Hawker Centres

The food in Singapore was awesome!

Especially at the hawker centres.  They are basically open-air places that serve inexpensive street food.



When you go to a hawker centre there can be hundreds of stalls.  The best rule of thumb is to choose the ones with the longest queues.



Most are self service so once your food is ready then you take it to your seat.  All of the tables have numbers and some will deliver the food to your table but I never saw that.



The centres can get quite busy so it's fine to take an empty seat across from a stranger.

When you're finished you just leave your trays as there is staff to bus and clean the tables.



The national dish is "Chicken Rice" which is chicken and rice cooked in broth and served with cucumbers, black sauce and chilli sauce.



My favourite was the laska which is a bowl of noodles in a coconut curry broth with chicken and fish balls.

Hawkers are popular across Singapore and I believe that they are also in Malaysia and Hong Kong.  Here's a short video I found on YouTube that gives you a feel for the hawker centres.

©Condé Nast Traveler