One of our favorite pastimes in Singapore is eating – ask any resident, and they’ll easily rattle off their top favorite local dishes (plus where to find them.) Thanks to our multi-cultural nation, we’ve got the best of Chinese, Malay, Indian, Indonesian, and Peranakan cuisines, with all kinds of cross-cultural creations you’re not likely to find outside of the region.
That being said, it’s near impossible to define what’s actually ours, and there’s bound to be overlap with our neighboring countries (hello Malaysia and Indonesia). But we’re not laying claim to these foods – they’re just some of the more iconic ones familiar to and beloved by Singaporeans. (Oh, and we left out a few letters because, well, let’s not force it when we’ve got so many other delish dishes to focus on.)
So to help you load up your bucket list with our must-try foods, we’ve mapped out all the sought-after local classics to get you going. Prep your stomachs, because this is gonna be one full ride.
Ayam penyet
Translated as “smashed chicken” (to tenderize the fowl) in Javanese, the Indonesian-style fried chicken is typically served with sambal, fried beancurd, tempeh (fermented soybeans), and rice.
Get it: Ayam Penyet Ria at four locations, including #05-22/23 Far East Plaza
Bak chor mee
Its name means “minced meat noodles” in Teochew, and while there are soup versions, the more common ones are bowls of vinegar-tossed noodles with minced pork, sliced pork, pork liver, mushrooms, meat balls, and cubes of deep fried lard.
Get it: Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle at #01-12, Blk 466 Crawford Lane
Bak kut teh
The pork rib soup is an aromatic stew made with herbs and spices for an herbal or peppery base, served with rice or sticks of you tiao (deep fried dough) to soak up all that broth.
Get it: Song Fa Bak Kut Teh at 10 locations, including #01-04 Chinatown Point
Carrot cake
Nope, it’s not the dessert, but instead chunks of “radish cake” made of white radish and steamed rice flour, stir-fried with garlic, eggs, and preserved radish, then seasoned with light or dark soya sauce.
Get it: Fu Ming Cooked Food at #01-49 Redhill Food Centre
Char kway teow
Rice noodles stir fried with light or dark soy sauce and ingredients such as prawns, cockles, bean sprouts, eggs, and Chinese sausage, the dish is tossed in a wok to get that smoky aroma.
Get it: Lao Fu Zi Fried Kway Teow at #01-12 Old Airport Road Food Centre
Chendol
For a refreshing break from the tropical heat, try this dessert of shaved ice topped with lashings of pandan jelly, red beans, coconut milk, and gula melaka (palm sugar).
Get it: Four Seasons Cendol at #01-07, 210 Lor 8 Toa Payoh
Chwee kueh
The steamed rice “cake” sprinkled with chye poh (preserved radish) and served with a side of chilli is usually eaten for breakfast, but you can munch on it anytime, really.
Get it: Bedok Chwee Kueh at six locations, including #01-53 Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre
Crabs
The most famous of the stir-fried crustaceans on the island is the chilli crab, a sweet, savory, and spicy dish drenched in a tomato and chilli gravy – but its black or white pepper alternatives are pretty tasty, too.
Get it: No Signboard Seafood at four locations, including 414 Geylang Rd
Curry puff
A deep fried (or baked) pastry stuffed with curried meat, potato, and the occasional hard-boiled egg, the curry puff has also seen a variation of fillings like sardines, black pepper chicken, durian, otah, and more.
Get it: Rolina Traditional Hainanese Curry Puff at #02-15 Tanjong Pagar Food Centre
Economic rice/noodles
This hawker stalwart is basically a mix of meat and veggies cooked in various ways, which you can get in any combination you want to pair with your rice or vermicelli noodles. Don’t worry if you have no idea what a specific dish is called – just point and nod like the locals do.
Get it: Hao Hua Cooked Food at #02-120 Chinatown Complex Market
Fish head curry
A spicy creation that was first sold in Singapore by Indian immigrant M.J. Gomez in 1949 that combines South Indian curry with fish head, a Chinese delicacy, this clay pot dish is made with tamarind and coconut milk, plus red snapper and veggies like okra.
Get it: Ocean Curry Fish Head at three locations, including 181 Telok Ayer St
Fishball noodles
Served in soup or dry renditions, with an assortment of noodle types, the bowl of fishballs and fishcake (both made of mashed fish), chilli, and lard bits is a hawker classic.
Get it: Joo Chiat Chiap Kee at #01-31, Blk 216 Bedok North Food Centre
Hainanese chicken rice
One of the dishes most associated with Singapore, the plate of poached, roasted, or braised chicken is most defined by its chilli and fragrant rice (cooked in a mix of chicken stock and pandan leaves), and can be found everywhere, from upscale restaurants to humble hawker stalls.
