Local favorites under SGD 10
Hawker Centres
Singapore is a real foodie haven. There are tons of food options everywhere and you can easily find a lot of affordable choices in hawker centres.
In hawker centres, you will find a plethora of food and drink options at budget prices. As a melting pot of cultures and races, you can easily find different cuisines to choose from. Hawker centres are typically not air-conditioned and are mostly self-service (i.e. you order and pick up the food at the store by yourself!).
If you're a foreigner, your idea of a hawker centre might come from the Newton Food Centre scene in Crazy Rich Asians, and that's quite right! But there are so many (personal opinion: better) hawker food elsewhere, so don't limit yourself to just that.
Mala at Ri Ri Hong
Tags: Oily, Non-Spicy, Spicy, Good for sharing
Cost: Depends, estimate $5-$10 per pax
Ri Ri Hong is one of the famous stores in town for Mala, known for being cheap and good.
Alternative:
For an air-conditioned environment or soup mala, you can check out Gong Yuan Ma La Tang or Yang Guo Fu, two popular soup mala franchises in Singapore, instead. Most food courts (hawker centres in malls) will also have Mala too.
Laksa at 328 Katong Laksa
Tags: Spicy, Noodles, Soup
Cost: $7 (regular), $9 (large)
This is a standalone store and not a hawker centre, It's a little pricier than the typical hawker centre laksa, but it's consistently good and has been famous since the 2000s. In here, you will find many pictures of the celebrities who ate here on the walls of the shop.
Bak Chor Mee at Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle
Tags: Noodles
Cost: $6 (small), $8 (regular), $10 (large)
This noodle store have a loyal following and you'll typically find a long snaking queue at this place during lunch hour.
Bak Chor Mee is a common pork noodle dish you can find across Singapore, but Tai Hwa is known for its especially fragrant and flavourful version.
Wanton Noodles at Wanton Noodle House
Tags: Noodles
Cost: $5.70 (regular), $6.70 (large)
The noodles here are springy and the dumplings are juicy and meaty. This is also a standalone store, but when thinking about popular dishes in Singapore, wanton noodles came to mind and I had to choose this as the one of the best I've encountered.
This shop is also next to Simpang Bedok, where many group of students and residents visit for supper as it is open 24/7.
Bonus: Simpang Bedok
There are more Halal options and quite a few popular stores here. Check it out if you're in the area!
Ending note...
These food places were chosen with affordability and taste in mind. I also tried to pick the places that are famous among locals but are perhaps not as featured in international media!
There are so many great places to eat at everywhere in Singapore, so I wouldn't recommend going out of the way to eat somewhere. You can probably pick one location I mentioned per day and explore that area for the rest of the day!
Hopefully this list was useful in helping you pick out some exciting new things to try in Singapore. Enjoy :)
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