Singapore is arguably the greatest food city on Earth, where a Michelin-starred hawker stall plates chicken rice for a few dollars, three-star French temples sit minutes from open-air food centres, and Chinese, Malay, Indian and Peranakan flavours collide on every street. From chilli crab and laksa to fine-dining tasting menus, here are 10 essential places to eat, spanning hawker legends to world-ranked restaurants, with prices, hours and insider tips.
$$$$Odette
Area
National Gallery
Type
Modern French
“Book two months ahead and request a window table for Padang views; the lunch menu is roughly half the price of dinner for the same kitchen.”
$$$$Les Amis
Area
Shaw Centre, Orchard
Type
Classic French
“One of Asia's great wine cellars — over 3,000 labels — so lean on the sommelier; the set lunch is a relative bargain for three-star cooking.”
$$$$Burnt Ends
Area
Dempsey Hill
Type
Modern Australian barbecue
“Grab a counter seat to watch the four-tonne custom ovens in action; the beef marmalade brioche and pulled-pork sanger are non-negotiable orders.”
$$$Candlenut
Area
COMO Dempsey
Type
Peranakan
“Order the multi-course 'Ahmakase' tasting to sample the full range; the buah keluak (black nut) dishes are the soul of Peranakan cooking — don't skip them.”
$$$$Labyrinth
Area
Esplanade
Type
Modern Singaporean
“Chef LG Han reinvents hawker classics like chilli crab and rojak with local farm produce — the tasting menu is a witty edible tour of Singapore.”
$$Long Beach Seafood
Area
East Coast
Type
Singaporean seafood
“Long Beach claims to have invented black pepper crab — order that alongside the chilli crab and a basket of fried mantou buns to mop up the sauce.”
$328 Katong Laksa
Area
Katong / East Coast
Type
Laksa / hawker
“Katong laksa is eaten with a spoon only — the noodles are pre-cut — so you can sip the rich coconut gravy; add extra cockles and a side of otah.”
$Liao Fan Hawker Chan
Area
Chinatown
Type
Soya chicken / hawker
“Decide your order before you reach the counter — the soya-sauce chicken rice at around S$6 is the cheapest Michelin meal on Earth, and the queue moves fast.”
$Maxwell Food Centre
Area
Chinatown
Type
Hawker centre
“Join the queue at Tian Tian for Hainanese chicken rice, then graze — one dish per stall — on char kway teow, popiah and freshly pressed sugar-cane juice.”
$Newton Food Centre
Area
Newton
Type
Hawker centre
“It's touristy and stalls may over-portion, so agree the price before ordering seafood; come after 19:00 for the buzzy, open-air satay-and-barbecue atmosphere.”
Singapore restaurants in detail
1.Odette
Odette is the crown jewel of Singapore's dining scene — the three-Michelin-starred restaurant of French chef Julien Royer, named after his grandmother and set within the elegant National Gallery, the restored former Supreme Court and City Hall. Consistently ranked among the very best restaurants in Asia and the world, it serves a refined, produce-driven modern French tasting menu that reads like a love letter to seasonal ingredients: heirloom vegetables, prized seafood, rare mushrooms and impeccable proteins, each dish plated with quiet precision in a soft-hued dining room of blush pinks and suspended mobiles. Royer champions a 'terroir and seasonality' philosophy, working with small farmers and fishers around the region, and the service is polished without being stiff. The eight-course dinner runs to around S$358 per person, but the smartest way in for first-timers is lunch, which delivers the same kitchen's artistry from roughly S$188. Tables are among the hardest to secure in the city, released a couple of months in advance and snapped up within hours, so plan ahead and, if you can, request a seat by the tall windows overlooking the Padang. Wine pairings from the deep cellar are excellent but push the bill considerably higher. For a landmark meal that captures why Singapore has become one of Asia's great food capitals, Odette is the definitive choice — special-occasion dining at its most assured.
