Sign up for Uber with promo code COCOSG for a FREE uberX ride, capped at S$15.
It's no secret that Singapore, a melting pot of cultures, is foodie heaven. Chinese, Eurasian, Indian, Japanese, Malay, Thai — you name the cuisine, we've got it in plates spades. But if you're a new resident or are always hosting visiting friends in Singapore, what you really need to know about are the special dishes, the ones that make Singaporeans think of home the moment the smell of cooking hits their nose. What makes them so special is that we've begged, borrowed and even stolen cooking styles and recipes from each other to make them uniquely Singaporean — the mark of a relentless cosmopolitan city. Here are six of them, and the places in town that have developed a rep for aceing them.
"Although simple it delivers a taste that develops wonderfully and engages with the senses!” - Anthony Bourdain
As its name suggests the Hainanese chicken rice — made up of steamed chicken pieces sitting on a mound of flavoured rice — is of Chinese origins, but Malaysia and Singapore are two countries in the world that pay the most attention to it. When done well, the rice that's been cooked in chicken stock is lightly moist, smooth and fragrant, and Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice (443 Joo Chiat Road) is one of the places here that does it best.
Best restaurant for chicken rice: Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, 443 Joo Chiat Road
In fact, the restaurant was the second most voted competitor against TV chef Gordon Ramsay in last year's Singtel Hawker Heroes Challenge. If you're here on a hot day (and you're most probably going to be), order the steamed option — it's served slightly chilled on purpose. But the roasted option is there for those who want it and it's just as delicious. There are four outlets, but the one we're recommending offers an elaborate menu featuring 'spare parts' and other Hainanese delicacies, plus the neighbourhood's undergoing a process of gentrification that makes for fun discoveries.
When your chilli crab has ample amounts of roe and flesh, you're not likely to want to share
Our friends from across the Causeway have their reasons for insisting the chilli crab is a Malaysian dish, but given room to argue we'd make Roland Restaurant (89 Marine Parade Central) our case. The story goes that husband-and-wife founders Lim Choon Ngee and Cher Yam Tian had been eating a meal of plain steamed crabs when Mr. Lim requested that his wife try to shake the dish up. Madam Cher then whipped up a version stir-fried with tomato sauce that was tasty, but a tad sweet, according to Mr. Lim. After adding chilli to the recipe and testing it with friends and family, Madam Cher started selling her creation on a pushcart along the road. This was in the '50s.
Best restaurant for chilli crab: Roland Restaurant , 89 Marine Parade Central
Fast forward a couple of decades and that enterprise is now a three-in-one restaurant serving not just seafood, but also Cantonese cuisine and dim sum. It's one of the only remaining places in Singapore that still serves the latter on a pushcart. The chilli crab has also evolved — catering to modern tastebuds the sauce is no longer as sweet and is thickened with egg. But both versions — the original and updated — are available at Roland Restaurant now. We had the latter and it was — dare we say it — perfect. You usually have to request for 'meat crab' if you want more roe than flesh, but we had ample amount of both. The crab was also so fresh and well-prepared we pulled out a whole claw each time.
A pretty satisfying way of starting the day
Poached eggs on sourdough toast has become a popular brunch option in Singapore thanks to the onslaught of Melbourne-style cafes here, but many residents still favour the traditional kopitiam breakfast of soft-boiled eggs, kaya toast and sweet, thick coffee in a porcelain cup.
Best restaurant for a traditional kopitiam breakfast: Toast Box, various outlets
Kopitiams (a combination of Malay and Hokkien terms) are now mostly only found in the heartlands, but you can still enjoy this iconic (and inexpensive) combination at its modern day version, the Toast Box (various outlets) chain. If you're new to the city, their menu is worth exploring — other than the toast sets it also includes favourite breakfast foods of the different ethnicities here.
The variety of textures in Hokkien mee is not easily found elsewhere in the world
It's probably the least complicated dish of the lot, but the flavours from a plate of Hokkien mee, especially one that's been wok-fried over a charcoal fire, aren't something you'll soon forget. A slight singe is spread out evenly across the yellow noodles due to the cooking routine, which also includes the tossing of fresh peeled prawns, squid and beansprouts.
Best place for Hokkien mee: Geylang Lorong 29 Hokkien Mee at the Food R Us Coffeeshop
The key to wok hei cooking is of course the crispy lard, which long-time favourite Geylang Lorong 29 Hokkien Mee stall (Food R Us Coffeeshop, 396 East Coast Road) makes sure to add generously. If like many locals you enjoy a bit of a kick in your noodles, ask the stall, which has been serving up Hokkien mee for over 40 years, for a lime wedge and a dollop of sambal.
