If you ask a local in Singapore on where to eat, they’ll point you to the right direction – Hawker Centre aka Foodies Heaven! Hawker Centre is an open-air complex in Singapore, housing many stalls that sell a variety of inexpensive food. It is very easy to find as it typically near public housing estates or transport hubs such as bus interchanges or train stations. Either common shared or stall dedicated tables and chairs are provided for customers.

At Hawker Centres, there are multiple vendors selling the same dishes. For us, what made it easy to choose which stall to order from was to look for a long line (which means its a local favorite) or the highest license score. The license score indicates the hygiene standard of a vendor by the local authorities. A score of 85% or higher results in an A, and the lowest grade is a D, which ranges from 40–49% passing standards. These grades are required to be displayed on hawker stands. We looked for stalls with an A or B grade before ordering.

5 BEST HAWKER CENTRES IN SINGAPORE

1. MAXWELL FOOD CENTRE

Maxwell Food Centre was walking distance from our hotel, Six Senses Maxwell. On our first day, we met a local at the airport and he recommended this hawker centre! This place is very crowded at night being that it’s one of the most famous food centre in Chinatown – lots of great local food from vendors. It’s open from 8am to 2am – perfect for late night eats!

Address: 1 Kadayanallur St, Singapore 069184

2. OLD AIRPORT FOOD CENTRE

We stopped at Old Airport Food Centre during our food tour. This is where we tried Nyonya Bak Chang (rice dumpling) and Ondeh-ondeh (soft green balls coated with shredded coconut). This is another popular hawker centre in Singapore! It’s open from 6am to 11pm

Address: 51 Old Airport Rd, Singapore 390051

3. CHINATOWN COMPLEX FOOD CENTRE

This is one of the biggest and best hawker centre in the heart of Chinatown. This is one of the most famous hawker centres because of a Liao Fan Hawker Chan received a Michelin star.

Address: 335 Smith St, Singapore 050335

4. TIONG BAHRU HAWKER CENTRE

Tiong Bahru offers a clean and spacious hawker centre. You can find almost all popular Singapore dishes at this culinary place such as chicken rice, herbal soups, bak kut teh, wonton mee and chee kueh.

Address: 30 Seng Poh Rd, Singapore 168898

5. TEKKA CENTRE

Tekka Centre is located in Little India. There is a hawker centre and wet market in the same place. On the ground floor is the hawker centre with stalls which sell Indian vegetarian meals, served on banana leaves or on stainless steel platters, besides Chinese vegetarian, North Indian and Malay food.

Address: Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore

WHERE TO STAY IN SINGAPORE

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