The Table | Where to Eat and Drink in Singapore, With the Bill Shown

Where should we eat tonight, and what will the bill include? The Table brings together Singapore dining guides, food explainers and practical advice on menus, service charges, booking and ordering. Check the evidence and date attached to a recommendation before treating it as a current price or a first-hand review.

The ten plates worth eating in Singapore, with the bill shown

1. Chicken rice at Tian Tian, Maxwell Food Centre. S$5 for a small plate, S$6 medium. Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 8pm, closed Mondays. The lunch queue runs twenty to forty minutes. Verdict: this is the plate every other chicken rice is measured against. Go at 10.15am or after 3pm. Ah Tai, a few stalls along, was started by Tian Tian’s former cook and carries a fraction of the queue.
2. Bak chor mee at Hill Street Tai Hwa, Crawford Lane. S$6, S$8 or S$10 a bowl. Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 8.30pm. Thirty to sixty minutes in the queue at any hour. Verdict: the S$8 bowl, dry, with the vinegar left as they make it. A weekday at 3pm is the shortest wait you will find. The Michelin star is real; the queue is the price.
3. Bak kut teh at Song Fa. Pork ribs soup S$8.80++, dough fritters S$2.30++, the weekday lunch set S$13.80++, which lands at S$16.55 nett (before any cash rounding). Soup refills are free and the staff come round with the kettle. Verdict: the regular ribs, refilled twice. The premium loin at S$9.80++ tastes the same and gives you one rib instead of three.
4. Chilli crab at Jumbo, East Coast. From S$88 a kilo, so an 800g crab is roughly S$70 before the mantou at S$0.70 each; budget S$50 to S$60 a head. Verdict: one crab between two, a dozen mantou, skip the fried rice. A coffee-shop zi char does the same dish for less; the sauce is the variable, and the crab is not.
5. Kaya toast set at Ya Kun. S$6.30 for toast, two eggs and a kopi, up from S$4.80 a few years ago. Toast Box is S$7.40 for the same. Verdict: still the best of the chains, but a neighbourhood coffee shop does the set for about S$4, and the eggs are no different.
6. Murtabak at Zam Zam, North Bridge Road. From S$7, opposite Sultan Mosque, open from early morning to late. Verdict: mutton, with the dhal. One murtabak and two teh tarik feed two people for under S$15. Victory next door has argued the same point since before the war; try both once and pick a side.
7. Satay Street at Lau Pa Sat. S$0.80 to S$1 a stick; the popular Set A is S$31.20 for ten chicken, ten mutton or beef and six prawn. Boon Tat Street closes to traffic from 7pm and the grills roll out. Verdict: a group meal for S$8 to S$10 a head. Haron Satay at East Coast Lagoon charges the same per stick and comes with the sea.
8. Carrot cake at Chey Sua, Toa Payoh West. S$2, S$3 or S$4, white only, Tuesday to Sunday from 6am to 1pm, and the wait can hit an hour. Verdict: the best S$3 breakfast on the island. Order before you find a seat, and go before 8am.
9. Candlenut, Dempsey. The Ah-ma-kase set is S$108++ at lunch and S$138++ at dinner, and it is not a walk-in restaurant. Verdict: lunch is the buy. The only Michelin-starred Peranakan kitchen anywhere, and the cheapest starred tasting menu in Singapore by a distance.
10. Jigger & Pony, Tanjong Pagar. S$28++ a cocktail, S$22++ without alcohol, which is S$33.57 and S$26.38 nett at 10% service charge and 9% GST. Verdict: the bar was No. 9 in The World’s 50 Best Bars 2025, according to its published awards record. Recheck the current menu before booking. One drink at opening, then take the second at a coffee shop.

Evidence note, 28 September 2026: this inherited shortlist does not supply visit receipts or dated queue observations. Treat its prices, hours and waits as estimates requiring confirmation with each operator. The audit corrected the Jigger & Pony ranking and the service-charge/GST arithmetic; it did not re-verify every menu.

