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According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2014 Worldwide Cost of Living survey, the island city of Singapore has been named the world’s most expensive city to live in. Singapore is the most expensive place in the world to buy clothes, relies heavily on imported goods and has an increasingly strong currency.
How about the food? Here I’m going to surprise you by telling you that as long as you dine out in Hawker Centers, food expenses will be your smallest spendings.
What is the Hawker Center?
Hawker centers are open-air complexes housing many stalls that sell a variety of inexpensive food.
Where can you find it?
They can be usually found near public housing estates or transport hubs (such as bus interchanges or train stations) all over Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. If you are not sure where to find it, follow the local map, it will show you the right way.
Top 3 Best Hawker Centers in Singapore
#1 Maxwell Road.
When in Singapore, you just have to make it to Maxwell Hawker Center. It is located at the edge of Chinatown and if has more than 100 different stalls so there is a great of variety of Chinese as well as Western food to choose from. Both, locals and tourists, alike flock here for the variety of cuisines and local specialties. The quality is also great!
Address:1 Kadayanallur St Singapore 069184.
Open time: Daily 8am – 10pm.
Your daily budget: $10-$30.
#2 Newton Circus.
This is one of Singapore’s most historical hawker centers. Make sure you go to Newton if you want a primer on local food, or if you like people-watching in a lively atmosphere. It’s a perfect place for vegetarians – several stalls now cook their dishes without any meat.
Address: 500 Clemenceau Ave NorthSingapore 229495.
Open time: Daily 12pm – 2am.
Your daily budget: $10-$25.
#3 Lau Pa Sat.
Lau Pa Sat is located in the heart of the CBD. Once you get there, you will notice that the place is always packed with businessmen at lunchtime. However, when night falls, the atmosphere changes completely as satay stalls and beer vendors come out and set up an alfresco dining area. Seriously, you won’t find a better night in Singapore than enjoying sticks of chicken, beef, and prawn satay while knocking back cheap pints at Lau Pa Sat!
Address: 8 Raffles Quay, Singapore 048582.
Open time: 24/7
Your daily budget: $10-$35
Food and Drinks served in Hawker Centers
Hawker Centers in Singapore offer a great variety of local dishes and foreign cuisines- from Chinese grilled pork, dumplings, stir-fried Chinese noodles, dim sum to South Indian banana-leaf restaurants serving delectable treats on a banana leaf and Indian breads with chicken, fish and mutton curry.
Everyone can find something for themselves. No matter where you end up, you’ll have a vibrant Singaporean experience. All hawker centers serve excellent seafood and delicious dessert (sticky rice with mango or sweet dumplings).
As for the drink, each row of hawker stalls will have one or two stalls that sell drinks. Heavily sweetened, and nutty barley tea (pronounced bah-lee) is the popular choice, and usually goes for a song ($1). You can also have freshly squeezed fruit juices, Chinese tea and coffees as well as cold beers!
Things to remember
#1 Seating.
It is common in Singapore to quickly snag a table for your group before taking turns to order dishes. Be the first to order and sneak a peek at what others have ordered while on your way to your stall of choice, or volunteer to be the last (if your stomach can take it) so you can observe the crowds of people that arrive.
Keep an eye out for the busy lunch crowds, happy family gatherings, and inebriated youngsters starving for some post-clubbing grub. It’s also common to see vendors touting all kinds of food, so walk right on by without making eye contact if you don’t want to be accosted.
Hawker center seating is first come, first serve, no reservations and no pretension. Therefore, Before you place your order, find a free seat.
#2 Reserving seats.
If you want to reserve a seat at any Hawker center, you have to purchase a pack of tissues being sold by local ladies. Once you’ve acquired a tissue packet and staked your claim, it would be an unthinkable crime for anyone to disturb your plot. An umbrella can also be used to reserve a seat.
#3 Cleaning up.
You don’t need to worry about cleaning up your plate. Just go ahead and leave your plates behind. Every hawker center has staff on hand to bus tables. If you need to wash your hand, you can always use the free toilet.
To sum up, if you want to experience the authentic local cuisine in Singapore on the cheap, add one of these Hawker Centers to your travel bucket list and enjoy your meal!
Have you ever visited a hawker center? If so, what was your food experience?
88 thoughts on “A Beginner’s Guide To The Singapore Hawker Center”
I have never heard of hawkers before but that really seems like a great opportunity for eating local food. I will definitely check some out when being in Malaysia, Hong Kong or Singapore.
Great! Are you going to Malaysia any time soon? Hope to read about your Hawker center experience there!
I don’t have specific plans yet. I probably head to Ecuador in September but I have no idea where my life guides me after, so we’ll see. I definitely plan on travelling to Malaysia at some point. When I flew to Australia, I stopped in Kuala Lumpur and flew with Malaysia Airlines. The video they showed of the country flashed me and made me want to go there one day :)
Ecuador? That’s so amazing! I start my Master’s Degree in September, so I will be moving to Europe soon. I might be going back to Asia once again to work in KL. It’s been my dream to come true. Happy travels Stef!
