3 must-try restaurants in Singapore

I got the chance to visit Singapore two weeks ago. I made a stop there for a few days while on my way to my hometown, Jakarta. I had always known Singapore is a very diverse city in terms of cuisine, so I thought that it would make for the perfect food crawl for a foodie like me.

Here are the three best restaurants I went to.

  1. Thye Hong Eateries Pte. Ltd

Do you like the combination of noodles and seafood? If your answer is yes, then the prawn Hokkien mee is a must-try for you. This is a classic meal, which has become a signature dish of Singapore. I could find it everywhere in the city, but in my opinion the best place to try it was at the Thye Hong Eateries Pte. Ltd. restaurant.

The prawn Hokkien mee is full of flavor. It’s made of yellow and rice noodles, rich seafood stock, and prawns.

2**. Kam’s Roast**

Even though this is a one Michelin star restaurant, I didn’t have high expectations when I first heard about it. The reason is that the Kam’s Roast’s specialty is roasted duck, a dish so common in Asia.

When we were seated in the restaurant, we received an order card to fill in and give to the waiter. First we ordered a jellyfish—a cold appetizer, also popular in my area. This dish was lightly seasoned with vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. It felt crunchy while I was chewing it, and that was very refreshing.

Then the star of the evening came out—the special roasted duck. When I saw the sauce underneath the duck, I thought it would make the duck soggy. I couldn’t be more wrong! The duck skin was crispy, the meat was very tender, and the sauce simply completed the whole experience.

3. Haidilao Hot Pot @313

The Haidilao Hot Pot @ 313 restaurant impressed me the most because of its service. When we were seated, the staff welcomed us with hot towels, aprons (so we didn’t stain our clothes), hair ties for the women, and ziplock bags for our phones in case we spilled the soup.

There was a sauce and appetizer bar where we could mix and match the sauces and enjoy a free appetizer while waiting for our order to arrive.

It turned out that this restaurant doesn’t play around when it came to broth selections. We could choose to have a one, two, three, or four-section hot pot with broth of any flavor we wanted. I chose a four-section hot pot with classic chicken broth, pork broth, mala broth, and sour soup broth. There was a great variety of toppings to choose from—anything from meat and fish to vegetables and tofu.

One of the signature things to order at the Haidilao Hot Pot @ 313 was the dancing noodle. There would be a short performance by the noodle maker, dancing around with the noodles among the customers. After the performance, he would cut and put the noodles in your hot pot.

This usually is a pretty packed restaurant and you’ll likely have to wait for a table if you didn’t make a reservation beforehand. But if you think you’d be bored while waiting here, think again. There are free snacks and drinks provided in the waiting area, free manicures, and a kids’ playroom.

What are some of the best restaurants you’ve been to in Singapore? Share in the comments below.

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It’s been a while since I went to Singapore, but I really like chili crab at Mellben seafood (renamed to Kelly Jie now). I actually asked in the Singapore Local Guides Community on G+ back then, and this was one of the recommendations. I was told this place got busy often, so we went really early when the restaurant just opened and we were the only one there. Safe to say it got crowded shortly after that. The food is a bit pricey, but so delicious.

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Thank you for sharing @AngieYC and @iyudhi

I want to go to Singapore someday, so I added them to my favorite places on the map!

I know that there are a number of the vegetarian restaurant in Singapore. How are those restaurants?

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The duck dish looks really appetising!

That’s the kind I get for Christmas Day!! Along with ready roasted chicken.

Somehow I haven’t tried Singaporean food but Malaysian and it is my favourite but very expensive in London.

Thank you for your amazing food journey!! Many many Congrats!!

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Hello @iyudhi ,

I know that chili crab is also one of the must try food when visiting Singapore, but since I’ve tried it before. I decided to try something new and these are my top three picks, except the hokkien-mee that is my all time favorite.

Have you tried the hokkien-mee before?