Start here

• New Restaurants in Singapore This Month, updated monthly
• The Best Restaurants in Singapore, With the Bill Shown (Wave 1)
• The Best Hawker Centres in Singapore and What to Order at Each (Wave 1)

How does eating out in Singapore work?

• What ++ Means on a Singapore Menu, and How to Work Out the Real Bill
• Do You Tip in Singapore? Service Charge, GST and When to Leave Nothing
• Corkage in Singapore: What Restaurants Charge to Open Your Own Bottle
• How to Book a Restaurant in Singapore: Apps, Deposits and No-Show Fees
• How a Hawker Centre Works: Chope, Trays, Table-Sharing and Paying
• Hawker Centre, Coffee Shop or Food Court: What’s the Difference in Price and Food
• How to Order Kopi in Singapore: Kopi O, Kosong, Siew Dai and the Rest
• How Economic Rice Is Priced in Singapore, Dish by Dish
• Tray Return in Singapore: The Rules, the Fines and Who Is Exempt
• The Singapore Hawker Food Glossary: 50 Dishes in One Line Each
• Halal, Muslim-Owned, No Pork No Lard: What the Signs at a Stall Mean
• Zi Char Explained: How to Order for Four Without Overspending
• The Singapore Breakfast Explained: Kaya Toast, Soft-Boiled Eggs and Kopi
• Prata Explained: Kosong, Egg, Plaster and How to Order at Supper
• Durian Season in Singapore: When It Peaks and How Durian Is Priced
• Dim Sum in Singapore: How to Order and What a Basket Should Cost
• Why Drinks Cost So Much in Singapore: Duty, GST and How Happy Hour Works
• Singapore’s Drinking Rules: Where and When You Can Drink in Public
• What Is Omakase? How It Works in Singapore and What the Price Includes

Coming soon on this desk

• Which hawker centre, and what do we order? The Best Chicken Rice in Singapore, Plate by Plate · Singapore’s Bib Gourmand 2026: Every Stall, Mapped and Priced
• Brunch and cafés: The Best Brunch in Singapore, Ranked by What You Get for $30 · The Best Cafés for Work, Brunch and Quiet
• Bars: The Best Bars and Rooftop Bars in Singapore, With the Cost of a Round
• Omakase in Singapore Under $150: Every Counter We Have Sat At
• Buffets and high tea: The Best Buffets in Singapore and Whether Any Are Worth It · High Tea in Singapore: Every Set, Priced and Judged
• Supper in Singapore: What’s Open After Midnight

The money underneath

A meal is the most frequent purchase most of us make. Price, Value and the Real Cost of Ownership and Why Buying Feels Good explain why the $28 pasta keeps winning, and how to let it win only when it should.

How this desk judges

A first-hand dining review must identify the visit, date and payment evidence. Research-based explainers and editorial shortlists must state their basis and must not imply a visit or purchase. A business may reply to a negative assessment; commercial relationships must be disclosed. Read how WahLiao judges.

Questions people ask

How much does a hawker meal cost in Singapore?

S$5 to S$8 for a plate and a drink at most centres. The Bib Gourmand stalls charge the same as their neighbours; the Michelin-starred ones charge S$2 more.

What does ++ mean on a menu?

Where a menu applies 10% service charge and 9% GST, multiply the base price by 1.10 × 1.09 = 1.199. S$28++ therefore comes to S$33.57 before any cash-rounding policy. GST applies to the service charge too. Confirm the charges on the menu; displayed prices at a business without service charge may already include GST. See IRAS’s calculation and price-display guidance.

Is chilli crab worth it?

Once. From S$88 a kilo at the famous names, one crab feeds two, and the mantou matter more than the fried rice.

Do I need to book?

Never at a hawker centre, always at Candlenut and the top bars, and for the starred hawkers the booking is the queue: thirty to sixty minutes at Tai Hwa at any hour.

Which hawker centre should a first-timer go to?

Maxwell, Old Airport Road and Chinatown Complex offer different starting points for exploring hawker food. Use the hawker-centre guide for ordering and table-sharing basics. A future ranking should be read only once its comparisons and evidence are published.

Everything on this desk: The Table archive. The history of where you are eating is on The Memory.

Last updated 27 September 2026.