Chinatown Singapore Food Tour: Things You Must Eat in Singapore

There are so many things you must eat in Singapore and the best way to experience it all is on a Singapore food tour in Chinatown. Joining a food tour in Singapore was the perfect solution for me since I was solo but had an ever-growing list of local foods I needed to try. Of course, you could try all of the Singapore must-eats on your own, but one person can only eat so much.

When I initially started planning my trip, I had no idea that Singapore was such a hot foodie destination. After learning more about the island city-state, it makes sense that it would be home to such a vast selection of local dishes. The population is ethnically diverse, made up of mostly Chinese, Malays, and Indians. This multicultural mix of people has created an incredible food culture in Singapore.

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A Little More About Singapore

Singapore is a relatively small country. With a population of 5.7 million people, the entire nation’s headcount is still a few million under that of New York City, to put things in perspective. To paint the picture a bit more, Singapore’s land area is 277 square miles, while New York City covers approximately 304 square miles. That said, Singapore’s size is in no way reflective of its diverse, extensive food culture.

Before I get into the details of my food tour and the things you must eat in Singapore, I want to share a few thoughts on traveling to Singapore and my own personal experience with Singapore as a travel destination. Singapore was not at the top of my travel wishlist when I planned my trip there, it started as an unexpected opportunity that came my way.

A good friend of mine contacted me to let me know he’d be traveling around Southeast Asia for a month. Since I have a full-time job in San Francisco, I could only afford to go meet up with him for a portion of the trip. With timing and the way things worked out, the dates I’d be available to go aligned with when he would be in Singapore. While I hadn’t ever thought about going there before, I’m not one to turn down a new travel experience so I figured, why not?

As I do before every trip I embark on, I begin casually telling people my travel plans and hoping that some solid travel tips will come my way. I have to say, I was really disappointed with the comments, and so-called advice, that people were giving me on Singapore. With the exception of the one friend I have who was born and raised in Singapore, most people who had travelled there were giving me very meh attitudes when I’d enthusiastically ask for places to go and things to eat in Singapore.

Some people told me, “there’s not really any culture in Singapore.” I also heard things like, “Singapore is only good for shopping.” I really started wondering if I made a poor decision by choosing to meet my friend during the Singapore portion of his trip. Everyone seemed so…underwhelmed.

If you’re wondering where I’m going with this, it does connect back to the entire purpose of this post, which is food in Singapore. Now that I have spent nearly a week exploring and eating my way around Singapore, I’m truly shocked to recall that people told me things like, “there’s not really any culture in Singapore” So for one, I continue to learn who I should and should not accept travel advice from. But secondly, I want to share with everyone reading this that I found that statement to be sooo false. It could not be farther from the truth.

Yes, Singapore has a lot of shopping and a lot of malls. And if you go there with the intent to only shop at designer stores that you can find in every other major city in the world, then sure, I guess you aren’t going to have a very culturally-unique experience. But please, I beg you not to do that! Singapore is so full of culture, ethnic diversity, and beautiful places of worship. At the center of all the beautiful diversity in Singapore lies the vibrant food culture. See, I told you I would connect this back to food.

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Singapore Hawker Centres

The Chinatown Complex Food Centre and Maxwell Food Centre are two Singapore food hot spots that the Singapore City Explorers tour focuses on. If you are traveling in Singapore or planning a trip, you will at some point see and hear the term hawker centre. Hawker centres are dining areas that are in an open-air setting. In a hawker centre, you will find groups of tables in a very casual setting, surrounded by countless food stalls serving more varieties of food than your stomach has space for.

As an American, I’d visually compare a hawker center to a food court you might find in a mall or shopping center, but with way better quality food options. Some of the country’s most popular local dishes are found in hawker centres, and at incredibly affordable prices. Singapore is not necessarily known for being a cheap country, I actually found it to be much more expensive than most Asian nations. The Singapore hawker centres are an easy way to eat authentic, local dishes on a budget. The meals are so affordable, I was told, that the local residents actually eat out for most meals because it’s nearly as cheap as cooking their own meals at home.

The Chinatown Complex Food Centre

Located in the heart of Chinatown, the Chinatown Complex Food Centre is one of the best places to try local dishes in Singapore. With over 200 food stalls, this is the largest hawker centre in Singapore. The food selection is so vast, it could be a bit overwhelming if you are a newbie like I was. Upon entering I was immediately thankful that I had Rene to guide me through the stalls and help me pick and choose between the hundreds of food choices.

