Without a doubt, eating is our favourite national past time, and indulging in that past time is what makes us uniquely Singaporean.
This National Day, we celebrate by checking in with some of our favourite stars and finding out what makes them drool, slurp and burp with satisfaction.
Pay close attention, ‘cause you never know when you may bump into them at their local food haunt!
PS: Some of the food listed may not be inherently local, but you get the drift.
Tuck in!
My all-time favourite food in Singapore has to be Bak Kut Teh. I always visit Sin Heng Claypot Bak Koot Teh along Joo Chiat Road on Sundays, even though it’s definitely their busiest time of the week. The soup is flavourful, tantalizing and rich. Best of all, it’s open 24 hours a day!
My all-time favourite “cannot-get-out-of-my-head” local food is Hainanese Scissors Cut Curry Rice. I call it by it’s hokkien name, Kar Li Pung. I have been going to this shop at the corner of Jalan Besar and Kitchener road called Lao Di Fang (老地方)since I was a kid. Even when I returned home after studying overseas for two years, my first craving was for Kar Li Pung. I love it when all the food is meshed together with the curry and chilli sauces, the aroma is phenomenal! Although Kar Li Pung may look like crap, it sure tastes like heaven.
I’m a huge fan of Chilli Crab, but I have to say that I’m an even bigger fan of the Salted Egg Crab at Master Crab on Ghim Moh road. Just salty enough with a little bit of sweetness, and of course as much soft fresh crab meat as I can pry out of the shell.
My fave local food would have to be roti prata or carrot cake. Every time I go to a hawker centre, I would end up getting carrot cake about 90 per cent of the. As for roti prata, there’s this really cool prata place just off Upper Thomson Road that’s pretty awesome! Really crispy prata!
I like so many things but one of my favourites is Ayam Penyet. There’s a stall I go to in Adam Rd Hawker Centre and one in Bedok Corner. I like the skin crispy and the meat not too oily. I have a disclaimer though – I like breast meat. But it’s always the chilli that makes the Ayam Penyet complete.
I love food! My favourite stall will obviously be my dad’s food stall in Ang Mo Kio, but nothing beats Mummy’s homecook meal with a good sambal chilli!
One of my favourite local dishes has to be bak chor mee! And the stall of my choice is always the corner one at Florence Close along Upper Serangoon Road at Mee Sek Food Court. I love my food super spicy and this stall satisfies my chilli cravings, along with the heaps of chilli padi I load onto my bowl. The noodles are nice and bouncy with loads of minced pork, meatballs, mushrooms and pork lard that all melt in your mouth together! I have been going there for years until I have become friends with the “aunty” who laughs and jokes around with me whenever I visit to get my bak chor mee fix.
My favourite local food is definitely Chicken Rice, especially the one from Evertop Chicken Rice at
Clementi Avenue 2! If you’re wondering how good chicken rice can get, well, to me, it’s so good that the chickens voluntarily surrender themselves at the doors of Evertop in the hopes of getting turned into a plate of chicken rice there. The folks are friendly as well so for one glorious chicken rice-filled half hour, you are no longer in unfriendly Singapore but in a land where people never stop smiling and never stop asking you if you want another plate of rice.
My favourite local dishes are prawn mee, char kway teow , bak chor mee, wanton mee, chicken rice and the list goes on!
The wan ton mee at Lavender Food Court definitely gets my vote. The noodles are so tasty and springy, and I always order two large plates at one go.
I’m a huge fan of rojak and whenever I travel overseas, I’ll miss it terribly, especially from this particular stall in Toa Payoh. The essence of rojak is in the you tiao (dough fritters) and shrimp paste. The you tiao has to be warm and crispy, served with a generous amount of peanut topping!
My all-time favorite food is Hainanese Chicken Rice. Being a quarter Hainanese myself, I grew up with my grandma, mom and dad cooking each individually their best version of home-cooked chicken rice. If I go out I don’t have to walk far, just a two-minute walk from where I live in Katong is the Five Star chicken rice stall on East Coast Road. Yummy.
Oh gosh I can’t single out a local dish as my fave ‘cause I’m such a glutton! Although I must say, the egg tarts at Tong Heng Confectionary are simply delicious. My dad introduced them to me and I’ve been promoting it ever since! Make way Portugese egg tarts! It’s time for Tong Heng’s traditional authentic egg tarts!