Region: Central Region> Province: Central Area> Location: Little India

Little India

Tekka Centre is the first stop in Little India for authentic local food on the cheap, with many varieties of food available at an average price of S$2-3. Indian food in Singapore has taken on its own form over the years, and cheap and tasty Singaporean Indian meals may be sampled here. Try Allaudin's Briyani, a highly regarded vendor with more than 40 years' experience behind the fragrant spiced Indian basmati rice ($3.50). S.A Samad for good mutton chops with potatoes ($5) and roti john ($3), Mujibur Rahman drinks stall has iced Bru coffee ($1, an Indian coffee-chicory mix) and mango lassi ($2). For an authentic South Indian meal, Sri Kamala Vilas restaurant has better thosai than most other places in Little India, as well as a to-die-for chicken masala. Teh tarik, a frothy hot milk tea loved by many, can be had from any drinks stall here. (Note that the stalls of the hawker centre are split in two -- one side for non-halal, mostly Chinese food, and the other for halal food, mostly Malay or Indian Muslim, marked by green tables.)

On Dunlop Street, Sakunthala's Restaurant is probably one of Little India's best kept secrets. All the items on its large and affordably priced menu is good -- the chicken kothu, masala crab, and briyanis are highly recommended. Good value set meals (fish, chicken, mutton, or veg with rice and side dishes, $6). Extensive vegetarian menu is available. In true South Indian fashion, employees go around the tables dishing out free refills of items from tiffins: top up rice, vegetables, sauces, curries, and pappadums to your stomach's content. Take a leaf from the diners and try eating with your hands, before washing down with payasam or a pista ice cream.

Vegetarians will pleased to find many restaurants are either purely vegetarian, or offer an extensive 'veg' menu. Sri Komalas Vilas is the stalwart of South Indian pure vegetarian restaurants. A good value lunch is available at the Gangezs and Madras New Woodlands where less than $10 buys an all-you-can-eat vegetarian buffet spread. Saravana Bhavan has vegetarian set lunches at $4.80.

At the junction of Serangoon Road and Norris Road, the 786 (Azmi) stall inside Thye Chong Restaurant has the best chapatis with curry, aloo gobi and mutton keema since 1944. Chapatis are fresh -- made from flour from a mill two doors down -- and made to order. At $2.50, a must try for the hungry traveller.

Those with a sweet tooth are in for a treat at the Khulfi Bar on Upper Dickson Road, for a selection of Indian ice creams -- try the Mumbai Masala flavour. Indian sweets galore from Little India Arcade or Komalas Vilas Sweets and Savouries for the truly adventurous: Indian sweets are known to be extremely sweet, sample the burfee, gulab jamun or mysore pak to find out.

For something completely different, the area past Mustafa Centre has some excellent non-Indian food. Kitchener Road and Jalan Besar especially have good Chinese fare. The Heng Hwa restaurants must not be missed -- the Heng Hwas are a Chinese regional and dialect minority from Fujian, and being of coastal origins, their food is largely seafood based. The pick of the lot is Pu Tien, where bamboo clams, self-made tofu, braised pork buns, deep fried yam with duck, steamed fish and the Heng Hwa specialties of beehoon and lor mee are highly recommended -- prices are affordable at this popular restaurant, so be prepared to queue.

Further from the centre of Little India, lower end but still excellent Heng Hwa food may be found at Ming Chung, for those willing to hunt it down. Fried batang fish, prawn balls, mee sua, lor mee, and clams are the mainstays in this old school restaurant where you get to dine in Singapore style in an alleyway. Definitely try either restaurant for a sampling of this underrepresented Chinese regional cuisine, because you won't find Heng Hwa food easily anywhere else in Singapore, or even in China.

The best-kept gourmet secret in this area is an unassuming Thai eatery in a coffeeshop, where some of the best tomyam south of the Land of a Thousand Smiles may be found. Northern Thai has a wonderful version with fried fish pieces ($3) and delicious pineapple rice ($1), a combination of good food and prices that sure beats many Thai places in Singapore.

Tekka Centre 665 Buffalo Rd. Food stalls mentioned are on the first floor.
Sri Kamala Vilas 662 Buffalo Rd #01-16 (near the market, not the food centre). Most stalls are open daily until 21:30, except for Allaudin's Briyani which sells out around 15:00.
Sakunthala's Restaurant 151 Dunlop Street. 11:00 to 23:00 daily.
Komalas Vilas 76-78 Serangoon Rd. 11:30 to 22:30 daily.
Gangezs 3A Upper Dickson Rd. Buffet lunch 11:30 to 15:00, buffet dinner 18:30 to 22:00.
Madras New Woodlands 12 Upper Dickson Rd. 07:30 to 23:30 daily.
Saravana Bhavan 36 Belilos Lane.
786 (Azmi) stall inside Thye Chong Restaurant, at the junction of Serangoon Rd and Norris Rd. 07:00 to 22:00 daily.
Khulfi Bar #01-1103 Upper Dickson Rd. 11:00 to 22:00, closed Sundays.
Little India Arcade sweet shop opposite Tekka Centre, Campbell Lane. #01-16
Komalas Vilas Sweets and Savouries 82 Serangoon Rd. 11:30 to 22:30 daily.
Pu Tien (Heng Hwa) Restaurant 127 Kitchener Rd. T: 6295 6358. Open 12:00pm to 15:00 (lunch), 18:00 to 23:00 (dinner) daily. Beware the similarly named Pu Tien Seafood Restaurant on the same stretch -- a competitor riding on the fame.
Ming Chung Restaurant 67 Maude Rd. Tel: 6296 3428. Open 15:00 to 23:30, closed Mondays.
Northern Thai 1 Tyrwhitt Rd (stall in coffeeshop at corner of Kitchener and Tyrwhitt Rds). Open 10:30 to 16:30, closed Sundays.