A South-Indian flat bread made by frying stretched dough flavoured with ghee
(Indian clarified butter). Roti Prata brings you a balance of soft yet crisp
texture. Served with Fish or Mutton curry which makes them a great combination.
Roti refers to 'bread', and prata or paratha refers to 'flat' in Hindi language.
Some presumed that the dish evolved from original pancake recipes from Punjab in
India, but across the causeway in Malaysia, the flat bread is known as 'roti canai',
which some say is an indication to its origins from Chennai.
Roti Prata can be a satisfying meal anytime where local menus feature a variety
of extraordinary variations like Roti
Prata with Cheese, Chocolate & Ice Creams aside from the classic plain or egg
prata. A recommended way on how to enjoy would be to dig in with your fingers!
Recommendation:
Singapore Zam Zam
697-699 North Bridge Road, Singapore 198675
Mon - Sun : 7:00am - 11:00pm
Katong Laksa was inspired by the Peranakans (Straits Chinese) who live in the Katong area.
It comes with a spicy soup gravy, flavoured with coconut milk and dried shrimp,
and topped with ingredients like prawns, Tau pok (Fried Beancurd) and cockles.
It is usually served with thick vermicelli cut into shorter pieces that can be easily
slurped up with a spoon. At some stalls, you only get a spoon to eat the laksa – no
chopsticks needed.
Recommendation:
328 Katong Laksa
51 East Coast Road, Singapore 428770
Daily: 10:00am - 10:00pm
The perfect snack that goes extremely well with a cup of local 'kopi' (coffee) or
'teh' (tea); slices of toasted bread with a generous spread of cold butter and kaya,
a traditional jam made from eggs and coconut. It is accompanied by two soft-boiled
eggs with runny yolks and translucent whites where a dash of dark soya and white
pepper brings the flavour out. The savoury eggs are a great complement to the sweet
kaya toast which has a crispy crunch.
This simple dish is loved by Singaporeans and tourists and it is the
ultimate food for those who are craving for a sweet tooth. They are available in
chain cafes namely Ya Kun, Toast Box, Heavenly Wang & Killiney.
Recommendation:
Toast Box
3 Temasek Boulevard Suntec City Mall #B1-167/168 S(038986)
Mon - Thurs: 7:30am - 9:00pm
Fri: 7:30am - 9:30pm
Sat: 8:30am - 9:30pm
Sun & PH: 8:30am - 9:00pm
One of Singapore’s most well-known dish where the chicken is first steeped in
chicken stock with garlic, ginger & occasionally pandan leaves, followed by
dipping it in ice water after cooking to create a jelly-like finish on the
chicken’s skin. Concurrently, the remaining broth is used to cook the rice
with pandan leaves & garlic, resulting in a glossy flavourful oily rice, to
be served all together with garlic chilli sauce & dark sweet soy sauce and
ginger mash.
The most famous stall will have to be Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken
Rice who was praised by Anthony Bourdain & won the match Hawker Heroes VS
Gordon Ramsey in July 2013. After visiting Jamae Mosque, Sri Mariamman Temple
& the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple along South Bridge Road, you can end your
Chinatown trail with a queue for the famous chicken rice.
Recommendation:
Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice
Stall 10, Maxwell Food Centre
1 Kadayanallur Street 069184
Tue - Sun: 11:00am - 8:00pm
Chilli crab is one of Singapore’s greatest culinary inventions, the king of
all crab dishes. It is available in most seafood restaurants, typically served
with mud crabs that have deliciously sweet and juicy flesh.
Order a basket of mantou(Fried Buns) to dip and soak into the chilli
crab sauce – a perfect blend of beaten eggs, tomatoes and chilli paste. As you
savour the dish with your hands, it is simply impossible for you to not appreciate
this dish.
Recommendation:
Jumbo Seafood Restaurant (Riverside Point)
30 Merchant Road # 01-01/02 Riverside Point, Singapore 058282
Daily: 12:00pm - 3:00pm (last order at 2:15pm), 6:00pm - 12:00am
(last order at 11:15pm)
Nasi Lemak in English would be ‘rich rice’ with ‘rich’ referring to the coconut cream
that makes it so delicious. The fragrant rice infused with pandan leaves and coconut
milk is to be eaten with otah (grilled fish paste), chicken wings or deep fried fish,
alongside with eggs, cucumber slices, sambal chilli, peanuts and ikan bilis(Fried
Anchovies). It is a heartfelt dish well loved by the Malays and non-Malays, a dish
you do not want to miss!
Recommendation:
Mizzy Corner
Changi Village Market and Food Centre #01-26
2 Changi Village Road, Singapore 500002
Mon - Thu: 7:00am - 11:00pm
Fri, Sat & Sun 24 hours
The lifeblood of many Singaporeans young and old, kopi is the go-to drink that many start their day with. Local kopi is made from Robusta coffee beans that are roasted with sugar and margarine under high heat to caramelise the beans and pronounce its flavours. The ground coffee is then mixed with hot water and strained in a flannel sock filter. A wallet-friendly caffeine fix, kopi is so strongly engrained in Singaporean food culture that we have our own unique concoctions and terminology for ordering its variants.
Local Term | Meaning |
Kopi [pronounced ‘ko-peeh’] |
Black coffee with condensed milk, which is a thick and sweetened milk. |
Kopi-O [pronounced ‘ko-peeh oh’] |
Black coffee with sugar |
Kopi C [pronounced ‘ko-peeh see’] |
Black coffee with sugar and evaporated milk, which is similar to condensed milk, but unsweetened. |
Kopi C kosong [pronounced ‘ko-peeh see co-soh-ung’] |
Black coffee with evaporated milk. Adding ‘kosong’ (Malay for ‘zero’) to the end of the order means ‘without sugar’. |
Kopi O kosong [pronounced ‘ko-peeh oh coh-soh-ung’] |
Black coffee without sugar. |
Kopi gah dai [pronounced ‘ko-peeh kah die’] |
Black coffee with extra condensed milk. ‘Gah dai’ means ‘extra sugar’. Add ‘gah dai’ to any drink order to make your drink sweeter. |
Kopi siew dai [pronounced ‘ko-peeh see-ew die’] |
Coffee with less condensed milk. ‘Siew’ means less. Say ‘siew dai’ and your drink will be made with less condensed milk. |
Kopi pok [pronounced ‘ko-peeh pok’] |
Black coffee with condensed milk, but made with less coffee powder and more water. ‘Pok’ means thin. Say ‘pok’ to get a lighter brew. |
Kopi gau [pronounced ‘ko-peeh g-ow’] |
Strong coffee with condensed milk. ‘Gau’ means thick. Say ‘gau’ to add an extra shot of caffeine to your drink. |
Kopi peng [pronounced ‘ko-peeh peh-eng’] |
Iced coffee with condensed milk. ‘Peng’ means iced. |
Kopi gu you [pronounced ‘ko-peeh goo-yo’] |
Black coffee with butter and condensed milk. |
Kopi tarik [pronounded ko-peeh tah-rik] |
Pulled black coffee with condensed milk. ‘Tarik’ means ‘to pull’ in Malay. A kopi tarik is a sweet coffee with a frothy top. Made by pulling a long stream of coffee repeatedly between two large cups, the idea behind this technique is to thoroughly mix the coffee and cool down the drink down slightly. |