Singapore
Restaurants in Singapore
The residents of Singapore love to eat out. By one estimate there are 20,000 restaurants feeding its population of 5 million. Some of the best restaurants in Singapore are white glove, gourmet destinations while more humble options include countless street food stalls—with its rigorously enforced health codes, you can dine at them without fear. Singapore restaurants run the gamut of cuisines—at the crossroads of Southeast Asia, you'll find Thai, Malay, Indonesian and other options, while the country's large Indian population has the subcontinent's cuisine covered. Unique to Singapore, and a few cities in Malaysia, is Peranakan cuisine, a hybrid of Chinese and Malaysian cuisines.
To experience the full range of the city's culinary scene, check out Singapore restaurants that are a once-per-trip splurge, like Saint Pierre, as well as the food stalls. In Saint Pierre's formal central business district dining room, the kitchen serves dishes that are a unique combination of Japanese and French. The selection of foie gras is one of its specialties. When it's time to check out some of the more wallet-friendly options, Hainanese chicken is an unofficial national dish—chicken poached in stock and served with a chili and garlic sauce.
Housed inside the chic Hotel 1929, Ember serves an innovative menu of Asian-influenced European cuisine crafted by chef Sebastian Ng.
Long a Singapore mainstay for Nonya (Chinese and Malay) cuisine, Kim Choo’s built its reputation on fragrant rice dumplings—which it stuffs and steams in 12 varieties, from chili prawns to minced pork and winter melon.
Founder Wong Yew Hwa slowly simmers his spicy noodle soups over a traditional charcoal fire.
This laid-back open-air hangout in Changi’s rooftop cactus garden has spectacular views of the runway, live jazz on weeknights, and a well-stocked cigar lounge.
Originally founded in Taiwan, Din Tai Fung is a casual Chinese restaurant serving traditional dim sum, rice, and noodle dishes. The popularity of the restaurant’s steamed dumplings launched a global enterprise with locations in the United States, Japan, China, and Korea.
Showcasing its own brand of ready-made pastas and sauces amid vibrant orchid-accented décor, this full-service fast-food joint’s menu runs the gamut of Singaporean cuisine, including an exceptional soup selection.
Although Buko Nero loosely translates to “hole in the wall,” the small restaurant often books out a month in advance thanks to its inventive Asian-Italian fusion cuisine.
This quick-stop coffee shop—an outpost of a 65-year-old chain—specializes in “toast sets,” or mini-sandwiches.
The highest restaurant in Singapore, Si Chuan Dou Hua serves traditional Sichuan and Cantonese cuisine on the 60th floor of the UOB Plaza One skyscraper.
A smart, busy place on the Esplanade that started life as a hawker stall, No Signboard Seafood Restaurant offers its giant Sri Lankan crab under a lava of addictive, ruddy-hued sweet-piquant hot sauce amped with garlic, pungent shrimp paste, and a host of secret ingredients.
Owned by husband and wife Emmanuel Stroobant and Edina Hong, Saint Pierre is widely considered one of Singapore’s finest restaurants thanks to Stroobant’s innovative take on French and Japanese cuisine.
"Sin Huat is a wonderland of fresh seafood—notably the Crab Bee Hoon. The service, however, could be described as borderline hostile, and the decor? Nonexistent. Grab your own Tiger beer from the case, and hopefully, eventually, someone will bring mugs and ice. Yes.
This casual, Italian chain has several locations throughout Singapore and has earned a loyal following with its selection of specialty, wood-fired pizzas.
The Dutch colonizers of Indonesia put their own spin on the local nasi padang feast, an array of small dishes served with a helping of rice. Today, the toned-down rijsttafel is more popular abroad than in Indonesia itself.
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