I visited the Chinatown Complex Food Centre around 2:30 in the afternoon and was surprised by how busy it was. Since I was there in between lunch and dinner I had expected it to be much quieter, but I was quickly under the impression that this is the type of place that is constantly busy. I was also impressed, and pleased, by how many locals were here dining. Sometimes when traveling, I find myself in areas where it’s apparent that the only people dining in a given restaurant are tourists. Oh, how I loathe eateries that are tourist traps. It was so refreshing to see that was not the case this foodie paradise.

Maxwell Food Centre

The Chinatown Complex Food Centre is made up of multiple levels. In the basement level lives the Chinatown Wet Market. After indulging in a number of local dishes upstairs, Rene took our group to the bottom floor to explore the wet market. The wet market is extremely popular amongst Singaporeans for all of their shopping needs. I couldn’t believe all of the items that were available at the market! There are countless vendors selling just about every cooking ingredient you could imagine, making it a convenient one-stop-shop for local residents. Even though I wasn’t there to shop, being that I was staying in a hotel without a kitchen, it was such a fun, cultural experience to wander through the market and look at the variety of items being sold.

The second round of eating on Singapore City Explorer’s Chinatown Food Tour takes place at the Maxwell Food Centre. A bit smaller than the Chinatown Complex Food Centre, the Maxwell Food Centre also appears to be very popular with locals. Anthony Bourdain has played a role in making this place famous after declaring his love for Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice. If you want to try the famous chicken rice, get ready to wait in line. But do not fret, there are plenty of other worthy dishes to dine on.

My tour group and I visited Maxwell Food Centre in the early evening, a few hours after our initial feast at the Chinatown Complex. Luckily, we strolled the streets and learned more about the history of Chinatown after our first eating session. This tour is so generous with the quantity food, we definitely needed some time and light cardio in between the two hawker centre visits. You should plan to show up hungry and you will definitely end the tour completely stuffed.

Since we were ready to start snacking again, Rene had us sit at a table while he slowly appeared back with dish after dish for us to try. Just when we thought we’d seen it all, he’d come back with yet another plate. By the time we were done at Maxwell Food Centre, I was able to try all of the popular local dishes that I set out to experience in Singapore. That said, I now need to share more information on the dishes that I loved (which is pretty much everything that I tried.)

Top Things You Must Eat in Singapore

f]The list of must-eat things in Singapore ended up being longer than I expected it to be. In retrospect, I realize I didn’t know much of anything about Singapore food culture before I planned my trip. I’d never really looked into Singapore as a travel destination, but an unexpected opportunity came up for me to meet a good friend there, and I’m not one to pass up new travel experiences. I was ecstatic to learn that there were so many notable dishes for me to try on my trip. And while I’m positive that I didn’t get to try all of the local dishes worth tasting in Singapore, I do want to share a few of my personal favorites that I was fortunate to experience on the Chinatown Food Tour.

Chicken Rice

I’ll just dive straight into it and highlight what is, rightfully, one of the most popular dishes in Singapore. Chicken rice is said to be one of Singapore’s national dishes. I’m really not sure how official that is, but this is what I was told by multiple locals during my visit. The chicken is prepared in a traditional Hainanese method, as the dish was adapted from early Chinese immigrants, and the rice is cooked in the chicken stock, resulting in it being incredibly flavorful and delicious.

Like, seriously—it’s the best-tasting rice. I would gladly eat just the rice alone for every meal of the day. Please do not visit Singapore without trying chicken rice. I spotted this dish being served all over the place, but the hawker centres are the perfect place to experience it. As I mentioned earlier, Tian Tian is the chicken rice that Bourdain praises, but other food stalls serve drool-worthy chicken rice, too.

Carrot Cake

It’s not what you’re thinking. I’m going to assume you’re imagining the rich, moist spice cake, including shredded carrots, that we often eat as dessert in the western world—that’s not what this is. Of course, the dessert is the first thing that comes to my mind, too, but Singapore’s version of carrot cake is something entirely different. This dish actually doesn’t even include any of the orange carrots we are all imagining; the main ingredients are white radish and rice flour. On the food tour, I learned from Rene that some people refer to the white radish as white carrots. 