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Hello @HiroyukiTakisawa ,

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to try any vegetarian restaurant but I think @JulienH might give you a better idea about it and when you got the chance to visit Singapore, don’t forget to share your experience with us!

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Hello @Kol-Colleen_2018 ,

Wow, you are very lucky to have such dish for Christmas, does someone from your family member prepared it for you?, and I agree that Asian food in London are expensive.

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Thank you @AngieYC

I will definitely do it :wink:

Hi, @JulienH ! When I go to your country, of course, I’ll contact you.

Please let us know several you and your wife’s recommended restaurants!

Regards:-)

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Hello @HiroyukiTakisawa ,

If you and @JulienH will do vegetarian food, food crawl and I think it will be informative for the other Local Guides who are also vegetarian. But Japanese ramen (Ichiran) are still my all time favorite. :slight_smile:

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Hi @AngieYC

I buy the duck from a restaurant in Soho, London.

It’s very difficult to roast! A relative did a duck roast very well, in the past!

I feel like having pancakes with roasted duck!!

:+1:

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Ohno a discussion about food. Always a divisive topic amongst Singaporeans as to which is better.

@AngieYC very nice photos, and I’m glad you got to try some great restaurants.

Hokkien Mee - personally it’s not my dish, but it’s really a long-time favorite and comfort food for many. It’s found almost everywhere, in all neighbourhoods. People appreciate the fresh seafood ingredients, the rich flavour of the sauce. Expert cooks strike a good balance between making it not too wet or not too dry. Chili must be fragrant, and serving it on banana leaf further enhances the flavour!

The best ones are usually found in the older neighbourhood hawker centres, along with good char kway teow, fried carrot cake, wanton noodles etc.

Old Airport Road Food Centre https://goo.gl/maps/k3UMtgAE14E2, Bedok 85 market https://goo.gl/maps/jDUV6PYypXQ2, Whampoa Hawker Centre https://goo.gl/maps/1r58iXjbZfR2

Haidilao hot pot is a really nice chain of hot pot restaurants that’s opening all over the island, with consistently long queues. You can either reserve very early in advance, or call in and have them take a number for you, or go during off peak hours, to save time. As you mentioned, the noodle performance, free manicure for ladies, free snacks while waiting.

I would definitely recommend first timers to try the Singapore Chili Crab. Melben/whatever-the-new-name-is, is a bit odd these days. It is probably better to go to the Jumbo Seafood chain of restaurants. They have good outlets at Clark Quay and Dempsey and few others. It’s actually a rather sweet chili sauce, goes well with the fried bread buns. If you’re afraid of spice, this is actually less spicy than the black pepper crab. These days, salted egg yolk crab is also quite popular.

@HiroyukiTakisawa well there’s a few vegetarian restaurants, but I wouldn’t say they are really that iconic of Singapore food, as the Chinese seem to just eat everything. The Buddhist abstain for meat on certain days.

high end vegetarian - Ling Zhi https://goo.gl/maps/5XCsv7MYdHU2 / https://goo.gl/maps/xdQXZ1xrPqs

daily vegetarian fried beehoon (I really like their crunchy beancurd skin) - Meow Xiang https://goo.gl/maps/gwiPDcpxYJ72

@Kol-Colleen_2018 if you’re talking about pekin duck style of roast duck, the best is usually at high end chinese restaurants like

Crystal Jade Paragon https://goo.gl/maps/xRu14VcWU5K2 or Imperial Treasure https://goo.gl/maps/XTh5QoTxh6C2

Make sure you call to confirm, preferably some days before to be really sure.

Some more random stuff:

Beach Road Prawn Noodle house https://goo.gl/maps/qDeNiEeQLZt

Ngee Fou yong tau foo https://goo.gl/maps/NVMaxvZuSR82

Casuarina Curry prata https://goo.gl/maps/vvuQ3czpc7m

Founder bak kut teh https://goo.gl/maps/fyJWLR1PQ9D2

Loy kee chicken rice https://goo.gl/maps/UgpJjfDuh842

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I have been to Singapore several times, but usually in transit. There are also many restaurants at Changi airport, I liked the restaurant Paradise Inn.

