor that’s absolutely wonderful.
The Banana Leaf Apolo
Address: 54 Race Course Rd, Singapore 218564
Operating Hours: 10:30AM-10:30PM, daily
What We Paid: SGD 28 per fish head curry (medium)
How to Get There: Take the subway to Little India MRT station. Head northeast on Race Course Rd toward Buffalo Rd and you’ll see The Banana Leaf Apolo on your right.
19. Ayam Penyet Ria
Ayam Penyet Ria is a restaurant chain that serves Indonesian food. Their signature dish, ayam penyet, literally translates to “smashed fried chicken”. It’s prepared by lightly pounding fried chicken with a mortar and pestle (or mallet) to make it softer. It’s then topped with kremes (crispy spiced flakes) and served with rice, sambal, cucumber slices, fried tofu, and tempeh (soybean cake).
I learned about this restaurant when I was searching for a good place to eat along Orchard Road. Ayam Penyet Ria fit the bill nicely. The chicken tasted great but I’m not sure it was softer than “unsmashed” chicken. Ours seemed a bit dry as well. Loved the sides and the texture of those crispy flakes.
Ayam Penyet Ria
Address: Ayam Penyet Ria has four branches in Singapore.
Operating Hours: Varies per branch
What We Paid: SGD 8.20 per order of smashed fried chicken with rice
20. MA Deen Biasa
Ren’s been wanting to try this bone marrow dish for the longest time. When KF Seetoh described MA Deen Biasa’s sup tulang as “the most desperately delicious”, I knew I found the right place to try it. Served with slices of baguette to mop up the sauce, hunks of bone with marrow are cooked with spices and tomato paste to create this devilish-looking dish. Don’t bother ordering any rice. The bread is perfect with it.
Be warned, this dish is delicious but incredibly MESSY. It’s impossible to slice off the meat and tendon with utensils so you’ll need to hold the bones in your hands and gnaw at them with your teeth. Be sure to have a fresh packet of napkins ready cause you’ll need them to wipe the tomato sauce off your hands, face, hair, shirt, pants, and shoelaces.
The bones used in this dish are narrow so they give you straws to suck the marrow out with. This is one of the tastiest and most fun dishes we’ve had so far in Singapore so I strongly recommend you try it.
MA Deen Biasa
Address: 95/97 Jln Sultan, Singapore 198999
Operating Hours: Open 24 hrs
What We Paid: SGD 20 per medium order
How to Get There: Take the subway to Lavender MRT station. Head southwest on Kallang Rd toward Kallang Walk. This will become Victoria St. Turn left on Jln Sultan and MA Deen Biasa will be on your right.