I had no idea what to expect with this dish, but I really enjoyed it. To the point that I’m pretty bummed thinking about how I do not know if, or when, I will ever get to experience this dish again. I need to do some research to see if it can be found at restaurants outside of Singapore because I’ve yet to see it anywhere else.

Oyster Omelette

The oyster omelette is one item on my must-eat-in-Singapore food list that I was unsure about. I do like indulging in delicious, fresh raw oysters, but I wasn’t quite sure how I would feel about the oddly-textured ocean creatures being mixed in with my eggs.

I’m happy to report that the oyster omelette was surprisingly tasty! The egg batter had a nice crisp to it which I felt helped to take away from the overall sliminess that could have been present in this dish. I usually like my eggs on the softer side—overcooked eggs are such a crime; I’m talking to you, America. I think, though, that having the eggs soft in this dish, in combination with the soft, slimy oysters, would’ve been too much for me texture-wise. But that was not the case—it was perfect. Oyster omelette for the underdog win!

Water Rice Cake (Chwee Kueh)

Chwee Kueh is a steamed rice cake made from a mixture of rice flour and water. Pretty simple, right? The steamed rice cake is served with a topping of diced preserved radish and a side of chili sauce. I don’t handle spicy very well, so I didn’t include much of the chili sauce on my rice cake.

While this dish is no complex, I loved the flavor that came from the radish topping. The rice cake itself had a nice texture that complimented the taste of the radish and the chili sauce. This dish also receives a stamp of approval and is one that is worth a try when in Singapore.

Popiah

Of all the dishes I had on my list from the research I did before my trip to Singapore, popiah was not one of them. I hadn’t heard or seen anything about popiah before I joined Rene’s food tour, and now I’m wondering why that is. I really enjoyed this dish and am so thankful that I was introduced to it unexpectedly.

Popiah is like a spring roll in many ways with its inside full of vegetarian-friendly goodies. The exterior of the popiah is what I found to be rather unique. In doing research online while I put this blog post together, I’m seeing that most people in Singapore refer to the exterior, what I’d call the ‘wrap,’ as the popiah skin. The popiah skin reminded me a mix between a crepe and a flour tortilla that would be used for a burrito. It was on the thin side, though, and did not overwhelm or overpower the taste and flavors of the internal ingredients.

Hokkien Prawn Mee

This stir-fried noodle dish is full of rich flavor for being seemingly simple. At first glance, it looked to me like a standard chow mein dish that I would get at an average Chinese restaurant in my home city of San Francisco. This hokkien prawn mee was tastier than I expected it to be.

As a lover of all things seafood, I was so pleased with the generous offering of squid and prawns in this dish. Because I was so impressed by the flavor in this noodle dish, I’ve done some searching for a recipe now that I’m back home. It looks like the noodles in hokkien prawn mee is made in a stock made from pork bones and prawn heads—so that explains the outstanding flavor I was tasting.

Roti Prata

This Indian specialty is made with a thin, flat layer of dough and comes out soft on the inside with a nice crispy exterior. As a sucker for all things bread-like, I could snack on this all day. In the Hindi language, ‘roti’ means ‘bread’ and ‘prata’ means ‘flat’—OK, makes sense. This dish is best consumed by diving right in with your fingers. It can be found being served in a variety of ways in Singapore restaurants and hawker centres.

From what I observed during my time in Singapore, roti prata is most commonly served with some type of curry—so good! It can also be spotted being served with egg, cheese, and sweeter dessert-like items like fruit, ice cream, honey, or chocolate. The sweet versions look almost identical to sweet French crepes.

Char Siew

It’s hard to go wrong with roasted pork, assuming it’s done right. And they really do it right If you eat pork, you must eat char siew while you are in Singapore. This is a dish that I personally eat a lot of in my home city of San Francisco, where we also have a big community of Chinese immigrants. Being one of my favorite dishes, I was excited to have this plate placed in front of me, but also ready to be a fairly harsh critic.

This pork dish is so good! I could honestly eat this every day with a side of plain white rice and be completely content. The meat is so juicy and full of flavor, while the exterior skin has the nicest texture and crisp. As you can see in the photo, Rene brought our table of six people, not one, but two plates of this dish—it’s that good! He must have known that we’d really enjoy this one.