You can also order a duck in it.

Singapore also has a lot of food courts. There, food is more affordable than in restaurants.

There is even a whole street of food in Singapore.

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@Victoria_v you bring up a good point! Food at the airport!

Paradise Inn is also a fairly good chain of chinese restaurants. Very authentic and good affordable price for everybody.

If at Terminal 2, i recommend Soup Restaurant https://goo.gl/maps/BAU6ShtpPAS2 (actually a chinese restaurant). Ginseng chicken very good.

If at Terminal 3, try Dian Xiao Er https://goo.gl/maps/88xBGypDLGP2 nice classic chinese ambience. Lovely herbal smoked duck. They have so many flavours and meal sets.

Terminal 3: https://goo.gl/maps/SjpbU76tj2E2 Curry Times - authentic local food, really like this place.

Terminal 1: alot of renovation recently so I’m not sure what’s still open, Crystal Jade would be good. https://goo.gl/maps/pjxVwonZpst

If you’re in chinatown: try Chinatown Complex second floor. https://goo.gl/maps/nJMHjiYzqVG2. There’s a little xiaolongbao stall that is really nice and cheap. https://goo.gl/maps/QwwNorbivXF2

As a local, I will tell you to skip the “food street” outside - it’s a bit too touristy. =) haha. The second floor hawkers really have much nicer stuff. Don’t worry it’s all safe to eat.

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Hello @JulienH,

I tried another crab dish, but I don’t know what is the name of the dish. It’s steamed crab, with rice noodle and a bit of seafood broth.

Do you know anything about this dish? It was very delicious! I had this crab at De Golden Spoon restaurant, Singapore.

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Hello @Victoria_v ,

Thank you for sharing, when I was having a transit at Singapore, I ate at the other place it looks like a food court but it was full with Japanese cuisine only. But this place looks amazing, for an airport restaurant.

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Thank you @JulienH

I see. These are also interesting! I have added to the list!!

Before we go there, we will search for some vegetarian restaurants that are serving Singapore foods. At that time, please advise us about them:-)

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@AngieYC

That sounds great! I love Tonkotsu ramen that like Ichiran too:-)
Recently, vegetarian ramen shops are increasing in Japan. This is a very good news for my wife and vegetarians who are living in Japan. I hope to them to become cheaper and familiar and spreading to the countryside.

That crab dish also looks tasty! :slight_smile:

In Singapore, Chilli Crab seems to be famous. Is it a close one?

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Hello @HiroyukiTakisawa ,

That’s great, I really miss Japanese food and their hospitality as well. I always had the 7/11 sushi for breakfast when I was visiting Japan, last year.

Chili crab in Singapore are famous as @JulienH had mentioned. This crab dish, I just checked on their website it’s actually one of their famous it’s called ‘crab bee hoon soup’, which are milder taste than the chili crab.

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Hi, @AngieYC

I see, interesting! Thank you for telling the name and taste:-9

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@HiroyukiTakisawa I think many culture in Singapore is that those who are vegetarian will just avoid the dishes with meat or ask the chef to leave out the meat. So it is not so common to find dedicated vegetarian restaurants. Many zhi char or chinese restaurants will all have lots of vegetable based dishes like tofu, fried veggies etc etc.

@AngieYC you might have gone to Sora Japan Gourmet Hall https://goo.gl/maps/5Pip864R3Dx, it’s actually pretty new. Their tendon bowl is very large serving and instagram-worthy.

Saboten at Terminal 1 is very nice. https://goo.gl/maps/C7FMSQDXNvE2. Their katsu is great. Free flow rice and salad I think.

Another way of having crab is in a stir-fried dry noodle - crab bee hoon.

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