Hours
Tue–Sat 12:00–13:30 & 19:00–20:30 (closed Sun–Mon)
Price
8-course dinner ~S$358; lunch tasting from ~S$188
Getting there
MRT City Hall (EW13/NS25); inside the National Gallery on Saint Andrew's Road
Insider tip: Book two months ahead and request a window table for Padang views; the lunch menu is roughly half the price of dinner for the same kitchen.
2.Les Amis
Les Amis is the grande dame of fine dining in Singapore — a three-Michelin-star restaurant that has been setting the standard for classic French haute cuisine since it opened in 1994, long before the city became the Michelin magnet it is today. Tucked into Shaw Centre at the quieter end of Orchard Road, it exudes understated luxury: a hushed, cream-and-gold dining room, faultless table settings and a level of service that anticipates your every need. Under chef Sébastien Lepinoy the kitchen honours the great French tradition — luxurious sauces, prime seasonal ingredients flown in from Europe, and technique executed with absolute precision — rather than chasing trends. Signature dishes might include langoustine, hand-dived scallop, French poultry and a legendary array of cheeses wheeled out on a trolley. What truly sets Les Amis apart is its cellar, one of the finest in Asia, holding more than 3,000 labels including verticals of the great Burgundy and Bordeaux estates; a meal here is as much about the wine as the food, so put yourself in the sommelier's hands. Dinner menus run to around S$450, but the set lunch from roughly S$175 offers an accessible taste of three-star cooking. Book a week or two ahead, dress smartly and settle in for a long, gracious meal. For lovers of classic French gastronomy and serious wine, Les Amis remains unmatched in the city.
Hours
Daily 12:00–14:00 & 19:00–21:30
Price
Dinner menus ~S$450; set lunch from ~S$175
Getting there
MRT Orchard (NS22/TE14); on level 1 of Shaw Centre at the top of Orchard Road
Insider tip: One of Asia's great wine cellars — over 3,000 labels — so lean on the sommelier; the set lunch is a relative bargain for three-star cooking.
3.Burnt Ends
Burnt Ends is the most fun you can have at a Michelin-starred table in Singapore — a one-star modern Australian barbecue restaurant built around fire and smoke, run by chef Dave Pynt. Now relocated to leafy Dempsey Hill, its heart is a custom-built brick kiln and a set of four-tonne, dual-cavity ovens fuelled by different woods, over and within which almost everything is cooked. Diners perch at a horseshoe counter with a front-row view of the flames, the chefs working with tongs and instinct rather than dials. The menu changes daily with the produce, but certain items have become legends: the beef marmalade and onion brioche, the smoked quail egg with caviar, the pulled-pork 'sanger' (sandwich), and the flame-grilled marbled beef cooked over embers. It is smoky, generous, boldly flavoured cooking with none of the stuffiness that can shadow fine dining, matched by a lively natural-wine list and an atmosphere closer to a great bar than a temple of gastronomy. Expect to spend somewhere between S$150 and S$280 per person à la carte. The catch is getting in: Burnt Ends is one of the toughest reservations in the country, with tables released online and claimed within minutes weeks in advance, so set a reminder for the booking window. For barbecue lovers and anyone who wants Michelin quality without the hush, it is unmissable.
Hours
Tue–Sat 11:45–14:00 & 18:00–late (closed Sun–Mon)
Price
À la carte ~S$150–280 per person; counter dining
Getting there
In Dempsey Hill; taxi/Grab from Orchard ~10 min, or bus 7/75/77 to Dempsey Road
Insider tip: Grab a counter seat to watch the four-tonne custom ovens in action; the beef marmalade brioche and pulled-pork sanger are non-negotiable orders.
