Food in Singapore: 5 Meals under $5

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Who wouldn’t want to eat all the food in Singapore?Β 

If there’s one thing I miss most when I travel, it’s the food of my home town, Singapore.

Out of the South East Asian countries, Singapore is often considered one of the more expensive places to visit.

But compared to most other countries in the world, it’s still relatively easy to find a diverse plethora of cheap good street food that’s available anytime here in Singapore.

If you want the quintessential Singaporean food experience but have limited time and a tight budget.

Here is a list of my biased top 5 Singaporean foods you can get for under S$5 (US$4) – trust me when I say that narrowing down this list was HARD because of the myriad of options available, but this is what I would take my guests out to eat for the Singaporean experience.

BREAKFAST: Half Boiled Eggs, Kaya Toast and Kopi (photo above)

Runny half boiled eggs with a dash of soya sauce and pepper, alongside crispy toasted bread spread with kaya and butter.

This seemingly odd combination of foods are one of Singapore’s most traditional and favourite breakfasts. Commonly referred to as a Breakfast Set, a standard one usually comes with 2 half boiled eggs still in their shells, crispy browned toast with coconutty kaya spread and a bit of butter, and topped off with a steaming cup of kopi (coffee) or the (tea).

Crack your eggs into one of the two saucers that it will come with – You’ll want to ensure that your eggs are properly runny and not too undercooked (where the egg white is still clear) or overcooked (hard egg yolk). Mix it up with a dash of dark soya sauce and pepper for flavor, stir with your little teaspoon and slurp it up. I like to dip my kaya toast in for extra flavour.

Most coffee shops (known locally as ‘kopitiams’ – check out this post for more unique lingo only found in Singaporean kopitiams) only sell this in the morning during breakfast time, but it’s gained popularity in recent years and several specialist chains have popped up so you can enjoy a Breakfast Set any time during the day. You don’t even have to brave the heat of the open-air coffee shops even, as many of these chains can be found in the malls! Some of these chain store menus offer fancier bread options (French Toast instead of Kaya Toast) but it also costs twice as much as your average coffee shop.

 

LUNCH: Katong Laksa (or Nyonya Laksa)

Katong Laksa has curry in its soup to give it that spicy kick. Add more sambal chilli if you want to blow your mind.
Katong Laksa has curry in its soup to give it that spicy kick. Add more sambal chilli if you want to blow your mind.

This spicy seafood noodle soup dish Laksa has its roots in the Peranakan culture, that of the ethnic Chinese who settled down in the Malayan straits.

You can find an Assam version in Malaysia, but Singapore is particularly popular for the Nyonya version, or what’s known in Malay as ‘Lemak’, which refers to the rich coconut milk taste in the soup.

Expect to find cockles, shrimp, fish sticks and some bean curd along with your noodles.

What’s unusual for Katong Laksa is that all you need to eat this noodle dish is just a soup spoon – the noodles are cut into short strands that you can scoop into your mouth quite easily.

It’s also garnished with coriander and additional sambal chilli on the side if you like it spicier.

This dish is better known as Katong Laksa because most of the good stalls serving this dish are found in the Katong area on the Eastern side of Singapore and popular as a Peranakan heritage area.

Which stall was the original creator is is debatable, and who serves the best Katong Laksa really depends on your individual taste.

The stalls are mostly located along the same stretch of road, so if you’re in a group, consider hopping from stall to stall and sharing your portions so you can truly decide for yourself which bowl of Katong Laksa is the best.

DINNER: Hainanese Chicken Rice

Hainanese Chicken Rice
Chicken rice served with steamed chicken, with a complimentary bowl of chicken broth, and popular condiments (L to R) garlic, dark soya sauce, chill – experiment by mixing them together!

Hainanese chicken rice should more accurately be known as Singaporean chicken rice because you can’t find it in Hainan or anywhere else in the world.

Chicken-broth flavoured rice topped off with either steamed (White Chicken ‘Bai Ji’) or roasted chicken (‘Shao Ji’) served at room temperature and drizzled with a bit of sesame oil and some cucumber slices.

It’s usually served with a complimentary bowl of chicken broth soup if you’re eating in.

Garnish with dark soy sauce or the garlic chili sauce for added flavor, and even if you’re health conscious, do eat some of the chicken skin like you’re supposed to.

Common side dishes you can usually add to top up your chicken rice meal are braised soy sauce eggs, braised tofu (‘tau kwa’), chicken liver and gizzards.

You can even choose your preferred part of the chicken when you order, just remember that the drumstick usually costs a little extra!

Most stalls can do a fairly decent chicken rice, but I find the secret to true awesomeness really lies in getting the rice right – flavorful, separated grains, but not too oily.