Get it: Loy Kee Chicken Rice at 342 Balestier Rd
Hainanese curry rice
A generous ladleful of curry gravy slopped onto steamed white rice, topped with braised cabbage, pork chop, and other sides, curry rice is messy comfort food at its best.
Get it: Beach Road Scissors Cut Curry Rice at 229 Jalan Besar
Hokkien prawn mee
This is no simple stir-fried noodle dish. The strands of yellow noodles and vermicelli are cooked in a prawn stock, tossed with prawns, squid, pork belly, egg, and fried lard, and served with a dollop of sambal chilli and a splash of lime juice for maximum flavor.
Get it: Tiong Bahru Yi Sheng Fried Hokkien Mee at #01-13 ABC Brickworks Market Food Centre
Ice kacang
In sunny Singapore, a frozen dessert like ice kacang is a godsend on any day. It’s essentially a mound of shaved ice drizzled with sweet syrups and prettified with red beans, sweet corn, grass jelly, and attap chee (palm seed).
Get it: Jin Jin Hot/Cold Dessert at #01-21 ABC Brickworks Market Food Centre
Jemput-Jemput
A traditional Malay snack usually made at home, the fritter is most commonly comprised of mashed bananas, but it can have onion, prawn, or ikan bilis (anchovy) variations as well.
Get it: It’s usually found at Malay hawker kueh stalls (if you’re lucky).
Kaya toast
Like its name suggests, it’s kaya jam (made from coconut milk, eggs, and pandan) thickly slathered on melt-in-your-mouth slices of bread. Have it for breakfast or afternoon tea, and pair it with soft-boiled eggs and a cup of kopi (coffee) or teh (tea) for the full experience.
Get it: Tong Ah Eating House at 35 Keong Saik Rd
Kuehs
A broad term encompassing Nonya, Indonesian, and Malay bite-sized snacks typically made of glutinous rice, these little nuggets come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and textures, with flavors from coconut, pandan, and gula melaka (palm sugar).
Popular kuehs in Singapore include ang ku kueh (red tortoise cake with a sweet filling), kueh dadar (pandan roll stuffed with grated coconut), ondeh ondeh (glutinous rice flour spheres filled with pandan juice and gula melaka), kueh salat (glutinous rice with custard), and kueh lapis (layers of tapioca, rice flour, and coconut milk).
Get it: Tiong Bahru Galicier Pastry at #01-39, Blk 55 Tiong Bahru Rd
Kway chap
Kway chap requires a brave heart (or an iron stomach), because it’s an offal dish paired with rice noodle sheets in a soy sauce gravy. The braised pig’s intestines usually go with sides like hard-boiled eggs, pork belly, beancurd skin, and salted mustard greens.
Get it: 284 Kway Chap at KPT coffee shop, 284 Bishan St 22
Laksa
A spicy coconut milk noodle soup beloved by locals, the combination of thick vermicelli, prawns, cockles, fried beancurd, and fishcake never fails to draw long lines, especially at famous eateries.
Get it: 328 Katong Laksa at various locations, including 216 East Coast Rd
Mee rebus
Blanched yellow egg noodles swim in a thick gravy flavored with coriander and green chillis, with a mix of beef, beansprouts, fried beancurd, and egg.
Get it: Yunos & Family at #01-01, Blk 724 Ang Mo Kio Food Centre
Murtabak
An Indian-Muslim dish with Arab origins, this pancake-like fried flatbread is typically stuffed with egg and minced chicken or mutton. Each bite can be soaked in curry for extra flavor.
Get it: Singapore Zam Zam at 697-699 North Bridge Rd
Nasi lemak
The famous Malay dish is beloved for its base of fragrant rice infused with coconut milk and pandan leaves, garnished with standard sides like fried fish or chicken wing, otak otak (see below), ikan bilis, peanuts, eggs, cucumber slices, and sambal.
Get it: Boon Lay Power Nasi Lemak at #01-106 Boon Lay Place Food Village
Nasi biryani
A plate of long grain basmati rice made flavorful with an abundances of spices, biryani is usually served with meat like mutton or chicken drenched in gravy or curry.
Get it: Bismillah Biryani at four locations, including 48 & 50 Dunlop St
Otak-otak
The fish cake consisting of fish paste, spices, and a mix of garlic, lemongrass, turmeric, and shallots is wrapped in banana leaves before going on the charcoal grill.
Get it: Nam San Mackerel Otah at 263 Joo Chiat Rd
Popiah
A type of non-fried spring roll wrapped in a thin wheat flour or egg crepe, popiah is often stuffed with blanched turnip strips, fried garlic bits, crushed peanuts, beansprouts, egg, shrimp, and layers of chili sauce and “sweet sauce,” the latter of which is usually made from a mixture of sweet soya and soybean paste.
