11 Foods to Try in Singapore

I love visiting Singapore because it’s a clean, safe country with an amazing variety of foods!

Singapore’s cuisine is a melting pot of flavors, created by the diverse communities that settled there and made it their home. You can find Chinese, Indian, Malay and even British and American foods in Singapore, and they blend together to make something really delicious.

Here’s 11 different food items I recommend trying when you go to Singapore. It’s a mix of local favorites, my personal favorites, and just interesting things I think it’d be worth trying if you’ve never had them before. They’re heavy on the Chinese side of things because that’s what I like to eat, but I think there’s something here for all kinds of taste buds. Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and buy something, I get a small percentage at no extra cost to you. Your support helps keep this blog running— thank you! Read full disclosure here.

Kopi

Kopi is coffee— Singapore style coffee, of course! Originating in Hainanese coffee shops in the early 1900s, kopi is made with Robusta coffee beans roasted with sugar and margarine. This makes it taste more carmalized than normal coffee!

Once brewed, the kopi is strained through a sock-shaped cloth filter and mixed with condensed milk. You can adjust how much milk you want, what type of milk, if you want extra sugar, and so on. Visiting a kopitiem (coffee shop) and sitting and watching the world go by is practically an obligation whenever you visit Singapore!

📲 Traveling through multiple countries? Grab the Asialink regional eSIM from Airalo. New users, use promo code NEWTOAIRALO15 to save 15%. Existing users, use promo code AIRALOESIM10 to save 10%!

Kaya Toast Breakfast

Kaya is a jam made from coconut milk, eggs, sugar and flavored with pandan leaves (which also gives it that distinctive green color!) It’s a really nice flavor, not too sweet and reminds me a little of apple butter.

The kaya toast breakfast combo is as follows: a slice of toast spread with kaya and a thick pat of butter, a soft boiled egg flavored with thick soy sauce and pepper, and a cup of kopi or tea!

It’s a wonderful lightweight breakfast to get you started for the day, and the best thing is it’s available basically everywhere in Singapore. There’s different kinds of toast, as some places used brown or white bread and some places use buns, so it’s worth trying different places to find the kind you like best.

Now, I was a Ya Kun Kaya Toast restaurant enthusiast for a while but they recently raised their prices which makes them one of the more expensive kaya toast options in Singapore. (Locals aren’t too happy about it, either.) For a cheaper option, check hawker markets where you can get this set for about S$2.50 or so.

Chili Crab

If you’re a fan of seafood then you’re in the right place, as chili crab has become one of Singapore’s most iconic dishes. It was created in the 190s by Cher Yam Tian, who experimented with adding bottled tomato and chili sauces to stir-fried crabs. Normally crabs are cooked by steaming, so stir-frying was a totally new method!

So what’s in a chili crab, anyway? Basically: fresh crab (usually mud crabs) cooked in a chili gravy which has tomato paste, chili sauce, and eggs. Then you garnish it with coriander and serve it with fried buns to soak up the sauce. Yum!

Over the years chili crab has gotten very popular and there’s all kinds of restaurants serving it. Two recommended to me by a local friend are Long Beach @ DEMPSEY HILL and JUMBO Seafood.

If you just want to try a bit and not necessarily a whole crab, going on a food tour is a good way to get a taste without forking over your entire wallet. That’s how I got that crab claw up there– on a food tour!

Singapore Sling

The Sling is Singapore’s classic cocktail created around 1915 by Ngiam Tong Boon, a bartender at the Raffles Hotel. The story is that it was designed as a lady’s cocktail, as it wasn’t proper for women to be drinking alcohol in public. The pink color made it look like punch, so women could chug it down as much as they wanted!

Now it’s a popular activity to get dressed up, visit the Raffles Hotel Long Bar and order a Sling.

What’s in a Singapore Sling? Quite a lot actually: gin, cherry liqueur, Cointreau, Dom Benedictine, grenadine, pineapple juice, lime juice, and a dash of bitters. It tastes fruity and slightly tart, and if you’re not careful you’ll get a little lightheaded because it’s so alcoholic.