Chicken rice stalls are easy to find in hawker centres or food courts, there’s usually at least one dedicated stall and they are recognizable by the chickens and roast meats hanging in their windows.

SUPPER: Roti Prata

Roti Prata
This pancake like dish is served with a curry dip, and you can eat it with a spoon and fork, or the traditional way with your hands.

The humble roti prata is essentially a fried piece of flour usually hand-flipped on a flat grill, almost like a pizza.

It is one of the most flexible meals you can have and because prat a shops tend to be 24-hrs, they are good for any time of the day.

Similar to Malaysia’s Roti Canai, Singapore’s roti prata is outstanding due to sheer creativity, where the humble piece of dough has evolved into a complete meal in itself.

The traditional style is ‘kosong’, a plain version which is dipped in a vegetable or meat curry, or sugar if you like it sweet.

I like to get my prata with an additional egg cooked into it, and even then you can request for something called ‘plaster’, where the egg is literally plastered on the surface and still runny if you like that sort of thing.

These days, roti prata menus are pretty extensive, you can throw just about anything on one: more common ingredients added on are cheese, sausages, mushrooms, onions, or even sweet condiments like chocolate sauce and ice cream!

Prata styles even have their own names: ’tissue’ usually refers to a really thin and crispy prata, almost wafer like; ‘prata bom’ is a denser type of prata that includes condensed milk and butter

If you have some space left over after your meal, I suggest topping it off with my personal favourite drink – the Milo Dinosaur, a malt chocolate drink that comes with a whole pile of extraneous chocolate powder undissolved on top, just because it’s awesome.

DESSERT (Bonus! just S$1!)
Ice cream in singapore

And if you have $1 to spare after all that food, look out for these little ice cream vendors with their umbrella-covered carts usually found on the sidewalks for some dessert!

The charming thing is that the price of the ice cream has remained at S$1 for about as long as I can remember (don’t buy from those trying to charge you $1.50!

That’s just wrong!

Orchard Road, Clarke Quay and other tourist areas are chockfull of these vendors, and they are the perfect way to stay cool on a hot day.

Get your ice cream in a traditional sugar cone or cup, but my preferred way to eat them is either ‘Wafer’ – a block of ice cream sandwiched between 2 pieces of airy wafer (the block can be pretty hard at first, but eat fast, these things melt quick!) or ‘Bread/Mian Bao’, where the ice cream is scooped into these odd soft breads with multi coloured swirls.

There you have it – food in Singapore: Β a fun and cheap way to experience the country up close and personal. Have you been to Singapore?

Tell us what are your favourite cheap eats – if there’s one thing we like almost as much as eating, it’s debating where our next meal will be and who makes the best version of it.

(Definitely don’t diss it! We’re really proud of our food culture here – more tips on other things that piss off Singaporeans here).

Jaclynn Seah is The Occasional Traveller, a Singaporean girlΒ and deskbound wanderluster with a full-time job who hopes to remind other working professionals like herself to get out and travel more.
You can also find herΒ onΒ Facebook,Β TwitterΒ andΒ Instagram.
Images: wajakemek | rash-danothman, Koon, Renee Suen, Dawn Loh, Scott Dexter

Join the Conversation

  1. Mike | Earthdrifter says:

    I feel it’s safe to say that at least most of SE Asia packs in the flavor as good as and probably better than anywhere. The Roti Prata is a prime example. The Katong Laksa looks like it must be too.

    1. If I ever had to live outside of Singapore or Asia for awhile, I would definitely miss the food a LOT πŸ™‚

  2. I have been to Singapore some years ago. At that time, my sister worked there as an expat. She recommended me to try S$1 ice cream. I ate it with wafer. I can’t believe that the price is still the same!

    1. That’s the one thing I love! that $1 ice cream is still $1 πŸ™‚

      And my favourite is the wafer one as well – you get the most ice cream for your buck!

  3. Lisa Niver Rajna says:

    I never knew that “Hainanese chicken rice should more accurately be known as Singaporean chicken rice because you can’t find it in Hainan or anywhere else in the world.” I figured it was from Hainan! Thanks for the new knowledge.

    After reading this article, I really want that dessert! Looks GREAT!

    Happy Holidays!
    Lisa
    We Said Go Travel

    1. Singapore’s chicken rice is apparently based off a hainanese dish called Wen Chang chicken, but the particular way it’s prepared is quite unique to Singapore.

      And yeah, can’t go wrong with Ice Cream! πŸ™‚

  4. Zara @ Backpack ME says:

    I had THE BEST Hainanese chicken rice in Singapore a few years ago (at Maxwell Food Court). I remember thinking the food courts in Singapore are amazing.. as they offer everything street food vendors would, but in a clean and comfy environment. 2 thumbs up for food in Singapore!!

