What to Eat in Singapore
Jumbo Seafood
Jumbo Seafood is one of the most famous restaurants in Singapore. There are many locations, but we chose the one along Clarke Quay. Be warned, this place is packed, so be prepared for a long wait or even rejection if you don’t have a reservation. As the name suggests, Jumbo is well known for its high-quality seafood dishes, but we were there for something specific.
The most popular dish on the menu is their chilli crab, with fresh caught mud crab doused in sweet chilli sauce. It was the most expensive dishes we ate and Singapore, and it showed. The quality of the restaurant and the presentation were immaculate, and the crab was obviously cooked to perfection. The chilli sauce was good, but being from the American Midwest, I’m used to good chilli (it’s the only thing we make well there). Honestly, it was not worth the hype. Eating crab is unbelievably tedious, and 800g for 60 USD is wild, considering the actual amount of meat is less than half the weight. It’s really delicious, but you have to enjoy the process of eating crab to get the full experience.
PUTIEN
PUTIEN is a restaurant in the Putian style from the east coast of China. We had always wanted to eat at a Michelin-star restaurant, and this one caught our eye. PUTIEN was awarded a star nearly every year from 2016-2022, and as we visited in 2022, they had just received the star for that year. As soon as we walked in, we felt completely out of our depths. Jumbo was nice, but this place was NICE. The service was so fancy, and we thought we were getting treated like royalty. Having never been to a Michelin-star restaurant, we had no idea what to order, but their staff was so excellent in helping us decide.
We ordered the stir-fried yam, steamed prawn with minced garlic, and claypot chicken in fermented red rice wine. It seemed ridiculous to pay 12 USD for a few bites of yam, but as soon as our teeth touched it, we knew it was different. Everything was cooked absolutely perfectly. It’s not just the flavor, it’s the aroma, texture, and presentation. Everything felt so amazingly on point, and we were taken on a food journey of a lifetime. It’s easy to get incredible food at hawker stands in Singapore, but the quality of PUTIEN had us reeling.
Ambur Briyani
Our good friends from South Africa inspired us to come to Singapore, and they highly recommended the hawker stands in Little India for the best Indian food they’ve ever had in Asia. Of course, we took their recommendation, but sadly, the center was under renovation the week we visited. Thinking quickly, we looked for a shop nearby and found Ambur Briyani.
Briyani is a simple mixed rice dish from India, popular across Southeast Asia. Every region has its own version, but it usually has rice, oil, mixed veggies, and sometimes meat, with sauces on the side. When we walked in, the staff looked shocked to see non-Indians popping in, but were happy to feed us (of course with western utensils). It was seasoned amazingly well, which is so hard to get where we live in Korea. With the perfect amount of tang, savory, and spicy, it was exactly what we wanted. This experience definitely sold us on the dish, and Little India is a great place to experience tons of delicious Indian food.
Ji Ji Noodle House
The country is covered in hawker stands across several large centers. There are endless options of amazing food from every cuisine, but a few stand out above the rest. Ji Ji Noodle House is one of these restaurants, located in the Hong Lim hawker center. The eponymous Ji Ji is the owner and is usually spotted wearing her signature Chicago Bulls jersey (which is in Lakers colors, for reasons beyond me). These dry noodles have been Michelin-recommended for years, along with her signature fried wontons and char sui.
It took a while for the food to arrive, but when it did, we nearly cried. The char sui and chicken were so juicy and flavored perfectly, and the wontons were incredibly crunchy with super bursts of flavor. The portion size was also amazing. And of course, the noodles were noticeably higher quality. We paid 8.50 USD for two bowls, and with such amazing flavor and massive portions, it was absolutely worth it.
Tai Hwa Eating House
If you thought Ji Ji’s looked good, you haven’t seen anything yet. Tai Hwa Eating House is yet another noodle stand, located on Crawford Lane. Except this stand was awarded a Michelin star from 2016-2022. You read that correctly, a star, not a recommendation. It’s safe to say Tai Hwa punches far above its weight.
They serve bak chor mee, Singapore-style minced pork noodles. We waited for over half an hour to get our food, but oh man… Something you’ll notice at Michelin-star restaurants is that the food doesn’t blow your mind in a totally unexpected way, but the execution of even the smallest details far exceeds the average great restaurant. Tai Hwa has some of the best prepared noodles I’ve ever put in my mouth, with a super soft yet chewy texture. The quality of the broth and meat is just something you have to try to experience. Even though we had been to several amazing restaurants in Singapore, Tai Hwa Eating House ended up being our favorite meal.
Upshot Coffee
Our first stop after checking into our hotel was coffee. We had an overnight flight and were lacking sleep, so I really wanted a pick-me-up. Upshot is located in Raffles Place, a massive skyscraper complex on the quay. It was hard to find, but it was worth it. This specialty shop has special croissants and sandwiches, but I just went ahead with a pour-over, and Yemisi got a chai. We chose Upshot because we were looking for the best specialty coffee in Singapore, which is surprisingly sparse. It was pretty great, but nothing over the top. Luckily, our next coffee shop was up to the task.
Apartment Coffee
Apartment Coffee is a shop on the north end of the marina area. I chose this shop because it had an immaculate vibe. With massive open windows, an ultra minimalist aesthetic, and excellent bar design, I wasn’t disappointed. Our drinks arrived, and we realized how high-quality this place is. My pour over was incredible, with the perfect light roast and delicate flavor notes, making it one of the best coffee shops I’ve been to. Yemisi only ordered a hot chocolate, but even this was over the top, coming with a proper origin card with tasting notes. Apartment is truly an S-tier shop.
Awfully Chocolate
Our friends recommended that we go to Awfully Chocolate to try a chocolate martini. They have locations all over the island, but we went to the one closest to Universal Studios Singapore. Sadly, we realized not every location has a bar, and we wouldn’t have time to get to the correct branch. We decided to go ahead and get a chocolate cake and hot chocolate anyway. We’re so glad we did, because this turned out to be the best chocolate cake we’ve ever had.
Yemisi loves praline so she got a slice of the chocolate praline cake, but there were so many options. It was so rich and luxurious, with intense dark chocolate flavor and perfectly moist cake. You only need one slice though, if we had more we might have gotten sick. Yemisi still claims to this day that this is the best chocolate cake ever.
Final Thoughts
That settles it, whether its Michelin star dining, street food, or specialty coffee, Singapore is one of the best countries to eat in. Even though we were only in the city for a few short days, we consider this to be one of our best food trips ever. If you don’t like our picks, there are hundreds more amazing places to choose from, and it doesn’t seem easy to go wrong. So go forth and delight your tastebuds with the amazing cross-cultural cuisine of this city.
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