Singapore's 25 Must-Try Dishes
One dish, one stall, zero excuses. Bring stretchy trousers.
The 25 dishes that explain Singapore, each pinned to one place that does it well. Most cost less than your coffee back home. Hawker stalls close early and take rest days, so check the tip before you cross town.
0/25 · Fresh off the plane
1. Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice
Order: Hainanese chicken rice
Hawker · Chinatown · $ · MRT Maxwell (TE18)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Silky poached chicken on rice cooked in stock. The queue looks scary and moves fast. The chilli sauce does half the work.
💡 Go before 11:30 or after 14:00. Listed as closed on Mondays, so check before you walk over. Order extra rice; you will want it.
2. Sungei Road Laksa
Order: Laksa
Hawker · Jalan Besar · $ · MRT Jalan Besar (DT22)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A small bowl of coconut gravy, cockles and cut noodles, eaten with a spoon only. No chopsticks, no fuss, no card machine.
💡 One bowl is a snack, so order two. Bring cash. Listed as closed on Wednesdays and done by late afternoon.
3. JUMBO Seafood (Riverside Point)
Order: Chilli crab
Fine dining · Clarke Quay · $$$ · MRT Clarke Quay (NE5)
Daily 11:30–23:00 (last order 22:15)
The riverside branch of the best-known crab chain. Loud, efficient and exactly what you pictured when you booked the trip.
💡 Book dinner ahead. Crab is sold by weight, so confirm the price when you order. Wear the bib; nobody is judging.
4. Song Fa Bak Kut Teh (New Bridge Road)
Order: Bak kut teh
Hawker · Clarke Quay · $$ · MRT Clarke Quay (NE5)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Clear, peppery pork rib broth that fixes jet lag and bad decisions. Staff top up your soup until you surrender.
💡 Add you tiao (dough fritters) for dunking. The queue is shortest mid-afternoon. Listed as closed on Mondays.
5. Ya Kun Kaya Toast (Far East Square)
Order: Kaya toast set
Cafe · Telok Ayer · $ · MRT Telok Ayer (DT18)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Thin charcoal-grilled toast with coconut jam and cold butter, two wobbly eggs and strong kopi. Breakfast for small money.
💡 Order Set A. Crack the eggs, add dark soy and white pepper, then dip the toast. It closes early on weekends.
6. Lau Pa Sat
Order: Satay, hawker classics
Late night · Raffles Place · $$ · MRT Telok Ayer (DT18)
Open 24 hours
A cast-iron food hall in the middle of the financial district, open all night. Satay smoke outside, eighty-odd stalls inside.
💡 Not every stall trades overnight. Satay Street runs in the evening; go before midnight for the full line-up.
7. Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee
Order: Char kway teow
Hawker · Chinatown · $ · MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Dark, eggy, slightly sweet noodles with real wok smoke. A Bib Gourmand name in the 2026 Michelin Guide, at hawker prices.
💡 It is a lunch stall and sells out, so go early. Say 'no cockles' if you must. Closed on Sundays, by most listings.
8. Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee
Order: Hokkien mee
Hawker · Old Airport Road · $ · MRT Dakota (CC8)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Thin bee hoon and yellow noodles fried in prawn stock until they drink it all up. It comes with cut chilli, not sambal.
💡 Fried in batches, so expect a wait at lunch. Listed as closed on Mondays. Squeeze the lime over everything.
9. The Coconut Club (Beach Road)
Order: Nasi lemak
Hawker · Kampong Glam · $$ · MRT Bugis (EW12/DT14)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Coconut rice, sambal and fried chicken done with real care, in a handsome Kampong Glam shophouse.
💡 Book, or come mid-afternoon. It serves alcohol and is not halal-certified, in case that matters to your table.
10. Mr and Mrs Mohgan's Super Crispy Roti Prata
Order: Roti prata
Hawker · Joo Chiat · $ · MRT Marine Parade (TE26)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A husband-and-wife stall in an old coffee shop, flipping prata to order. Crisp outside, chewy inside, gone by lunch.
💡 It is a morning-only stall and sells out. Order one plain and one egg, with fish curry. Listed as closed Wed and Fri; check first.
11. Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle
Order: Bak chor mee
Hawker · Lavender · $ · MRT Lavender (EW11)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Springy noodles in black vinegar and chilli, with pork, liver and a crisp of dried sole. The queue is part of the story.
💡 Expect 30 to 60 minutes at peak. Order dry (tah), with chilli. Reported closed on the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month.
12. Chey Sua Carrot Cake
Order: Fried carrot cake (chai tow kway)
Hawker · Toa Payoh · $ · MRT Braddell (NS18)
Hours unknown, check before you go
No carrots and no cake: it is radish cake fried with egg into one crisp sheet. The sisters here steam their own.
💡 Breakfast only, and each plate is fried to order, so the wait is long. Go before 9:00. Listed as closed on Mondays.
