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How to Eat Your Way Through Singapore

The following is a guest post by Kelsi George. If you’d like to guest post on Go Backpacking, please read our submission guidelines.

For me, the first thing that comes to mind in a place as cosmopolitan as Singapore is, “I bet the food is great!”

Noting the diversity and potential for eating bliss, my friend and I set out on a Snack Crawl, the goal of which was to eat at as many places as possible in the 24 hours we had in Singapore. Herein lies a guide for how to eat your way through Singapore.

After checking in at our hostel on Bugis, we bee-lined over to Little India for lunch (we have our priorities).

Enjoying the food in Little India.

Enjoying the food in Little India.

Little India

The colored buildings and shiny fabrics distracted us for a moment from our journey to gluttony, however the clouds began to pour down their rain and redirected us to our true calling: food! We stopped by the first place that showed promise, Sakunthala, and ordered vegetarian biryani, chicken masala and chappati. After lunch we paused the satisfied stupor of out post dining stroll to sample some coconut burfi and sone papdi from Komalas Vilas Sweets and Savouries.

7/11

What can I say? We'd been living in Thailand for a year at this point and 7/11 had become the sustenance to the snacking needs of our soul. Mostly, we would just walk around the marts, foaming at the mouth, saying things like “They sell Ben and Jerry's here? and “Look at all the chocolate!” This time around we bought some wine in the name of prudence (we were running low on funds!), to bring back to the hostel for our own Happy Hour on the rooftop.

Arab Street

Around dinner time we set out to Arab Street and stopped at Sufi Corner Turkish Restaurant for a mezze platter and hookah. I stopped by this same restaurant on a different trip to Singapore and had a doner kebab, which was also very tasty.

Back to Little India

Yes, back to Little India because we had been truly enchanted and the backpacker bar scene looked promising. We stopped by Zsofi bar on Dunlop St. for Jenga and tapas where as destiny would have it, the tapas come free with drinks. We loved the mushroom bruschetta and spanish potato omelet, which we washed down with Tiger beer – a must-try on any Singapore Snack Crawl list. The pizza we sampled off of other peoples plates (apparently we have no shame) was not too shabby either.

The night was quiet so we hailed a cab over to Crazy Elephant for some live music, before resting our weary heads and full bellies for the night.

Hawker Center

No snack crawl in Singapore is complete without a stop at a hawker center, the near ubiquitous food courts around town that are central to the Singapore eating experience and at times seem to be the only place for cheap eats. We tried out some coffee at Queen Street Coffee Stand to complement the lovely breakfast of toast with jam we had at our hostel.

Chinatown

No, Chinatown, we promise we did not forget you. Being the recovering vegetarians that we are, with a tendency to relapse, we stopped for lunch at Organic Veg, where we sampled a variety plate.

After lunch we perused the stalls in Chinatown for snacks and souvenirs and bought some blended juice and key chains. Then we stopped for coffee round two at Nanyang Old Coffee, which showcases a Singapore Coffee Museum in the back. Here we decided to finally withdraw more money from the ATM and go to the Asian Civilizations Museum (completely worth it by the way) before catching our flight back to Thailand.

More Food Lovin'

If those digs aren't enough for you, here's a compilation of websites about restaurants in Singapore to help you plan your own Snack Crawl. Or you can do what we did and use your gut. Get it? Use your gut. ;)

Bon Appétit!

___________

About the Author: Kelsi is currently finishing up her service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand and enjoys plotting travel adventures, reading books and eating delicious food.  Read more on her blog, Some Sojourns, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter @SomeSojourns.

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Monday 4th of April 2011

This really is the very best post I understand as of these days.

Stephen

Thursday 24th of February 2011

Food is probably my number one reason for planning to stop in Sigapore. Hope it's as good as you say.

Dave

Thursday 24th of February 2011

I knew the city's reputation, but it wasn't my main reason. Once there, I realized it was the most fun thing to do. That's where I tried durian for the first time (and actually liked it).

Rebecca

Tuesday 8th of February 2011

Yum, yum, yum! Heading back to Singapore for work in April so I'll test out all these places! Eaten in Little India and also a hawkers centre, but didn't get to Chinatown or Arab Street on my last visits.

Andrea

Friday 4th of February 2011

This will come in handy for my upcoming trip to Singapore.

Chelsea Rae Schmidt

Friday 4th of February 2011

I never made it all the way down to Singapore but I still dream about the food in Malaysia. There is just something so perfect about the combination of Chinese and Indian food with a little Malay cuisine thrown in. I can't wait to get back to the region after suffering with plain rice and beans through most of Latin America for the last 4 months.

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