Have I convinced you that Singapore is a worthy foodie travel destination? The dishes that I highlighted in this post are merely a glimpse of all the dishes you should have on your Singapore foodie bucket list. Like I said, there are so many popular local dishes to try, it’s nearly impossible to do so if you’re only visiting for a brief vacation. I was in Singapore for five nights and don’t feel like I covered half of the things I would have liked to try. If it weren’t for the food tour that I went on with Rene and Singapore City Explorers, I would have tried even less than I was able to.

I cannot emphasize how awesome and worth-it the food tour is. Tasting multiple dishes with a small group of people not only allows for some fun socializing but, in my opinion, sharing food is always the best way to eat. The more the merrier! I want to try as many things as possible, that’s my eating style—especially when I only have a limited time in a new travel destination.

Chinatown Food Tour with Singapore City Explorers

Experiencing authentic local food is one of my top priorities when I travel. I truly believe that food culture is the best way to connect with people around the world. Many of our greatest life moments involve food—family gatherings, celebrations, outings with friends—so people tend to take pride in their cuisine and it often comes with a story, rooted in tradition and history. To be sure I could check off every item on my list of must-eat foods in Singapore, I joined the Chinatown Food Tour with Singapore City Explorers.

There are few things I appreciate more than having the privilege of being guided around a city by a local resident. No matter how many guidebooks I read or travel shows I watch, nothing compares to the knowledge, insight, and experience that a born-and-raised local can provide. The high regard that I hold for such experiences is what initially drew me to Singapore City Explorers when I was looking for things to do during my time in Singapore.

Singapore City Explorers is a tour group ran by locals. Rene, a native Singaporean, guided me and five others around Chinatown for four hours. In addition to the wealth of knowledge Rene shared with us, being in a small group of hungry travelers is excellent for sharing dishes. Like I said, you could totally try all of these popular local dishes on your own, but you’d be wasting a ton of money and even more food if you don’t have a small group of people to share the dishes with.

In addition to the Chinatown Food Tour that I participated in, Singapore City Explorers offer bike, scooter, and walking tours around various parts of Singapore. Choosing the Chinatown food tour was a no-brainer for me though since experiencing food is literally one of the top reasons why I am in love with exploring the world. Based on what I know now, a trip to Singapore would not be complete without eating your way through Chinatown. This enclave is home to some of the country’s most famous local dishes, along with vibrant shops, colorful streets, and traditional items.

Quick List of Things to Eat

For those of you who are like me and appreciate organized lists, I thought I’d end this post by giving you the names of all the dishes I had on my personal bucket list of things I just had to eat in Singapore. Below is a review of the dishes above that I tried on the Chinatown Food Tour with Singapore City Explorers (as I shared above), as well as the other popular local dishes that need to be on your list. I hope you’re officially sold on eating your way through Singapore!

• CHICKEN RICE — This is Singapore’s national dish which includes chicken and fragrant rice cooked in chicken stock.
• CARROT CAKE — Not to be confused with the dessert cake, but a local dish featuring white radish.
• OYSTER OMELETTE — An egg omelette containing oysters; delicious if you’re an oyster lover.
• CHWEE KUEH (WATER RICE CAKE) — A rice cake topped with preserved radish and a side of chili sauce.
• POPIAH — Similar to a spring roll; filled with veggies and wrapped in popiah skin, which reminded me of a cross between a crepe and flour tortilla.
• HOKKIEN PRAWN MEE — Stir-fried noodles mixed with prawns and other seafood items, like squid.
• ROTI PRATA — Thin, flat bread that can be found served many ways; commonly served with curry.
• CHAR SIEW — Roasted pork; simple and so good.
• LAKSA — A spicy noodle soup with a coconut milk base; made with rice noodles or vermicelli noodles, usually containing fish, prawn, or chicken.
• CHILI OR PEPPER CRAB — Pretty self-explanatory—crab made with pepper or chili sauce.
• WANTON MEE — Noodles with a light sauce, topped with char siew and wonton dumplings.
• SATAY — Seasoned, skewered grilled meat.
• KAYA TOAST — This felt like it was the official Singaporean breakfast. You’ll see it everywhere.
• CHAR KWAY TEOW — The name translates to “stir-fried rice cake strips” and is made of flat rice noodles.

Looking for more things to do in Singapore? Check out this perfect 3-day Singapore itinerary.