The quintessentially Indonesian nasi Padang experience is best shared with family and friends
As its name suggests nasi Padang originates from the capital city of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It may not be Singapore's national dish, but the faster you succumb to the rich but delicious cuisine, the better — it's become quite the lunchtime staple, which is why many nasi Padang restaurants don't open beyond the late afternoon. Singapore food courts each have at least one nasi Padang stall and there you heap a plate of white rice with pre-cooked side dishes like beef rendang and ayam lemak, but the best way to eat nasi Padang is by ordering a spread of side dishes for a group.
Best restaurant for nasi Padang: Rumah Makan Minang
Rumah Makan Minang (18 Kandahar Street) in the colourful Kampong Glam area is one of the best restaurants to tuck into a sumptuous nasi Padang meal with family and friends. There's a handful of nasi Padang restaurants in the area, but this one's become quite an attraction possibly due to its Minangkabau-style facade and close proximity to one of Singapore's key cultural landmarks, the Sultan Mosque.
Heaven on earth is plain roti prata that's crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside
Roti prata or fried flour-based pancake is strangely not a common sight in India today, though it was brought to Singapore by Indian immigrants. The end product looks simple enough, but the method of preparation — tossing and flipping a slab of dough over a flat grill to evenly thin it out — takes skill and is uber fun to watch.
Best restaurant for roti prata: Sin Ming Roti Prata (#01-51 Jin Fa Kopitiam, 24 Sin Min Road)
Most restaurants typically serve it plain or egg-filled with a side of vegetable or fish curry, but at the popular Sin Ming Roti Prata stall, you can get fillings like cashew nut and honey, as well as the coin prata option for those that like their food bite-sized. The plain (both regular and coin) prata here is crisp on the outside and hot and fluffy on the inside, which to most local spells heaven on earth.
Much thanks to one of our Uber drivers Dennis — rated five stars on the Uber app —for getting us to Roland Restaurant chop-chop!
'Your First Taste of Singapore' is the opening segment of the Coconuts Singapore Flavour Tour, a month-long culinary exploration of the city chauffeured by uberX. uberX is the transportation provider's more affordable private car service that just launched in Singapore. New Uber registrations that use the code COCOSG will get $15 off their first uberX order — basically a free ride! Register here (and don't forget that code)!
Sign up for Uber with promo code COCOSG for a FREE uberX ride, capped at S$15.
It's no secret that Singapore, a melting pot of cultures, is foodie heaven. Chinese, Eurasian, Indian, Japanese, Malay, Thai — you name the cuisine, we've got it in plates spades. But if you're a new resident or are always hosting visiting friends in Singapore, what you really need to know about are the special dishes, the ones that make Singaporeans think of home the moment the smell of cooking hits their nose. What makes them so special is that we've begged, borrowed and even stolen cooking styles and recipes from each other to make them uniquely Singaporean — the mark of a relentless cosmopolitan city. Here are six of them, and the places in town that have developed a rep for aceing them.
"Although simple it delivers a taste that develops wonderfully and engages with the senses!” - Anthony Bourdain
As its name suggests the Hainanese chicken rice — made up of steamed chicken pieces sitting on a mound of flavoured rice — is of Chinese origins, but Malaysia and Singapore are two countries in the world that pay the most attention to it. When done well, the rice that's been cooked in chicken stock is lightly moist, smooth and fragrant, and Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice (443 Joo Chiat Road) is one of the places here that does it best.
Best restaurant for chicken rice: Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, 443 Joo Chiat Road
In fact, the restaurant was the second most voted competitor against TV chef Gordon Ramsay in last year's Singtel Hawker Heroes Challenge. If you're here on a hot day (and you're most probably going to be), order the steamed option — it's served slightly chilled on purpose. But the roasted option is there for those who want it and it's just as delicious. There are four outlets, but the one we're recommending offers an elaborate menu featuring 'spare parts' and other Hainanese delicacies, plus the neighbourhood's undergoing a process of gentrification that makes for fun discoveries.
When your chilli crab has ample amounts of roe and flesh, you're not likely to want to share
Our friends from across the Causeway have their reasons for insisting the chilli crab is a Malaysian dish, but given room to argue we'd make Roland Restaurant (89 Marine Parade Central) our case. The story goes that husband-and-wife founders Lim Choon Ngee and Cher Yam Tian had been eating a meal of plain steamed crabs when Mr. Lim requested that his wife try to shake the dish up. Madam Cher then whipped up a version stir-fried with tomato sauce that was tasty, but a tad sweet, according to Mr. Lim. After adding chilli to the recipe and testing it with friends and family, Madam Cher started selling her creation on a pushcart along the road. This was in the '50s.
