Hawker Centers

Hawker centers -- large groupings of informal open-air food stalls -- were Singapore's answer to fast and cheap food in the days before McDonald's and are still the best way to sample every kind of Singaporean cuisine. The traditional hawker center is an outdoor venue, usually under cover with fans whirring above, and individual stalls each specializing in different dishes. In between rows of cooking stalls, tables and stools offer open seating for diners.

Each center has an array of food offerings, with most dishes costing between S$3.50 and S$5 (US$2.20-US$3.20/£1.15-£1.65). You'll find traditional dishes like char kway teow, flat rice noodles fried with seafood; fishball noodle soup, with balls made from pounded fish and rice flour; claypot chicken rice, chicken and mushrooms baked with rice and fragrant soy sauce; bak kut teh, pork ribs stewed with Chinese herbs; Hainanese chicken rice, soft chicken over rice prepared in rich chicken stock; laksa, seafood and rice noodles in a spicy coconut chili soup; popiah, turnip, egg, pork, prawn, and sweet chili sauce wrapped in a thin skin; rojak, fried dough, tofu, cucumber, pineapple, and whatever the chef has handy, mixed with a sauce made from peanuts and fermented shrimp paste; plus many, many more Chinese, Malay, and Indian specialties. You'll also find hot and cold drink stalls and usually a stall selling fresh fruits and fruit juices.

If you want to become a real Singapore Foodie, buy a copy of Makansutra by K. F. Seetoh (Makansutra Publishing) at any bookstore. Seetoh's the local guru of hawker foods and has sniffed out the tastiest, most authentic local delicacies you can imagine.

Within the city limits, most traditional-style hawker centers have been closed down, but you can still find a few. Singapore's two most famous, or notorious, hawker centers are Newton Circus Hawker Center and the Satay Club. Newton, a 24-hour center near the Newton MRT stop, is a tour-bus darling; beware of gouging, especially when ordering seafood dishes, which are sold by the kilo. The Satay Club, at Clarke Quay, is a touristy version of a Singaporean institution. The original Satay Club was a simple gathering of stalls by the water where Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay is now located. This reincarnation of the Satay Club is certainly not as authentic, in atmosphere or in food quality, but generally hawkers here tend to be an honest lot.

For local-style hawker centers, in Chinatown you can find stalls at the Maxwell Road Food Centre at the corner of Maxwell and South Bridge roads or you can try Lau Pa Sat at the corner of Raffles Way and Boon Tat Street. A new food attraction, a row of stalls along Smith Street called Food Alley was conceived by the STB. Rumor has it, these guys are having a hard time making a living selling local food to the very touristy crowd that passes down this street in the evenings. In the Historic District, try the small center next to Allson Hotel on Victoria Street, or Makansutra, next to the Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay. In Little India, Zhujiao Centre features more Indian and Muslim hawker fare, as opposed to the mainstay Chinese cuisine at most places.

When you eat at a hawker center, the first thing to do is claim a seat at a table (local trick: If you put a tissue packet down on the table in front of your seat, people will understand it's reserved). Remember the number on your table so that when you order from each stall, you can let them know where you're seated. They will deliver your food to the table, and you must pay upon delivery. Change will be provided. When you are finished, there's no need to clear your dishes; it will be taken care of for you.

The modern version of the hawker center is the food court. Similar to hawker centers, food courts are air-conditioned spaces inside shopping malls and public buildings. They also have individual stalls offering a variety of foods and tables with free seating. Generally, food courts offer a more "fast-food," less authentic version of local cuisine, but you also get greater variety -- many food courts have a stall that sells Western burgers and fish and chips, and stalls with Japanese udon or Korean barbecue. Food courts also differ in that they're self-service. When you approach the stall, you take a tray, pay when you order, then carry the food yourself to your own table, similar to cafeteria-style. When you finish, you are not expected to clear your tray.

Food courts are everywhere within the city, most of them operated by popular chains like Food Junction, Kopitiam, and Banquet. You'll find them in shopping malls and public buildings, most likely on the top floor or in the basement. Your hotel's concierge will be able to point you to the nearest food court, no problem.