Joanna James
Singapore’s richly nuanced food culture, with occasional contemporary tweaks to enhance time-honoured delicacies, is a delight for every palate, whether or not you’re an ardent gastronome! Here are some of the best tastes to savour in this cinematic city.
In a vibrantly cutting-edge cosmopolis that will take your senses by storm with its larger-than-life enticements, from the groundbreaking beauty of futuristic realms of Gardens by the Bay, Jewel Changi Airport, and the ArtScience Museum to deliciously old-world artisan enclaves like Kampong Glam and Katong Joo Chiat, it’s no surprise that its best-loved dishes are packed with uniquely flavourful flamboyance. If you’re looking for an original and scrumptious taste of Singapore, Chilli Crab started as an audacious experiment by a local couple in the 1950s who were tired of always having their steamed seafood! A tantalising combination of sweet, spicy, and salty, this innovatively rustic dish necessitates that the crab is stir-fried to melt-in-the-mouth perfection and slathered in chilli-tomato sauce.
Fresh, tropical, spicy, and succulent, Singapore’s knee-weakening cuisine represents a fusion of diverse cultures; therefore, it’s rather fitting that its most frequent greeting is ‘Makan’- ‘Have you eaten?’. If you’re a bileisure traveller trying to squeeze authentic escapades in between business engagements or a wide-eyed vacationer dizzy with the endless sightseeing possibilities in this charismatic metropolis, make sure you get your midday energy boost with a hearty plate of nasi lemak. While there are plenty of variations of this national favourite, you really can’t go wrong with the medley of coconutty rice, zingy sambal, and fried anchovies, often accompanied by an egg, crispy chicken, or rendang.
Before embarking on your quest of discovering the most dazzling hidden gems of this jewel-toned cityscape, from the Museum of Ice Cream where you can make edible slime and invent your own sundae to whizzing down neon-lit mountain tracks in a 3-wheeled cart at the Sentosa Skyline Luge, make sure you fortify yourself with a scrumptiously wholesome brunch-slash-teatime delight, namely, crunchy kaya toast decked with creamy pandan-flavoured jam, a half boiled egg, and a generous drizzle of soy sauce. If you’re seeking an avant-garde Robertson Quay hotel in Singapore, proffering prime access to its incandescent allures, venture no further than the likes of Riverside Hotel Robertson Quay.
With a decadent range of street food bites to power you through your eventful explorations, from the warm, aromatic comfort of laksa and phenomenal deep-fried Indian or Chinese rojak to barbecued stingray coated in sambal, crispy golden-brown banana fritters, and flaky curry puffs bursting with purple sweet potato or meat stuffing, don’t forget to indulge in the fail-safe classic: skewers of succulently charcoal-grilled meat dipped in irresistible peanut sauce.
While Singaporean sweet treats are just as enticingly unusual as one would expect, whether it’s the cloud-soft luxury of green-hued pandan chiffon cake, lip-smacking durian mousse, or the toothsome rainbowy tower of an Ice Kachang, the delectable, syrupy Singaporean ice cream sundae, with its myriad of toppings, from jackfruit and sweetened red beans to tapioca pearls and chocolate condensed milk, is a sure-fire winner!
A true believer that the pen is a mighty weapon, ventures into reaching the minds of every reader with the earnest hope of leaving an indelible stream of thought.
A travel writer who has a passion for fashion and a deep interest in admiring new and exotic attractions around the world.