4.Candlenut
Candlenut holds a unique distinction: it is the world's first Michelin-starred Peranakan restaurant, and the finest place to understand one of Singapore's most soulful cuisines. Peranakan — or Nyonya — cooking is the food of the Straits-Chinese community, born of centuries of intermarriage between Chinese settlers and the Malay world, and it is famously labour-intensive, layered with rempah spice pastes, tamarind, coconut, candlenuts and the distinctive, earthy-bitter buah keluak nut. Chef Malcolm Lee grew up cooking these dishes with his family and opened Candlenut to honour and elevate that heritage, and while the flavours are deeply traditional, the presentation and setting — a bright, contemporary dining room in the verdant COMO Dempsey enclave — are thoroughly refined. The signature way to eat is the 'Ahmakase', a chef-guided tasting menu (from around S$118) that walks you through Nyonya classics: beef short-rib rendang, blue swimmer crab curry, king prawns in a rich buah keluak sauce and heritage vegetable dishes, each one balancing sweetness, heat, sourness and umami. À la carte mains run from S$18 to S$38, making a casual lunch surprisingly accessible. The cooking is generous and full of feeling, a world apart from the city's hawker Nyonya food yet rooted in the same traditions. For anyone curious about the culture and flavours that make Singapore's food unique, Candlenut is essential — book a few days ahead, especially for weekend meals.
Hours
Daily 12:00–15:00 & 18:00–22:00
Price
Ahmakase tasting from ~S$118; à la carte mains S$18–38
Getting there
In the COMO Dempsey enclave; taxi/Grab from Orchard ~10 min, or bus to Dempsey Road
Insider tip: Order the multi-course 'Ahmakase' tasting to sample the full range; the buah keluak (black nut) dishes are the soul of Peranakan cooking — don't skip them.
5.Labyrinth
Labyrinth is one of the most personal and patriotic restaurants in Singapore — a one-Michelin-star, one-Green-Michelin-star venture by self-taught chef LG Han, who set out to prove that a fine-dining tasting menu could be built entirely around Singaporean flavours and, increasingly, Singaporean produce. The result is a playful, deeply researched journey through the city's culinary identity, taking beloved hawker and heritage dishes and reconstructing them with modern technique and artful presentation. Chilli crab becomes an elegant composition, rojak (the funky local fruit-and-vegetable salad) is reimagined as a delicate garden on the plate, and childhood snacks and kampong flavours reappear in surprising new forms. Crucially, Han champions local farmers, fishers and producers — a rarity in land-scarce Singapore — sourcing island-grown vegetables, locally farmed fish and even homegrown herbs, which has earned the restaurant a Green Michelin Star for sustainability. The dining room, overlooking Marina Bay from the Esplanade, is intimate and contemporary, and the meal unfolds as a series of witty, flavour-packed courses that both nourish and tell a story about the nation on the plate. Tasting menus start from around S$168. It is a brilliant choice for curious eaters who want fine dining with a strong sense of place, and a refreshing counterpoint to the city's French and Japanese temples. Book several days ahead, and come ready to have your assumptions about local food gently upended.
Hours
Tue–Sat 12:00–14:00 & 18:30–21:00 (closed Sun–Mon)
Price
Tasting menus from ~S$168
Getting there
MRT Esplanade (CC3) or City Hall; at the Esplanade Mall overlooking Marina Bay
Insider tip: Chef LG Han reinvents hawker classics like chilli crab and rojak with local farm produce — the tasting menu is a witty edible tour of Singapore.
