The Singapore Food Festival is back, and chowing down on good grub is pretty much all you’ll be doing for two weeks in July. Set to the theme of ‘Savour the Past, Taste the Future’ — which we take to mean old school favourites plus experimental takes on modern dishes — the fest features a record line-up of 18 different dining experiences.
From chillin’ out at an outdoor BBQ to hunting down food trucks to enjoying an air-con picnic, there’s plenty in store for you to check out. Here are some of the highlights.
CRAVE! Singapore: July 1-31, various times
Embark on three tours for an insight to different culinary cultures. The spice trail at Little India ($88) takes you through the precinct and ends with a cooking demonstration; little Nyonya kitchen ($98) leads you down streets filled with traditional Peranakan architecture, and the Malay heritage experience ($98) explores the shops and quirks of Kampong Glam.
Dining in the Garden City: July 23-31, 10am-10pm
Head to Gardens by the Bay along Dragonfly Lake for a feast put on by 24 stalls, with dishes like custard buns, coconut ice cream chendol, salted egg fish skin and more.
Hainanese Reign: July 11-30, Mon-Sat noon-2.30pm
Sample dishes like Hainanese pork chop, lamb stew, beef noodles, chicken curry, kueh and more at Mandarin Orchard Singapore’s limited edition buffet ($78/adults, $28/children aged between 6-12).
ION Orchard Culinary Creations 2016: Picnic in Style: July 15-17, 10am-10pm
Activities at this indoor picnic garden include culinary workshops, food tastings, cooking demonstrations and lots more. All you gotta do is spend a minimum of $50 at the mall on food to redeem a free picnic basket worth over $100.
Singapore Favourite Food Village: July 22-31, 5pm-11pm
At the Rochor Event Space (by Bugis MRT), the bustling village offers traditional local food, modern creations (like rainbow churros and chilli crab in a prata bag), and grub by food trucks (chicken rice taco bowl, anyone?).
STREAT: July 15 & 16, 5pm-10.30pm
The main event for the festival features collaborations between chefs to helm a pop-up restaurant that offers a five-course dinner menu inspired by iconic street food. There’ll also be creations by restaurants like Candlenut, The Disgruntled Chef and Char.
Street Hawkers-inspired 5-course cocktail pairing menu: July 18-23, 7pm-closing
Stop by the Tippling Club for a five-course fine dining version of local dishes ($220/person) paired with cocktails, starring items like Katong laksa with tomato raspberry snapper, East Coast chilli crab with chilli rose sour, and Maxwell chicken rice with ginger yuzu buck.
The 50 Cents Fest!: July 30, 3pm-11pm & July 31, 11am-11pm
Who doesn’t love cheap food? Stroll down Chinatown Food Street for a whiff of nostalgia as buskers perform and the price tags on dishes like ice ball, trishaw noodles and kok kok mee range from 50 cents to $2.50.
The Heritage Town Trail: July 16, 23 & 30, 2pm onwards
On this tour ($40/person), you’ll get to sample food at Rumah Kim Choo, explore the neighbourhoods of Katong and Joo Chiat with a guide, and partake in a Nyonya kueh appreciation session.
Open Stoves: July 23 & 24, noon-late
At Timbre+, resident chefs will team up with guests to create new dishes — think prata taco with BBQ pork collar, and curry noodles with salted veggies and lime. There’ll also be live cooking demos, performances by local bands, neon beer pong, games and lots more.
The Singapore Food Festival takes place from Jul 15-31 at various venues.
