Singaporeans enjoy a wide variety of foods, including Chinese, Malay, Indian, Indonesian and European and have some unique eateries.

Government statistics will tell you that the typical Singaporean spends 12% of his income on cooked food, and that there are almost 7,000 stalls in Government hawker centres throughout the country. This works out at one stall for every 571.5 people, which seems unlikely at first reading.

However, there is also an abundance of privately-owned coffee shops and food centres, as well as the more upmarket fast-food outlets and restaurants, so a Singaporean can always find somewhere to eat without queuing behind 570.5 other people.

A hawker centre is a group of stalls, each selling a different kind of food, and sharing a common seating area for the customers.

Food courts and coffee shops follow the same basic structure. A food court is air-conditioned and therefore more expensive, and is usually found in a shopping mall. A coffee shop is smaller and privately owned.

Local cuisine includes the samosa, a traditional Indian pastry stuffed with spicy vegetables. For gourmet food, you can enjoy ethnic dishes from Western, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, and Mongolian cuisine.

You can also try Satay, barbecued skewered meat, usually beef, chicken, or mutton, served with thick peanut gravy. For dessert, there’s Ice Kacang, shave ice over jelly, sweet red beans and other treats, and served with evaporated milk.

 

But What is Singapore Food?

Briefly, It has its origin in Malaysia, Indonesia, China and India. Many claim that there is no such thing as Singapore food for that reason. They are only partially right. You'll still find the most authentic and tastiest of each of the cuisines. What has been happening to the various cuisines since their first arrival a century or so ago is what we now proudly call Singapore Food.

To most Singaporeans, however, it is not the quality of the service nor the presentation of the food, but very simply the quality of the food!

As a large portion of the population are Muslims, halal food is available everywhere. There are Malay Muslim and Indian Muslim food, you'll know when you see one as there's always a sign written in Arabic prominently displayed. Nasi Padang, a style of cooking originated from Sumatra and popular in Singapore.

Singapore also grows it's own herbs.

Indian Muslim food, or the so called Mamak food, is very popular in Singapore, roti prata, mee goreng, Indian rojak, nasi padang, mutton soup are some of the more popular dishes.
Seafood is of course a social food that tops many people's list.

Seafood eaten the local style is a noisy and cosy affair. Chili crabs, black pepper crabs, drunken prawns and deep fried baby squids are just some of the endless yummy dishes that one shouldn't miss.

Lobsters, glamorous as it may sound, is not as popular or as fun as Chut Chut (a kind of cone shaped sea shell that has to be sucked) or raw cockles. And eating barbequed stingray from a piece of banana leaf at a food centre is definitely a true Makan experience.

Cakes ready to eat!

Water ices.

Curry and rice.

Some hawker food centres and stall holders

Fish and rice.

The durian.