I have been to a hawker center in Singapore (in little India), but it was so unhygenic that I actually didn’t try the food, which is a shame because it was damn cheap compared to the restaurants. My stomach got much tougher by living in Cambodia for two years, but if I see too many flies around I usually give the street food stand a miss. :-)
I know. Some food stalls are not clean and everyone should be careful especially when ordering egg and meat based meals. I was ok this time, but my stomach is extremely sensitive.
Nice post!
I am addicted to the hawker centers!!
Me too :D!!
So very hungry right now, and memories of going around Singapore from one hawker centre to the next …
Thanks for helping me to relive those memories, Agness!
My pleasure. I miss the food there a lot these days, but since I’ve been back in China, I can still dig into some Chinese meals I had when in Singapore. Lucky me!
And it tasted delicious as well!
I’ll be visiting Singapore on my upcoming trip and haven’t had much time to do research about Singapore. This information definitely helps me. I want to be able to get some good cheap food while there, seeing as it is expensive.
Great to hear that Taylor. If you have some questions regarding cheap accommodation or more food, don’t hesitate to email me! I’m always happy to help!
Welcome to Singapore! It is not so expensive as everybody thought. Relax and have a great time here!
TRUE! TRUE! TRUE!
This has gone straight in the bulging Evernote file of things I have to remember while on the road. I’ve be told many times that Singapore is super expensive so will be checking these places out.
The accommodation prices are high, but not the food.
Love Singapore’s Hawker Centers! We went to three different ones and everything we ate was so good!
I went to only one, but I wanted to visit more!
That is great to hear that you can experience the fantastic Singapore cuisine at reasonable prices! We really want to go to Singapore without blowing our budget!
Don’t worry Emily about your food spendings. Singapore is cheap as long as you find Hawker centers.
I haven’t visited Hawker Center yet, but would love to go there! :D
You definitely should. The best and cheapest local food is sold there.
Oh my gosh Hawker food is soooo good. I went on Airport road and loved it!
It is, indeed. Missed out the Airport road though, but Maxwell Hawker Center was amazing!
Hadn’t heard of these hawker centers before, but they sound amazing! All of the food looks delicious too :)
Hi Catherine. Add them to your list when in Singapore. The food is not only delicious (even more than it seems in the picture) and very affordable.
This looks like a great experience – I’m happy to hear that there are so many vegetarian stalls, too! I’d love to give it a try!
I lived in Singapore for two years while I earned my graduate degree there from Tisch Asia. It was an experience that I will never forget, nor do I regret. I would not recommend eating at hawker stands everyday though. Sure you can get fish and vegetables and fruit but the oil that some of that food is cooked in isn’t what I’d call the healthiest. The food is cheap which makes it very student-friendly when you don’t have much money to take care of yourself, or have much time to cook, but nothing beats fresh produce and fruits and veggies that you can buy from any Singaporean grocery store. Sike. There isn’t much fresh food in SG lol, milk is imported from Australia, and nothing lasts for long because of the heat, and the ants.
SG all in all is a nice, stress-free, very expensive place and you need some nice coinage to live comfortably. Hawker stall food is good every once in a while but I wouldn’t live off of it completely. Toss in some cheap fruits and semi-fresh produce and you’ll be fine. No shade, just keeping it real. I’d love to visit SG and when I get my money up I will.
Hi April,
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. Yes, it’s true. It’s a budget friendly place, but some of the fishes were deep fried and the oil is not the healthiest one. However, it’s good to try some food there in moderation. In the name of research :).
That looks amazing! Did you guys eat a specific meal or just sort of graze over the options? I usually like to slowly nibble my way through things.
We mostly grazed over the options. We shared a couple of meals together.
What a lovely set of places. These hawker centers are really something. The food looks really yummy. Great to know that food is still cheap in these places. Mind you, the food would also be authentic in these places.
It’s not only affordable, but all of these dishes were nicely served and tasted good.
Hey Agness, thanks for sharing this, I’m sure I’m not gonna miss hawker center when I visit Singapore next month. My tummy would be delighted and my pocket would be smiling as well. lol
It would, that’s for sure! Thanks Jasmine for stopping by.
Great intro of Singapore Hawker centers although there are better and cheaper ones around. The ones that you have mentioned are actually more touristy (especially Newton and Lau Pa Sat)and therefore more expensive than the rest. Btw, Lau Pa Sat is still under renovation (if I am not mistaken). At Maxwell Hawker Center, please do not miss out on Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice. One of the popular Singapore food and the best one in town. Around SGD$3 to $3.50 for one plate of chicken rice. Enjoy!
I am impressed that you can even think about being in Singapore on your budget. Very well done!
Cheers mate!
I’ll take…. um, hmmm, lemme think ONE OF EVERYTHING. I miss Asian food so much here in Croatia. YUMMMY!
Are you in Croatia now? I might be heading there this summer. Still thinking of a nice place to travel around with my mom.