Get it: Good Chance Popiah at two locations, including #01-58, Blk 149 Silat Ave
Peranakan food
Peranakan or Nyonya food has its roots in Chinese, Malay, and Indonesian cuisines, with spice-laden dishes like ayam buah keluak (chicken cooked in tamarind gravy with buah keluak nuts), babi pongteh (braised pork belly or trotter), chap chye (stir-fried vegetables), mee siam (fried vermicelli with gravy), and kueh pie tee (a crisp tart shell filled with vegetables and prawns).
Get it: Violet Oon Singapore at five locations, including #01-205/206 Jewel Changi Airport
Pandan chiffon cake
A light and fluffy treat once named CNN’s choice for Singapore’s best national cake, this sponge cake is flavored with pandan leaves and coconut milk, and can be nibbled on for afternoon tea, dessert, or even breakfast.
Get it: Bengawan Solo at multiple locations, including #B1-02A Raffles City
Putu piring
The humble, disc-shaped Malay steamed rice cake, featured in Netflix’s Street Food series, is an old school treat filled with gula melaka and served on pandan leaves with a sprinkle of grated coconut. Similar to kueh tutu, it also comes in flavors like coconut, peanut, and even durian or chocolate.
Get it: Traditional Haig Road Putu Piring at four locations, including #01-07 Haig Road Cooked Food Centre
Rendang
The spicy Indonesian slow-cooked dish swims with coconut milk and spices, with the addition of chicken or beef, served alongside steamed rice and veggies. And no, it’s not supposed to be crispy.
Get it: Rumah Makan Minang at two locations, including 18 & 18A Kandahar St
Roti prata
A crisp, flaky Indian flatbread made of dough with ghee (clarified butter), roti prata is twirled, flipped, and stretched until paper thin, then fried on a griddle and served with curry or sugar. The traditional offering is either plain or with egg, but contemporary versions can include cheese, chocolate, mushroom, and even durian.
Get it: Springleaf Prata Place at four locations, including 1 Thong Soon Ave
Roti john
The street snack is a baguette-type sandwich stuffed with minced chicken or mutton, onions, and egg, paired with a tomato chilli sauce.
Get it: Al-Azhar Eating Restaurant at two locations, including 11 Cheong Chin Nam Rd
Rojak
A salad without the leafy greens, rojak is a sweet and savory mix of vegetables, fruits, fried dough fritters, and peanuts, made sticky with a sauce of fermented prawn paste.
Get it: Balestier Road Hoover Rojak at #01-06 Whampoa Drive Makan Place
Salted egg stuff
The Chinese delicacy of salted duck eggs dates back to olden days, but eateries around the island can’t seem to get enough of it – from liu sha baos (custard buns) and croissants to pastas and ice cream to lava cakes, cocktails, fried chicken, and everything in between.
Get it: It can be found in all kinds of dishes at cafes and restaurants, and even potato chips
Satay
Beef, mutton, lamb, and chicken are skewered and barbecued over a charcoal grill until tender, then served with a rich, chunky peanut sauce and pieces of ketupat (rice dumpling), cucumber, and onion.
Get it: Chuan Kee Satay at #01-85 Old Airport Road Food Centre
Sliced fish soup
A rainy day favorite, this fish broth can be customized with boiled or deep-fried slices of grouper or batang (mackerel), rice or noodles, and with or without evaporated milk.
Get it: Piao Ji Fish Porridge at #02-100/103 Amoy Street Food Centre
Soya beancurd
Also known as tau huay in Hokkien, the pudding dessert is silky smooth, sweetened with syrup, and served either warm or chilled.
Get it: Rochor Beancurd House at 745 Geylang Rd Lor 39
Wanton mee
A dry egg noodle dish topped with greens, char siew (barbecued pork), and meat or shrimp dumplings, wanton mee is relished with black sauce, chilli, and a spoonful of lard.
Get it: Kok Kee Wanton Mee at 30 Foch Rd
Yong tau foo
At a yong tau foo stall, you get to pick your preferred ingredients from a selection of meat- or fish paste-stuffed tofu, veggies, fishballs, mushrooms, and fried items, before going for the carb of your choice and handing the bowl over to the hawker to cook. Each dish is priced according to what you choose.
Get it: Yong Xiang Xing Dou Fu at #01-1084 People’s Park Food Centre
Zi char dishes
A zi char joint is essentially an affordable Chinese stall that doles out a wide range of rice, noodle, vegetable, meat, and seafood dishes, the most popular of which include hor fun (stir-fried noodles in gravy), oyster omelette, cereal prawns (deep-fried prawns covered in cereal crumbs), har cheong gai (prawn paste fried chicken), and sambal stingray.
Get it: New Ubin Seafood at three locations, including #01-16, 18 Tampines Industrial Cres
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