    1. Maxwell Hawker Centre is famous for Tian Tian Chicken Rice, which even Gordon Ramsay lost out to in a recent cooking challenge! πŸ™‚

      I like that I hardly have to worry if I might get a stomach upset from the food no matter which hawker centre I get it from!

  5. Contented Traveller says:

    I went to Singapore with a great deal of scepticism and no great desire though I had booked a week there. As it turned out, finding all of the “little”places made the whole experience so worthwhile. The food was exceptionally good and you have picked some of our favourites. Great post

    1. I’m glad you loved Singapore in the end! I agree it’s about the little things you come across that maket he difference. Thank you!

  6. TammyOnTheMove says:

    I loved roti prata when I visited Singapore. I wish I had known about the icecream though. That looks like such a nice and cheap refreshment in the Singaporean humidity.

    1. You know in some roti prata shops they actually serve roti prata with ice cream? I haven’t tried that yet though!

      But yeah even though we get Ben and Jerry’s and Haagen Daaz, sometimes you can’t beat simple $1 street cart ice cream πŸ™‚

  7. Kara Brandt says:

    Before I went to Singapore, I thought that it would be difficult to find cheap food. But as you roam around this beautiful place there are more exciting and great tasting food.

    1. Any favourites to share Kara? Glad you love Singaporean food! πŸ™‚

  8. This post made my day as I am going to Singapore in February and I was afraid the place would be way too expensive for me to dine out. Roti Prata looks so delicious and I love its price!

    1. Agness there’s SO MUCH cheap good food out there! You can look up this site called HungryGoWhere to figure out the good places to eat πŸ™‚

  9. Dubai Fishing says:

    I love Hainanese Chicken Rice !!! and i will be in Singapore to celebrate happy new year (excited), and i must try Hainanese Chicken Rice with such a cheap rate. πŸ™‚

  10. Steph (@ 20 Years Hence) says:

    Boy does this post bring me back (in the most delicious of ways)! My husband and I spent last Christmas in Singapore, and while it was nothing like the holidays we had celebrated in years previously back home in Canada and the U.S. the food we encountered certainly kept us from missing things like turkey and mashed potatoes. We loved stuffing ourselves silly in the hawker centers knowing it would never be very expensive. I wrote a post all about our adventures with Chicken Riceβ€”I know you Singaporeans love the stuff, but I found it a bit bland (and I don’t know why the chicken is served lukewarm)! Laksa on the other hand is a positive riot of flavors… definitely one of the top dishes I’ve encountered ANYWHERE in Asia!

  11. only for ice cream I think its worth visiting Singapore! πŸ˜›

    1. The $1 streetside ice cream is awesome, but in recent year’s we’ve had a rise in the number of specialty ice cream shops too – my favourite ones which do pretty spectacular local flavours are Island Creamery and Tom’s Palette, go check them out!

  12. Phuket Holiday Villas says:

    Singapore is an amazing country but it is way too expensive if you compare it with travelling to Thailand or Philipines. But this is an amazing guide to bear in mind when I go back there again. It’s a great country to tast some awesome Chinese, Indian and Malay food at the same time.

    1. I agree that price wise, Singapore definitely can’t compare with Thailand or Philippines or most of the other Asian countries, but compared with the rest of the world and the cost of living in Singapore, I think hawker centre food is actually still quite decent (though increasing in price, sadly)

      Do come back and visit soon!

  13. Escape Hunter says:

    Great tips, thanks – I didn’t know about most of these while I was there…
    What I did was to get out to Lau Pa Sat and eat myself full of gyoza for only 4 $. It was a great experience: the food, the place, everything!

    1. That just gives you good reason to come back again to eat some more πŸ™‚

  14. I’ll definitely try Roti Prata when I go to SG! Thanks for this post!

    1. Roti Prata is awesome! Do have it with some curry πŸ™‚

  15. I like to try Nyonya Laksa because it looks delicious and I love to eat noodle dishes!

    1. there are a whole lot of noodle dishes in Singapore! picking out just one was tough~

  16. Purborini Sulistiyo says:

    Have been visiting many times to Singapore. My husband’s favourite is laksa and the half-boiled eggs in the breakfast set. My daughter’s favourite is roti kaya, my son’s favourite is fried rice (Singaporean cook the fried rice differently than us, Indonesian). My favourite is the wonton noodles! Reading your article made me miss the Singapore local food!

    1. Do come back some time to have more Singaporean food πŸ™‚ The Breakfast Set is my favourite breakfast food! And if you want wanton mee recommendations, I know a few good places you can visit πŸ™‚

  17. I love eating Roti bread … so delicate, and it goes well with most dipping sauces!

    1. Different prata stalls do their prata in different styles – I like the soft ones, but crispy pratas are quite popular too! And I like mine with curry best πŸ™‚

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