13. 99 Old Trees Durian
Order: Durian
Hawker · Outram · $$ · MRT Outram Park (EW16/NE3/TE17)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A clean, air-conditioned way to meet the king of fruits. Staff open the durian for you and explain what you are tasting.
💡 Ask the price per kg first; it changes daily. Start with Mao Shan Wang. Your hotel will not let you bring any back.
14. Muthu's Curry
Order: Fish head curry
Hawker · Little India · $$ · MRT Farrer Park (NE8)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A few doors from its rival on Race Course Road. Locals pick a side early in life and defend it for decades.
💡 Try this and Banana Leaf Apolo on the same trip and form your own view. A small pot does two to three people.
15. Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice
Order: Hainanese curry rice
Hawker · Tiong Bahru · $ · MRT Tiong Bahru (EW17)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Pork chop, braised cabbage and curry all poured over rice until it looks like a mistake. It is not a mistake.
💡 Point at what you want: pork chop, sambal sotong and cabbage are the classic trio. It is a morning-to-lunch stall.
16. Ann Chin Handmade Popiah
Order: Popiah
Hawker · Chinatown · $ · MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19)
Daily 08:00–19:00
Soft, paper-thin skins made by hand, wrapped around stewed turnip, egg and peanut. Light enough to eat between meals.
💡 Ask for chilli inside. Eat it at once, before the skin goes soggy. The kueh pie tee is worth adding.
17. Old Amoy Chendol
Order: Chendol
Hawker · Chinatown · $ · MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19)
Hours unknown, check before you go
The classic: pandan jelly, red beans, coconut milk and dark palm sugar over ice. The answer to 32-degree afternoons.
💡 Stir from the bottom so the palm sugar spreads. Pair it with the popiah a few stalls away.
18. Liao Fan Hawker Chan
Order: Soya sauce chicken rice
Hawker · Chinatown · $ · MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19)
Hours unknown, check before you go
The stall that made headlines as one of the first hawkers in the Michelin Guide. Glossy soy-braised chicken over rice or noodles.
💡 Come to this original stall, not the air-conditioned branches. Add char siew. It is a lunch stall; listed as closed on Wednesdays.
19. Hjh Maimunah (Jalan Pisang)
Order: Nasi padang
Halal · Kampong Glam · $$ · MRT Bugis (EW12/DT14)
Mon–Sat 07:30–19:00; closed Sun
Dozens of Malay and Indonesian dishes behind glass: rendang, grilled fish, sambal goreng. Point, pay, find a seat.
💡 Go before noon for the full spread. Closed on Sundays. Beef rendang and tahu telur are the ones to get.
20. Bismillah Biryani
Order: Dum biryani
Halal · Little India · $$ · MRT Rochor (DT13)
Daily 11:30–20:30
Rice and meat sealed and cooked together, so the rice does the talking. Lighter and drier than the usual gravy-soaked plate.
💡 Mutton and kid goat go first. The shop states it is Muslim-owned and operated; it does not claim MUIS certification.
21. Singapore Zam Zam
Order: Murtabak
Hawker · Kampong Glam · $ · MRT Bugis (EW12/DT14)
Daily 07:00–23:00
A thick parcel of dough, egg, onion and minced meat, fried on a griddle facing Sultan Mosque. One feeds two normal people.
💡 Order the mutton or deer murtabak, small size. Ignore the pavement touts and sit upstairs. Ask staff about halal certification.
22. Rochor Original Beancurd
Order: Tau huay (soy beancurd)
Hawker · Rochor · $ · MRT Rochor (DT13)
Sun–Thu 10:30–23:30; Fri–Sat 10:30–00:30
Soft soy pudding in light syrup, a family business since 1955. It costs about the same as a bottle of water.
💡 Order it warm with a you tiao to dip. A good last stop after dinner in Little India or Bugis.
23. Lim Chee Guan
Order: Bak kwa
Hawker · Chinatown · $$ · MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Sheets of sweet, charcoal-grilled pork sold by weight. Locals queue for hours for this before Chinese New Year.
💡 Buy 300g of the sliced pork to snack on. Many countries do not allow meat in luggage, so eat it here.
24. J2 Famous Crispy Curry Puff
Order: Curry puff
Hawker · Tanjong Pagar · $ · MRT Maxwell (TE18)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Layered pastry that flakes all over your shirt, filled with curried chicken and potato. Made by hand at the stall.
💡 Go mid-morning, before the office lunch crowd. Try the black pepper chicken and the sardine too. Weekdays are safest.
25. Toa Payoh Rojak
Order: Rojak
Hawker · Old Airport Road · $ · MRT Dakota (CC8)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Pineapple, cucumber, turnip and toasted dough fritters tossed in a dark, sticky prawn-paste sauce with peanuts. It works.
💡 Take a queue number and collect when called. Pair it with the Hokkien mee at stall #01-32. Listed as closed on Sundays.
Unofficial · not affiliated with TOKEN2049. Hours and prices change; check before you go.