Singapore is a fantastic place to visit. This ultra-modern city has a mix of cultures that can’t be found in many places in the World. Chinese, Indian, Malaysian… everything blends in the city-state melting pot. And the food is no exception! Eating in Singapore means enjoying the cuisine of all kind of countries, with its own unique local specialities. But, did you know Singapore is also the city with the cheapest Michelin Star Restaurants in the World?
Food Culture in Singapore
The city can also be costly. It has been rated as the more expensive one in the World more than once. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a delicious meal for cheap! While it’s true a high-end restaurant in Singapore will leave a sizeable hole in your wallet, there are alternatives.
Locals usually eat in the famous hawkers, the street food stalls that are all over, inside Hawker Centres. These places typically serve a very limited, if not only one, type of food, usually a family recipe.
Are these Hawker Centres any good? Well, these people cook the same thing for decades, continually perfecting the recipe, always in constant competition with others. Sounds good enough? The best part? They are also very cheap! With most of them offering delicious food for less than 4$. A complete bargain!
The Cheapest Michelin Star Restaurants
Liao Fan Hawker Chan
The Michelin Guide, famously for rating the quality of restaurants all over the World, ignored street food for a long time. However, recently they have been pushing for expanding their reviews beyond traditional restaurants.
This new open-minded policy led to the Michelin Star given to the Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Chicken Rice & Noodles stall in Chinatown. This place was already famous for the quality of the food. His owner, Chan Hon Meng, started cooking when he was a child and perfected his recipe through the years.
The star meant hundreds of new costumers for the small street food stand. To be able to serve the hordes of people looking for the delicious chicken, he had to expand. So shortly after, Chan Hon Meng made an agreement with Hersing Culinary and opened a restaurant in Smith Street called Liao Fan Hawker Chan.
The restaurant is still in Chinatown, but not in the Hawker Centre anymore. It’s now on Smith Street. Since it took me a while to find it, I will leave a link to its location on Google maps. Here the first thing you will find is a long queue.
The restaurant is extremely popular, so get ready to wait. Don’t despair if there is a seemingly endless queue. It will advance quickly. The people working there are incredibly fast serving food, so it’s not as bad as it looks! You will usually get your food after 10 and 30 minutes, at least in my experience.
Once you finally get your meal, prepare to enjoy yourself! No matter the choice, you will be right. I personally loved the Soy Sauce Chicken Noodles. The chicken was moist, tender and well marinated in a delicious sauce. The noodles were tasty and delicious when mixed with the soy sauce. It was so good I couldn’t help but to come back another day! And of course, all this for less than 4$!
Hill Street Tai Hwa
If you are still hungry for more, I have good news! Liao Fan Hawker Chan is not the only street food stall with a Michelin Star. The Tai Hwa Pork Noodle Stall in Hill Street was awarded one too. And it is almost as cheap!
This one is not as easy to reach, and also not as well advertised. I had to ask locals to find where it was when I went there. So make your life easier and save its location in Google Maps to save yourself from the struggle I went through.
Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle is, in a way, more authentic. It is a tiny stall in a Hawker Centre, and the owner still prepares every single dish. It also receives way fewer tourists. You won’t see as many Australians, Americans and Europeans here. However, that means that the queues are even worst! I had to wait for more than an hour to get my food, but I least I got to talk with some locals!
Once I finally got my food, it was delicious as expected! And very different compared to the Soy Sauce Chicken. The dish, Bak Chor Mee, had a powerful pork taste, very meaty, and served with incredibly good noodles. There was all kind of different textures and flavours to taste.
The bowl might look small at first glance, but it was enough for me. Sadly, I couldn’t go back to have another one because that was my last meal in the city. However, I will make sure to go there next time! And again, all this for under 6$.
If you ever go to Singapore, don’t forget to go to the first street food places awarded with a Michelin Star! You will get delicious food and save some money too. And if you have already been there, did you like it? Do you think the award is deserved or do you think there are better Hawkers in the city? I would love to know about it!
In case you are hungry for more, have a look at our food around the world page to read about dishes and drinks from all the places we have visited.
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