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Welcome to Singapore, one of the world’s great food destinations, where eating—and eating well—is a time-honored national pastime.
Here you can splurge on haute cuisine from Michelin-starred chefs in some of the best fine-dining restaurants in Asia, or dig into fragrant bowls oflaksa (a spicy noodle soup) and heaping plates of char kway teow (stir-fried rice noodle strips) at one of the island’s famous hawker centers. The wide range of food and restaurants is what brings many travelers to Singapore in the first place, and few leave disappointed. In most cities the plan of attack is to map out must-see sights to pack in as much as possible; in Singapore it's often more about maximizing your meals and eating until it hurts—and then trying to fit in some more.
You hardly ever have to go far to find one of Singapore’s casual eating houses and hawker centers, which are fun, budget-friendly places to taste as many local specialties as your stomach can handle. The city-state’s indomitable megamalls are loaded with mid-range restaurants, sprawling food courts, and snack stands. Many of the island’s more upscale restaurants are tucked away in posh hotels, and many of the newer and trendier places are inside restored Chinese shophouses and once-abandoned colonial buildings. Note that upscale restaurants often close in the afternoon between lunch and dinner—from 2:30 to 6:30, for instance.
At this kid-friendly hangout, adults can unwind over pizza and watch the little ones take a dip in the shallow water or play with the restaurant's sand toys. Expect a laid-back vibe here with sunbeds and deck chairs for customers. Families will like the diaper changing stations and high chairs. For a taste of local food, order the chilli crab dip with a baguette, or sticky, finger-licking Coastes chicken wings.
Reminiscent of the hip Melbourne café scene, this CBD lunch spot is a great place to grab a healthy snack. The veggies are always fresh, the meat high-quality, and there’s a great range of tasty bowls like chicken breast, quinoa, mushrooms, and cucumber pickle. Coffees and soft drinks are also available.
This kitsch concept of combi vans and food trucks offers everything from lobster rolls to fish and chips and yakitori sticks for east grab and go eating. Located next to the Wings of Time show, spend a minimum of S$5 to enjoy the best views of Sentosa SkyJet and the Sentosa Musical Fountain performance.
Partly a casual café and partly an upscale grocery, Jones the Grocer is packed with expat families during the weekend brunch, but on the quieter weekday evenings, you'll likely share this roomy, industrial-style space with just a handful of others. Salads, sandwiches, pastas, and light seafood platters are among the foods on the seasonal menu (the concept hailing from Woollahra in Sydney, where the first branch opened over two decades ago). The shop also stocks coffees, chocolates, wines, craft beers, and other delicious goods. You should head straight to the back of the store, grab a baguette at the bakery, and pick out a few hunks of imported cheese from the refrigerated cheese room—the selection is impressive.
At what's billed as "the world's highest urban craft brewery," the pricey platters of meat and seafood served in the slick indoor dining area are beside the point. Instead, get here no later than 6 pm on a clear day, hunker down in one of the too-few outdoor deck tables, and bask in the stunning panoramas over the marina, with the spaceship-like pool deck of the Marina Bay Sands hotel to your right and the impressive CBD skyscrapers to your left.
This laid-back, open-air microbrewery is a rare gem in the quiet Changi Village area, serving house brews with whimsical, psychedelic labels alongside hearty roasts and weekend brunches. Pour yourself a glass from the DIY draft counter and sit at a table under the fairy lights—it’s the perfect place to while an evening away.
Come for the excellent microbrews, stay for the magical setting amid the lush tropical greenery on Dempsey Hill, and snack from an international bistro menu with pizzas, pastas, grilled meats, salads, and sandwiches. The food is satisfying, if not particularly memorable or remarkable, but RedDot's range of delicious beers more than makes up for that. You'll find a Czech pilsner, and Kölsch-style and wheat beers among the house brews normally on tap, along with seasonals and a guest beer from the fellow Singaporean microbrewery Brewerkz. Those tall glasses of bright-green liquid you'll see at most tables are RedDot's Monster Green Lager, which gets its hue from the spirulina (aqautic bacteria) it's brewed with. It tastes better than it looks.