Best restaurant for chilli crab: Roland Restaurant , 89 Marine Parade Central
Fast forward a couple of decades and that enterprise is now a three-in-one restaurant serving not just seafood, but also Cantonese cuisine and dim sum. It's one of the only remaining places in Singapore that still serves the latter on a pushcart. The chilli crab has also evolved — catering to modern tastebuds the sauce is no longer as sweet and is thickened with egg. But both versions — the original and updated — are available at Roland Restaurant now. We had the latter and it was — dare we say it — perfect. You usually have to request for 'meat crab' if you want more roe than flesh, but we had ample amount of both. The crab was also so fresh and well-prepared we pulled out a whole claw each time.
A pretty satisfying way of starting the day
Poached eggs on sourdough toast has become a popular brunch option in Singapore thanks to the onslaught of Melbourne-style cafes here, but many residents still favour the traditional kopitiam breakfast of soft-boiled eggs, kaya toast and sweet, thick coffee in a porcelain cup.
Best restaurant for a traditional kopitiam breakfast: Toast Box, various outlets
Kopitiams (a combination of Malay and Hokkien terms) are now mostly only found in the heartlands, but you can still enjoy this iconic (and inexpensive) combination at its modern day version, the Toast Box (various outlets) chain. If you're new to the city, their menu is worth exploring — other than the toast sets it also includes favourite breakfast foods of the different ethnicities here.
The variety of textures in Hokkien mee is not easily found elsewhere in the world
It's probably the least complicated dish of the lot, but the flavours from a plate of Hokkien mee, especially one that's been wok-fried over a charcoal fire, aren't something you'll soon forget. A slight singe is spread out evenly across the yellow noodles due to the cooking routine, which also includes the tossing of fresh peeled prawns, squid and beansprouts.
Best place for Hokkien mee: Geylang Lorong 29 Hokkien Mee at the Food R Us Coffeeshop
The key to wok hei cooking is of course the crispy lard, which long-time favourite Geylang Lorong 29 Hokkien Mee stall (Food R Us Coffeeshop, 396 East Coast Road) makes sure to add generously. If like many locals you enjoy a bit of a kick in your noodles, ask the stall, which has been serving up Hokkien mee for over 40 years, for a lime wedge and a dollop of sambal.
The quintessentially Indonesian nasi Padang experience is best shared with family and friends
As its name suggests nasi Padang originates from the capital city of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It may not be Singapore's national dish, but the faster you succumb to the rich but delicious cuisine, the better — it's become quite the lunchtime staple, which is why many nasi Padang restaurants don't open beyond the late afternoon. Singapore food courts each have at least one nasi Padang stall and there you heap a plate of white rice with pre-cooked side dishes like beef rendang and ayam lemak, but the best way to eat nasi Padang is by ordering a spread of side dishes for a group.
Best restaurant for nasi Padang: Rumah Makan Minang
Rumah Makan Minang (18 Kandahar Street) in the colourful Kampong Glam area is one of the best restaurants to tuck into a sumptuous nasi Padang meal with family and friends. There's a handful of nasi Padang restaurants in the area, but this one's become quite an attraction possibly due to its Minangkabau-style facade and close proximity to one of Singapore's key cultural landmarks, the Sultan Mosque.
Heaven on earth is plain roti prata that's crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside
Roti prata or fried flour-based pancake is strangely not a common sight in India today, though it was brought to Singapore by Indian immigrants. The end product looks simple enough, but the method of preparation — tossing and flipping a slab of dough over a flat grill to evenly thin it out — takes skill and is uber fun to watch.
Best restaurant for roti prata: Sin Ming Roti Prata (#01-51 Jin Fa Kopitiam, 24 Sin Min Road)
Most restaurants typically serve it plain or egg-filled with a side of vegetable or fish curry, but at the popular Sin Ming Roti Prata stall, you can get fillings like cashew nut and honey, as well as the coin prata option for those that like their food bite-sized. The plain (both regular and coin) prata here is crisp on the outside and hot and fluffy on the inside, which to most local spells heaven on earth.
Much thanks to one of our Uber drivers Dennis — rated five stars on the Uber app —for getting us to Roland Restaurant chop-chop!
'Your First Taste of Singapore' is the opening segment of the Coconuts Singapore Flavour Tour, a month-long culinary exploration of the city chauffeured by uberX. uberX is the transportation provider's more affordable private car service that just launched in Singapore. New Uber registrations that use the code COCOSG will get $15 off their first uberX order — basically a free ride! Register here (and don't forget that code)!