6.Long Beach Seafood
For many visitors, a plate of chilli crab or black pepper crab is the single most memorable meal in Singapore, and Long Beach Seafood is one of the best-loved places to have it. Founded in 1946, this veteran restaurant group even claims to have invented black pepper crab back in the 1950s — a mountain of wok-fried mud crab coated in a fiercely aromatic, buttery black-pepper sauce that many locals rate above the more famous chilli version. Both are here in their glory: the chilli crab arrives in a sweet, savoury, subtly spicy tomato-and-egg gravy that demands a basket of golden fried mantou buns for mopping. Beyond crab, the sprawling menu covers the full canon of Singaporean-Chinese seafood — cereal prawns, salted-egg-yolk crab, drunken prawns, steamed fish, sambal kang kong and more — served in the bustling, no-frills style of a proper local seafood house. The atmosphere is boisterous and family-friendly, with big round tables of locals and tourists alike cracking shells and passing dishes. The flagship at the East Coast Seafood Centre lets you dine within sight and sound of the sea, the classic setting for this kind of meal. Crab is priced by weight, so a feast for two typically lands around S$70 to S$110 plus sides. Book ahead for weekend dinners, wear the bib they offer, and come hungry and ready to get your hands messy — this is Singaporean eating at its most joyful.
Hours
Daily 11:00–15:00 & 17:00–24:00
Price
Crab priced by weight ~S$70–110 for two; other mains S$20–40
Getting there
East Coast Seafood Centre; taxi/Grab from the centre ~15 min; no direct MRT
Insider tip: Long Beach claims to have invented black pepper crab — order that alongside the chilli crab and a basket of fried mantou buns to mop up the sauce.
7.328 Katong Laksa
328 Katong Laksa is a Singapore hawker legend, the standard-bearer for the distinctive Katong style of laksa that hails from this historically Peranakan corner of the east coast. Laksa is one of the great dishes of the region — rice noodles in a rich, spicy, deeply savoury gravy of coconut milk and a rempah spice paste, topped with cockles, prawns, fish cake and a scattering of fragrant laksa leaf. What makes the Katong version special is that the thick rice vermicelli is snipped into short pieces, so the whole bowl can be eaten with a spoon alone, letting you scoop noodles, seafood and that luxurious orange broth in a single mouthful. 328 shot to international fame when its laksa beat Gordon Ramsay's version in a televised hawker challenge, and the shop has traded on that victory ever since, with photos and press clippings plastering the walls. Despite the fame it remains cheap and cheerful, a bowl costing only around S$6 to S$9, best rounded out with a stick or two of otah (grilled fish paste in banana leaf) and an iced kopi. There are a couple of outlets a short stroll apart on East Coast Road, at the heart of the charming Katong and Joo Chiat district known for its brightly painted Peranakan shophouses. It is the perfect lunch stop when exploring the east, delivering a bowl of one of Singapore's most beloved comfort foods for the price of a coffee back home.
Hours
Daily 10:00–21:00
Price
Laksa from ~S$6–9; sides S$3–6
Getting there
In the Katong/Joo Chiat district on East Coast Road; taxi/Grab ~15 min, or bus 12/14/32
Insider tip: Katong laksa is eaten with a spoon only — the noodles are pre-cut — so you can sip the rich coconut gravy; add extra cockles and a side of otah.
8.Liao Fan Hawker Chan
Liao Fan Hawker Chan made global headlines in 2016 as the first hawker stall in the world to earn a Michelin star, turning its softly spoken founder, chef Chan Hon Meng, into an overnight celebrity and proving that world-class food need not come with a world-class price tag. The dish that did it is deceptively simple: soya-sauce chicken, poached and glazed until the skin turns a deep, glossy mahogany, sliced over rice or noodles and finished with a slick of dark, aromatic sauce. At the original stall inside the sprawling Chinatown Complex Food Centre, a plate still costs only around S$6 — routinely described as the cheapest Michelin-recognised meal on the planet. The char siu (barbecue pork) and roast pork are excellent too, and a bowl of noodles or a side of greens rounds out a full lunch for under S$10. The stall's fame means a queue is almost guaranteed, but it moves briskly, and part of the experience is soaking up the atmosphere of one of Singapore's largest and most authentic hawker centres, packed with hundreds of stalls and thronged by locals. Have your order ready, pay cash, and be prepared to share a table communal-style. While a nearby air-conditioned shopfront branch offers more comfort, purists insist the original hawker stall is the one to seek out. It is the ultimate expression of Singapore's egalitarian food culture, where a Michelin meal is available to everyone.
