Celebrating food Singaporeans will queue for

As we celebrate Singapore Golden Jubilee, SG50, we reminisce about moments through time in our little island nation of Singapore. There are many events and things that made Singapore special. One of the recurring images in the tapestry of Singapore’s short history is that of Singaporeans standing patiently, most of the time, in orderly queues.

In the early days, we queued for water during dry spells and we queued for HDB flats. Not too long ago we queued for Malaysia Cup tickets and we queued for Hello Kitty. We have queued to register children in schools, to cast our votes at elections and to pay our last respect on the passing of our statesmen. A very common sight today is Singaporeans queuing for food – not the poor queuing for food handouts and not because there is any food shortage. These are Singaporeans from all strata of society queuing at popular food outlets. Even the Prime Minister had been spotted standing in line for fried chicken wings.

There are many stalls where long queues are the norm – such as  Ah Tai Chicken Rice @ Maxwell Road Food Centre, Hill-Street Fried Kway Teow @ Bedok South Market and Jia Ji Mei Shi @ Chinatown. There are, of course, many other eateries where there are long lines; and we invite you to share food in Singapore you think are worth queuing for. This post gives a sampling of the diverse types of food Singaporeans will queue for. It also gives a snapshot of the prevailing trend in Singapore in 2015. It may be interesting to look back in a few years to see if food queues are still at the same places.

 Jiu Jiang Shao La at Ghim Moh

Jiu Jiang Shao La 九江烧腊 stall at Ghim Moh food centre can be a candidate for the best char siew and roast duck in Singapore. They also sell roast pork. Read our post Jiu Jiang Shao La 九江烧腊, one of the best roast meat stalls in Singapore.

Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle at Crawford

The bak chor mee (or minced pork vinegar noodles) of Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle stall is a “must try” dish of Singapore. See our post Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle – one of the Must Try Bak Chor Mee.

Mak’s Noodles at Centrepoint

Mak’s Noodle is the latest ‘hot’ restaurant in Singapore and one of the best places for wanton noodles. Read our Post Mak’s Noodle Singapore opens at Centrepoint. Best wanton noodle in Singapore?

Dazzling Cafe at Capitol

Dazzling Cafe 蜜糖吐司專賣店, the Taiwanese dessert chain, is famed for its desserts and especially its signature Honey Toasts. Read Dazzling Cafe Singapore at Capitol Piazza.

Beach Road Prawn Mee East Coast

Many Singaporeans will may park illegally just so that they can savour the very good prawn noodles and those delicious fried ngoh hiang at Beach Road Prawn Mee 美芝律大虾面 at East Coast.

 Tim Ho Wan

Michelin starred chef Mak Kwai Pui’s dim sum restaurant now has many branches in Singapore but you should still expect to wait in line for some delicious dim sum. See Tim Ho Wan Plaza Singapura – Superb Dim Sum for Supernumeraries.

Din Tai Fung

The xiao long bao is the main reason why there is almost always a queue at Din Tai Fung although it has so many branches in Singapore. Read our post What is there to eat at Din Tai Fung apart from xiao long bao?

Ramen Keisuke

The winner of the Tokyo Ramen Championships 2011, Keisuke Takada, has opened a number of popular restaurants in Singapore featuring good ramen and free flow of complimentary eggs and seasoned beansprouts. Read our post Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King @ Paya Lebar Square.

Ippudo Ramen

After all these years, Ippudo Ramen still draws a queue. We had thought that their new branch in the suburbs in Westgate would be queue-less. But alas that was not the case, the Westgate branch is smaller but still attracts a queue during peak hours. Read our post on Ippudo Westgate here.

Nam Kee Handmade JB Pau

Crowds were drawn to this shop at the Grandstand selling pau. Perhaps for a taste of the massive Amy Yip pau which dwarfs the regular char siew pau. Read about the Amy Yip pau here.

Singapore F1

The scene at the Formula 1 races proves that we have our priorities right. There was as much interest in the food as the cars during the Singapore F1 race. The Jean Georges restaurants were packed. Long queues at each outlet. The racing can wait! Read our post on the food at the 2014 Singapore F1 here.

Chin Mee Chin in Katong

Chin Mee Chin is a truly heritage stall that must be featured in SG50 food celebrations. It offers the quintessential local breakfast of kaya toast and soft boiled eggs in a traditional setting. For a real experience of old school Singapore coffee shop, it is hard to find a better place than Chin Mee Chin in Singapore food capital – Katong.

Ilao Ilao

Singaporeans have developed a strong liking for the Ilao Ilao yogurt.  With more than 15 outlets all over Singapore, it is still not uncommon to see long queues forming up.

4 Fingers

Singaporeans can’t get enough of the crispy chicken sold at 4 Fingers. There seems to be always a queue at the Ion Orchard and Westgate outlets.

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Singapore Food Blog by Ordinary People looking for Places to Eat