Foodie's guide to Singapore🍜 [Full version]
Tips on dining in Singapore
Reservations
🌟If you haven't already, download the smartphone app 'Chope' - make reservations via Chope as far as possible so as not to be disappointed. This is useful for fancier places like restaurants and cafes. Good ol' hawker centres (which you MUST check out) will not be on this app of course. I'll indicate below if a recommended place is on Chope. Chope can also be used in other popular Asian cities such as Bangkok, Bali, and Hong Kong.
'Chope' culture
🌟If you're dining in a hawker centre or food court, learn about 'chope' culture first. I'm not talking about the smartphone app here. Instead, it's the informal system in Singapore where people use a relatively inexpensive item (usually a tissue packet, umbrella, water bottle etc.) to 'reserve' a seat in a crowded hawker centre/food court. This is not a formal reservation system but is well-respected across the country - so if you see a table or seat with a packet (a packet, not a used piece of tissue which is trash) on it, that means it is taken. Crime rate is low enough in Singapore that people don't mind doing this, but of course be wise enough about what you leave lying around. Folks generally use something they don't mind losing.
Tipping not expected
