Chinatown

Eat and meet

Chinatown

Good Morning Nanyang Cafe

Traditional and cheap

20 Upper Pickering Street, Hong Lim Community Centre

Try this hidden Chinatown gem for a local-style cuppa brewed the traditional way and strained through a (clean) sock. The menu may be small, but everything from the raisin scones to the creamy kaya spread (coconut egg jam) is house-made. Good Morning Nanyang is best known for their crispy ciabatta ... read more
Ci Yan Organic Vegetarian Restaurant

Cooked with love

8 Smith St
T: 6225 9026

If you’ve ever wondered what a monk has for lunch, check out this Buddhist vegetarian restaurant beside the Tooth Relic Temple. Inside, Ci Yan is practically a shrine to the Dali Lama and the healthy food — braised tofu, steamed veggies, herbal soups, brown rice — is cooked with love. ... read more
Blue Ginger

Sample Peranakan cuisine

97 Tanjong Pagar Rd
T: 6222 3928

Singapore is one of the few places to sample Peranakan cuisine — a fusion of Malay and Chinese ingredients and techniques — and Blue Ginger is an elegant but affordable place to do so. Extensive descriptions on the menu make ordering traditional dishes like udang ketak (crayfish in pineapple ... read more
Xi Yan Private Dining

Almost in the home of a celebrity chef

38A Craig Rd
T: 6220 3546

Tucked away in an inconspicuous shophouse near Chinatown, Xi Yan is as close as most people will ever get to dining in the home of a celebrity chef. All meals are by reservation only and chef Jacky Yu plans the menu around whatever's fresh at the market that day. The cuisine is fundamentally ... read more
Yummy Viet

Affordable and authentic

28 Smith St
T: 6222 5191

Singapore's most authentic Vietnamese restaurant is also one of the most affordable. Located in the heart of Chinatown, Yummy Viet offers healthy rice paper rolls, bánh mì (baguette sandwiches), noodle salad with barbecue pork and herbs and steaming bowls of pho bo (beef noodle soup) all ... read more
2D1N Soju Bang

A nightly meat festival

44/46 Tanjong Pagar Rd
T: 6227 6033

Known as Singapore's "Korea Town", Tanjong Pagar is home to a handful of Korean restaurants and 2D1N Soju Bang is one of the best. The reason for the perpetually long queue is their nightly barbecue buffet, a meat-centric affair with marinated pork, beef, chicken and prawns cooked right at your ... read more
Tea Chapter

Antiques, tradition and tea

9A Neil Rd
T: 6226 1175

Experience a traditional Chinese tea ceremony at this antique-filled cafe on the outskirts of Chinatown. Pots of tea range from S$10 for classic Oolong to S$15 for fragrant Eight Treasures with dried fruits and flowers. Staff are happy to explain the benefits of each blend and the traditional way ... read more
The Wok & Barrel

A bistro spin on the classics

19 Duxton Hill
T: 9107 3028

Started by a hawker from Maxwell Road Food Centre, this new restaurant gives a bistro spin to Singaporean classics. The spicy rendang pizza and char siew pork sandwiches on homemade bread are guaranteed pleasers and the nasi lemak, the dish that launched chef Madam Tan's career, is a steal at $8 ... read more
Maxwell Road Food Centre

Chinese cuisine reigns supreme

Corner of Maxwell & Neil Rds

Chinese cuisine reigns supreme at this hectic hawker centre between the business district and Chinatown. Many people say that Singapore's best chicken rice — practically the national dish — comes from Tian Tian Chicken Rice stall and it'll only set you back $3. Other popular dishes include ... read more
Golden Chopsticks BBQ Steamboat

Great late night choice

76 Smith St
T: 6835 7626

Where better to get acquainted with steamboat, a do-it-yourself meal cooked right at your table, than in the heart of Chinatown? The first step is to choose your soup — spicy, chicken, fish, or Thai-style tom yam — and a vat is placed at the centre of your table. For a fixed price of S$19.80 ... read more
Sawasdee Thai Food

Real Thai toned down for tourists

32/34 Pagoda St
T: 6327 1733

In the chaos of the Chinatown street market the sound of the waitresses saying "Sawasdee kha!" rings out like an angel. The servers and cooks are the real Thai deal, but the spiciness of the papaya salad, curries, soups and seafood are toned down for the tourists who make up the bulk of the ... read more
Yum Cha

Dim sum the old-fashioned way

20 Trengganu St
T: 6372 1717

This Chinatown favourite is known for its dim sum, which they still serve the old-fashioned way from pushcarts that the servers wheel around the restaurant. Though it's the prawn fritters, pork siew mai, pumpkin cake, and egg tarts that draw a crowd to Yum Cha for the afternoon high-tea buffet, ... read more