Not a fan of alcohol? No problem!

There’s a non-alcoholic version using ingredients which give the same flavor of the Sling for a fraction of the price. That’s what I did when I visited the Raffles Bar, and it was a perfectly nice drink (and I got to watch my friends get a bit tipsy, which was fun).

Singapore Laksa

Laksa is a spicy noodle soup with roots in the Peranakan culture, which blends Chinese and Malay culinary traditions. It’s got rice noodles (cut short), shrimp, fish cakes, cockles, sambal chili, and laksa leaves.

Every place does laksa differently, even within the same country! In Singapore laksa got popular as a street food in the Peranakan community in the Katong area (hence the name, katong laksa). I especially like the Singaporean version because they use coconut milk as a base. It makes the soup creamy and more rich! And the coconut milk cuts the spice a little, too, which is great for those of us who haven’t built up a good spice tolerance yet.

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

Another dish found all over this region of the world, and a yummy one!

Chicken satay is marinated chicken skewers grilled over an open flame. The chicken tastes smoky and charred, and it’s SO GOOD. The marinade is very flavorful as well, with ingredients like turmeric, lemongrass, garlic, and coriander. Usually you also get some side dishes like peanut sauce, which you dip the chicken into, rice cakes, onions and cucumbers.

You can find this dish at basically all the hawker centers, as it’s a staple.

Char Kway Teow

Char kway teow is stir-fried flat rice noodles and eggs! You then add on sausage, prawns, bean sprouts and a dark soy sauce. Char kway teow has its roots in the Chinese community, particularly among the Teochew and Hokkien groups who settled in Singapore. It became popular among laborers because of how affordable it was and how much you got for that price.

If you’re looking for something filling and delicious, char kway teow is a good choice!

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Hainanese Chicken Rice is maybe the most famous Singaporean dish (besides the chili crab). It was brought to Singapore by Hainanese immigrants in the early 20th century.

It’s a very basic dish, just some poached chicken breast cooked in chicken broth, with white rice cooked in chicken broth. You can get vegetables on the side and a soy egg to complete the meal. The special thing about the chicken is that after it’s poached, it’s put into an ice bath which gives it a smooth texture. (It’s reheated before you eat it, fyi.)

This dish is literally found everywhere, and it’s very affordable! And DELICIOUS! You can get a large sized meal with the extra sides for about S$7 or less. I recommend going to a hawker center (as always) and finding the stall with the longest line and getting it from there.

Popiah

Who doesn’t like a good spring roll?

Popiah is a fresh spring roll made by wrapping a thin skin around a filling of finely chopped veggies (jicama, lettuce, bean sprouts), tofu, and sometimes shrimp or pork. You usually get a side of chili sauce as well!

It was made popular in Singapore through the Teochew community who came from the Fujian province in China and is traditionally eaten during festival occasions, especially in spring.

These are great snack foods or as a side dish for something else.

Chai Tow Kway (aka “carrot cake”)

This has a funny name, especially if you’re from America! For us, carrot cake is a sweet dessert. For Singaporeans, their “carrot cake” is a side dish made from radish cakes stir-fried with eggs!

They even have two kinds of flavors: a sweet version with dark soy sauce, which is what I had, and a savory version. Like popiah, chai tow kway comes from the Teochew community and can be found at almost every hawker center. Yum!

Chendol

No food list is complete without a dessert! Chendol is shaved ice topped with coconut milk, gula melaka (palm sugar syrup), and green jelly noodles made from rice flour and pandan leaves. You can also add red beans or sweet corn– both popular dessert flavors on their own in Asia.

I find this a little too sweet for me to finish on my own, so if you have a small sweet tooth I recommend sharing it with a friend!

Final Thoughts

There’s always something new and exciting to try in Singapore. I hope you’re inspired by this list to try something new to you, too.

Leave a comment with your thoughts and any recommendations you have for me to try the next time I’m in Singapore!