Like in every country, food comes in many ways and forms.  There are always the “elegant” and high end restaurants which just give you an experience to remember and then there’s the “local” kind of foods that most people eat on a day to day basis.  If you come to Singapore and want something “local”  you should try the food at the hawker centres.  These are food that the average Singaporean would eat and is not just for tourists.  During lunch times, these hawker centres are filled with working professionals.

Here are some of the hawker centres I’ve been to whilst exploring Singapore this trip:

1) Lau Pa Sat Hawker Centre:  This place is open 24 hours and has a long history dating from the 1800’s as well a uniquely octagonol shape that is quite beautiful.  It was formerly known as the “Telok Ayer Market” and dates from the times of Sir Raffles, the founding father of Singapore.   There are roughly 80-100 stalls selling food ranging from fish ball soup, congee, xiao lan pao, yong tau fou, chicken rice, indian food, thai food, pork belly soup to korean and even japanese food.  There are so many stalls to choose from.  To be safe, I always eat at the ones with the long queue (which mean that it’s tasty :))  Make sure you also visit the adjoining street that has been dubbed “satay street.”  On this road, there are l0 stalls selling Satay for you to try.   If you come in the evenings, there is even a live band singing songs for you to listen!   I particular like this place more than others because the high ceilings make the place a lot cooler than others during the hot midday sun.  Oh, they have a website: http://www.laupasat.biz/lps.html

2) Amoy Food Centre:  This place is two stories high and has a range of good food too.  I am told that there are good fish balls on the second floor but I have yet to try it. 🙂 It gets a bit hot at this place but after eating here, there is anice adjoining park which makes the walk a bit more interesting.  There is also a buddhist temple just right next to the centre.

3) Maxwell Food Centre:  I go to this food center at the corner of Maxwell road and South Bridge especially for the Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken rice which I wrote about in an earlier post.  However, there are a lot of other stalls and those sitting next to me had some food that looked very tempting, but after a plate of chicken and rice, I could eat no more.  If you are a big fan of it, you can even order for them to pack the chicken in boxes which are convenient for travel. 🙂

Food at these hawker centres are quite inexpensive.  You could eat for a mere S$3 (fish noodles or other stuff like congee..etc..)  Food I tried all tasted good but to be safe look for the long queues 🙂  Oh, if you go during lunch and want to reserve a table  (so that you can go look for food and come back)  bring along a pack of tissues and put it on the table.  I discovered this was how Singaporeans reserve their seats….(no, they weren’t left there for you to use.)

Have a good meal!