Booking a Singapore Food Tour: Hawker Centres and Street Food
You come to Singapore for food it’s as simple as that. One of the best ways to explore Singapore’s diverse culinary scene is by booking a Singapore Food Tour. Singapore is a melting pot of culture and it is reflected in its food scene. Why not book a Singapore food tour to start your trip, this is the best way to learn about Singapore’s diverse cuisine, figure out where to eat, and explore Singapore’s famous Hawker Centres.
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Singapore is a melting pot of cultures and ethnic backgrounds, therefore the food scene is complex and unlike other places I’ve been.
Why not start your trip to Singapore off with a food tour. Like my food tour in Kuala Lumpur, I feel it’s a great way to build confidence when ordering, you learn more about what locals truly eat, and get a tour of the city by a professional guide.
Prior to my trip to Singapore I looked for food tours through Viator and Get Your Guide and there were many great Singapore food tours available. Based on the description of the tour and reviews, I decided on the Singapore Street Food Tour with a Local: A Feast for Foodies 100% Personalized. This tour was well organized, the guide was flexible and informative, and the food was absolutely incredible.
Just to give you options, here are some some of the best food tours in Singapore according to reviews and experiences from Viator and Get Your Guide.
What to Expected on a Singapore Food Tour
If booking your food tour in advance through either Viator or Get Your Guide you can view the description of the tour, pick up times, and meeting locations. For many tours, the guide will write you prior to the meeting time.
For the recommended tour I took, Singapore Street Food Tour with a Local, we met at the Nanyang Old Coffee building on 268 S Bridge Rd.
At this point, the guide will introduce themselves and give you a history lesson on the area prior to visiting the Hawker Centres and street food stalls. I always enjoy learning a bit about the city, part of the reason I love these tours, you learn so much more not only about the food, but about the city, its culture, and history.
On the Singapore Food Tour we ended up walking a lot, several kilometers. Since it’s customizable and the guides are flexible, you don’t have to walk that far either.
At the Hawker Centres we visited, the guide would go and grab several dishes and give us a brief overview of the dish and its origin.
In the end, we visited two Hawker Centres and Satay Street and tried about 8-10 dishes.
Places We Ate at and What Food we Sampled
Hawker Centres Brief Introduction
The Singapore Street Food Tour started at the Maxwell Food Centre in Singapore’s Chinatown. This Hawker Centre is adjacent from the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.
As a brief overview, a Hawker Centre is kind of like a street food market that is indoors. But it’s Singapore’s way of providing a sanitary and organized environment. What used to be outside food vendors are now inside in controlled open-air complexes. They vary in size, but the ones I went to were large with several vendors and a huge variety of dishes to choose from.
The benefit of Hawker Centres is that you can still eat here very cheaply. I saw meals anywhere from $2 – $10.
Vendors are lined up on the sides or sometimes middle of the complex with tables either situated in the middle between vendors or scattered around the building.
If you want to reserve a table, simply set something on top of the table, even a small tissue will suffice. It’s Singapore, so your belongings are safe!
Maxwell Food Centre
One of Singapore’s most famous and best Hawker Centres is Maxwell Food Centre. So much so, this has made an appearance on several food and travel shows.
Maxwell Food Centre was the first Hawker Centre on our Food Tour.
Our guide fond a table, as we sat there he would disappear to a food stall and bring back fun and exciting Singaporean dishes.
The first dish we had was made famous by my favorite celebrity, Anthony Bourdain. It was a simple Chicken and Rice dish from Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice.
Bourdain said it best, “Chicken Rice is so fragrant and delicious that it can be eaten on its own.” The chicken was so tender and the rice paired perfectly with it. Jill and I liked it so much we came back to Maxwell Food Centre and ordered it again the following day.
We tried a handful of other delicious dishes and items like the Oyster cake from Maxwell Fuzhou Oyster. This was another one of my favorites.
Jill and I split a fish ball noodle dish with fish balls, mushroom, and ground beef that was very good.
If you are of age, you can drink on this food tour as well. While at Maxwell Food Centre, we tried local craft beer from Ren Min. Their Cantaloupe Haze Pale Ale was so refreshing.
Lau Pa Sat and Satay Street
Another well known Hawker Centre in Singapore is Lau Pa Sat. This is a beautiful Victorian-style Hawker Centre with more then 80 stalls and vendors.
The main reason we came to Lau Pa Sat was to visit Satay Street. That’s right, we came here for grilled skewers and cold pitchers of Tiger Beer (Singapore’s very own brand of beer).
Once evening hits Singapore, they block off part of Boon Tat St and it unofficially becomes Satay Street. lining the sidewalk, there are over a dozen stalls that serve up fresh satay. The street becomes a place for diners to sit and enjoy!
Apparently, stalls 7 & 8 are the most popular, but our Food Tour Guide said they are all good and fairly similar. Because of the long line, we avoided those stalls. Our guide went off and came back with a huge tray of satay that included a mix of mutton, beef, and chicken skewers, along with 4 gigantic prawns. They were all delicious.
Beer pairs nicely with satay. Almost every table here had pitchers of Tiger beer. I didn’t want to feel left out, so we too ordered a pitcher of Tiger beer to go along with our satay.
Conclusion
In my opinion I think Singapore Street Food Tour with a Local is one of the best Singapore food tours. Our guide was informative, flexible, interesting, and knowledgeable about Singaporean cuisine. Singapore is a melting pot of cuisines, so much so that during the food tour, we tried food from all over the world. By booking a Food Tour while staying in Singapore, I had no troubles ordering food at Hawker Centres throughout my trip in Singapore. For first time visitors in Singapore, I highly recommend booking a Food Tour.
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Plan Your Trip: 🗺️✈️ 🇸🇬
Booking Accommodations ⛺️🛖
For booking recommendations on the best deals and locations, check out Agoda or Booking.com
Activities and Tours 🏖️🚁
Find fun activities and things to do through Tripadvisor. If you are looking for tours and day trips, Viator and Get Your Guide have a lot of great options.
In need of a car rental? 🚗🚘
I recommend checking with Rental Cars.
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