Hours
Wed–Mon 10:30–19:30 (or until sold out; closed Tue)
Price
Soya chicken rice ~S$6; noodles & sides S$4–8
Getting there
MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19) or Maxwell (TE18); at Chinatown Complex Food Centre, Smith Street
Insider tip: Decide your order before you reach the counter — the soya-sauce chicken rice at around S$6 is the cheapest Michelin meal on Earth, and the queue moves fast.
9.Maxwell Food Centre
Maxwell Food Centre is one of Singapore's most famous and accessible hawker centres, a covered hall of around a hundred stalls on the edge of Chinatown that offers a perfect introduction to the city's street-food culture — recognised by UNESCO in 2020 as an intangible cultural heritage. Its most celebrated tenant is Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, whose plates of tender poached chicken over fragrant, chicken-fat-scented rice, served with chilli and ginger sauces, are so revered that the late Anthony Bourdain sang their praises and the queue rarely lets up; a plate costs around S$5. But part of the joy of a hawker centre is grazing widely, so once you have your chicken rice, wander the aisles and pick up a plate of smoky char kway teow (stir-fried flat noodles), a fresh popiah (soft spring roll), a bowl of laksa, some silky chwee kueh (steamed rice cakes with preserved radish) and a glass of freshly pressed sugar-cane juice — most dishes cost only S$4 to S$8. Seating is communal and finding a table at peak lunchtime can be a friendly scramble; the local custom of 'choping' (reserving) a seat with a packet of tissues is very much in force. Cash is king at most stalls, though many now take cashless payment. Right beside the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Sri Mariamman Temple, Maxwell is easy to fold into a Chinatown afternoon and remains one of the best-value, most authentic meals in the whole city.
Hours
Daily ~08:00–22:00 (individual stalls vary)
Price
Dishes ~S$4–8
Getting there
MRT Maxwell (TE18) or Chinatown (NE4/DT19); on the corner of Maxwell Road and South Bridge Road
Insider tip: Join the queue at Tian Tian for Hainanese chicken rice, then graze — one dish per stall — on char kway teow, popiah and freshly pressed sugar-cane juice.
10.Newton Food Centre
Newton Food Centre is one of Singapore's best-known hawker centres, a large, mostly open-air hall of around 80 stalls that shot to international fame as the setting for a joyful street-food scene in the film 'Crazy Rich Asians'. Unlike the lunchtime-focused hawker centres of the business districts, Newton comes alive at night, when its cluster of tables fills with a mix of tourists and locals tucking into the more celebratory end of hawker fare: sticks of smoky chicken and mutton satay served with peanut sauce and cucumber, barbecued stingray in sambal wrapped in banana leaf, fried carrot cake, char kway teow, oyster omelette and mountains of chilli and black pepper crab and other seafood. The atmosphere in the balmy evening air, beer in hand and grill smoke drifting between the stalls, is a big part of the appeal, and its location right beside Newton MRT makes it exceptionally easy to reach. A word of caution: as one of the more tourist-oriented centres, a few seafood stalls have a reputation for vague pricing and generous portioning, so always confirm the price and weight before ordering the crab or prawns to avoid a surprise bill. Stick to that rule and Newton delivers a lively, quintessentially Singaporean night out, with most individual dishes costing S$5 to S$15 and seafood charged by weight. For an atmospheric first taste of hawker culture close to the Orchard Road hotels, it is hard to beat.
Hours
Daily ~12:00–02:00 (busiest in the evening)
Price
Dishes ~S$5–15; seafood by weight
Getting there
MRT Newton (NS21/DT11), a 2-minute walk from the station
Insider tip: It's touristy and stalls may over-portion, so agree the price before ordering seafood; come after 19:00 for the buzzy, open-air satay-and-barbecue atmosphere.