Yhingthai Palace
Red walls, timber floors, a Bib Gourmand and a long Thai-Chinese menu, two lanes behind Raffles Hotel. Bring a group, book for Friday, and order beyond the phad thai.
- Where: Bugis
- Price: S$30–60
Bib Gourmand
Good cooking at fair prices, as the Michelin inspectors put it. Here is what to order.
Zion Riverside Food Centre
Thirty-two stalls by the river near Great World, two of them on the 2026 Bib Gourmand list. Small enough for one lap; pick your two stalls and check their days first.
- Where: River Valley
- Price: Under S$30
Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre
A breakfast estate: chwee kueh from a stall trading since 1959, a morning-only carrot cake and, for anyone who slept in, a Bib Gourmand braised duck. Go before 9am.
- Where: Ghim Moh / Buona Vista
- Price: Under S$30
ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre
Redhill's neighbourhood hawker centre, worth the walk for Fatty Cheong's char siew and Ah Er's Bib Gourmand soup. Go before the lunch rush with a back-up stall in mind.
- Where: Alexandra
- Price: Under S$30
Whampoa Makan Place
Two blocks, two clocks: breakfast and the wet market in Block 91, lunch to supper in Block 90. Get the building right, go early and check your stall's trading days first.
- Where: Whampoa
- Price: Under S$30
Adam Road Food Centre
The place to eat after the Botanic Gardens: nasi lemak sets named after poker hands, plus Bib Gourmand mutton soup and prawn noodles, in one low building by the flyover.
- Where: Bukit Timah
- Price: Under S$30
Newton Food Centre
Newton has a reputation and five stalls on the 2025 Bib Gourmand list. Both are earned, so order from the list and agree the seafood price before anything hits the wok.
- Where: Newton
- Price: Under S$30
i
Photo: Kaeru, CC BY 2.0, via FlickrHong Lim Market & Food Centre
Chinatown's lunch hawker centre: a Bib Gourmand char kway teow from 6am, a curry chicken noodle rivalry split by floor and a third-generation wanton mee. Go late morning or after 1.30pm.
- Where: Chinatown
- Price: Under S$30
Amoy Street Food Centre
The CBD's canteen: a Bib Gourmand fish soup, a Michelin-listed ramen and curry puffs in a paper bag, all fitted into a lunch hour by people with lanyards.
- Where: Tanjong Pagar
- Price: Under S$30
Chinatown Complex Food Centre
Singapore's largest hawker centre, with more than 220 stalls and a layout that defeats first-timers. Pick three stalls, start with Lian He Ben Ji's claypot, and check the revamp first.
- Where: Chinatown
- Price: Under S$30
Old Airport Road Food Centre
The east side's hawker argument, settled under one roof: three Bib Gourmand stalls, a Hokkien mee that sells out and a runway nobody remembers.
- Where: Old Airport Road
- Price: Under S$30
Tiong Bahru Market
Tiong Bahru's old town hall, now its breakfast: chwee kueh since 1958 and three Bib Gourmand stalls. Come early and order across stalls; many are done by early afternoon.
- Where: Tiong Bahru
- Price: Under S$30
Maxwell Food Centre
103 stalls beside Maxwell MRT, and the famous chicken rice queue is one of them. Go mid-morning, before the CBD lunch crush, and note the whole centre shuts for cleaning on 14 December 2026.
- Where: Chinatown
- Price: Under S$30
Song Fa Bak Kut Teh
Clear, peppery Teochew bak kut teh, with soup top-ups that arrive before you ask. The Bib Gourmand is for the New Bridge Road original, so go there rather than to the logo.
- Where: Across Singapore
- Price: Under S$30
The Coconut Club
Nasi lemak with a sit-down room and a coconut milk with its own name, in a Beach Road shophouse with a Bib Gourmand. Taste the parts before you mix them.
- Where: Across Singapore
- Price: Under S$30
Fico — East Coast Park
A Pugliese farmhouse on the East Coast Park cycle path, with a Bib Gourmand and a kiosk that turns the park into the dining room. Not cheap, and a car helps.
- Where: East Coast
- Price: S$30–60
The best char kway teow in Singapore, wet, dry and smoky
Meng Kee on Havelock Road for the glossy, smoky benchmark; Dong Ji at Old Airport Road if most char kway teow tastes too sweet. Six plates, most fried by the founders' children.
- Where: Across Singapore
The best chilli crab in Singapore, from the family that started it
Roland for the founding family's recipe, Long Beach to settle chilli versus black pepper, Alliance at Newton for crab at hawker prices. Ask the weight before it hits the wok.
- Where: Across Singapore
The best laksa in Singapore: Katong, curry and the spoon question
Eat Janggut and 328 back to back on East Coast Road one morning; that settles the Katong question. For curry laksa, the charcoal-warmed bowl on Jalan Berseh. Spoon only.
- Where: Across Singapore
Dinner worth planning around: six tables built on memory
Odette for an anniversary, Claudine for a long lunch, Candlenut for three generations, Kotuwa for a group, Artichoke when nobody wants courses. Read Labyrinth’s dietary rules first.
- Where: Across Singapore
New Bahru, by appetite: granola, crab curry or pizza
Granola people go to Dearborn, spice people go to Kotuwa and the friend who wants a slice and a beer goes to Artichoke. An old school on Kim Yam Road, best done one subject at a time.
- Where: Across Singapore
Singapore on a plate, from pushcart to tasting menu
Teochew bak kut teh with a 1969 pushcart start, a kitchen built on coconut, a grandmother's Peranakan recipes with a star and a tasting menu of dishes fading from memory. One city, four registers.
- Where: Across Singapore
The best Hokkien mee in Singapore, wet, dry and smoky
Swee Guan in Geylang for charcoal smoke, Whampoa or Simon Road for the wet camp, Hokkien Man for an ex-Les Amis chef's take. Seven plates, and a lime for each.
- Where: Across Singapore
The best chai tow kway in Singapore, black or white
No carrot, no cake: steamed radish fried hard with egg and chye poh. Start with the two 2026 Bib Gourmands, Chey Sua for white and Fu Ming for both, then pick a side.
- Where: Across Singapore
The flexible lunch plan: four food centres with a past
Tiong Bahru for breakfast, Maxwell for a first-timer, Lau Pa Sat in the evening, Tekka when you are properly hungry. Stalls keep their own rest days, so have a back-up dish.
- Where: Across Singapore
More restaurants collections
Restaurants worth planning around
Meals worth putting in the calendar, from Peranakan cooking to French dining and Singapore-led tasting menus. Settle the occasion first; the right table follows from it.
- 6 picks
Food centres
The answer when nobody agrees on lunch. Everyone browses, everyone orders their own, everyone meets back at one table; keep a second choice in case your stall is shut.
- 4 picks
Singapore flavours
Singapore food in three registers: a hawker meal, a heritage-led restaurant or a tasting menu. If you only do one, start at the hawker centre; the others are riffing on it.
- 5 picks
Eating in Dempsey
Dempsey is best done as one booked meal with time either side. Peranakan, French or an open kitchen, chosen for the company; don't rush the wander around it.
- 3 picks
Eating at New Bahru
New Bahru works best if you decide what you're eating before you arrive: breakfast, Sri Lankan cooking or pizza. Book the table, then wander afterwards.
- 3 picks
Tiong Bahru cafés and market
The small plan suits Tiong Bahru best: lunch at the market or a bakery stop, then a slow wander. Check which bakery branch you mean before you set off.
- 3 picks