The best cheap places to eat in Singapore – from street hawkers to restaurants

When the Michelin Guide to Singapore launched in 2016 it cemented the city’s reputation as a destination for fine dining on a budget. For amongst the highfalutin restaurants that graced its pages were two unassuming street food stalls, where in-the-know diners could order dinner and still expect change from £3.

Both eateries – Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle and Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle – fended off competition from 6,000 other hawker restaurants to retain their place in the 2017 edition of the guide. Where better, then, to begin a culinary tour of the city than at these two feted establishments?

First to Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle, which is located in an otherwise unremarkable food court at 466 Crawford Lane (the eatery is named after its previous location). This no-nonsense nosh house is a place where diners huddle around plastic tables, beneath strobe lighting, to slurp from spoons and chew from chopsticks.

It’s possible to fill up on prize-winning pork noodles for as little as $5 (£2.75) here, which probably wouldn’t get you an espresso in most restaurants. The catch: you’ll have to join the queue, which can be up to an hour long at peak times.

Ditto at Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle (335 Smith Street), where gourmands are equally committed to lining up for bargain Michelin fare. Appetites can be sated for around $2 (£1.12) at this stall, which is located in the Chinatown Complex Food Centre.

Award-winning street food can also be found at 7 Maxwell Road, a hawker centre that lays claim to four Bib Gourmand eateries: Hong Kee Beef Noodle, A Noodle Story, J2 Famous Crispy Curry Puff and Hoo Kee Bak Chang.

Other notable food courts include Redhill Food Centre (85 Redhill Lane) and Maxwell Road Hawker Centre (1 Kadayanallur Street) where hundreds of chefs compete for custom; standards are high, prices low. Look out for “specialities” such as frog porridge and fish head curry, which, incidentally, is the signature dish at the nearby Ocean Curry Fish Head restaurant (181 Telok Ayer Street).

The Chinese influence is strong in Singapore, but the multicultural makeup of the city makes for a diverse culinary scene. Excellent Indian food, for example, is easy to come by and reasonably priced in Little India, where Bollywood music and spicy aromas transport visitors to the subcontinent.

Gourmands can dine like Mughal emperors for as little as $20 (£11) at Khansama Tandoori Restaurant (166 Serangoon Road), one of the best Indian restaurants in Singapore. Likewise at Amber Tandoor Restaurant (195 Serangoon Road), which has a hard-earned reputation for delicious Indian and Nepalese fare.

Eating in the Arab Quarter is a different proposition entirely. This lively low-rise neighbourhood is packed with Turkish, Lebanese and Syrian restaurants, amongst others. Eating meze whilst listening to the call to prayer at Masjid Sultan mosque is an experience many visitors will be pleasantly surprised to have in Singapore.

Prices can be a bit higher in the Arab Quarter, but a slap-up meal in Beirut Grill (72 Bussorah Street) or Tabbouleh Lebanese Gourmet Cafe (41 Arab Street), for example – two of the neighbourhood’s standout eateries – will still leave you with change from $30 (£17).

Ultimately, you don’t need to spend long in Singapore to see why it is considered one of the world’s best culinary destinations: fantastic eateries abound in this sultry city state where prices are also easy to swallow.