Singapore is a Gourmet's Paradise. This has been narrowed down as the information could be overwhemling for a newbie to Singapore.
Seafood
East Coast Seafood Center - a few restaurants all in one place along the water (some are on the other side which is not on the water), the more popular ones are Jumbo, Red House and Long Beach. Dishes to order are baby kai lan or sambal kang kong, chili or pepper crabs, drunken prawns, bamboo clams, bread for dipping up the sauces. No frills service, don't expect elegance and finesse
Famous hawker centers - eg. Newton or Chomp Chomp, recommended dishes are BBQ sambal sting ray or squid
Esplanade - No Sign Seafood would be the best choice here. Newton food centres can be too touristy. Try Bedok Hawker Center at bedok MRT.
Boat Quay - able to dine outdoor right by the water
Hawker Centers
Newton Food Centre (nearest MRT: Newton)
Maxwell (Nearest MRT: Tanjong Pagar)-- An excellent choice close to Chinatown. This center is the home of the famous Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice. Expect long lines and surly staff, but food that it worth the wait. This is less travelled by tourists than centers like Newton's, but is very popular with the blogs and locals.
Chomp Chomp (aka Serangoon)
Zion
Adam Food Centre
Lau Pa Sat
Note: you can find a food court in almost all the shopping malls or office buildings in town and they are usually all pretty good. Some are more local (eg. Far East Plaza's 3rd floor with each individual shop) while others (eg. Tanglin Mall's), are one big food court with individual stalls, more cafeteria style. Also, a lot of the older ones had been updated for cleanliness and style (blend of hawker center and air conditioned food court) and the new ones like Glutton Bay are made of the new style hawker dining.
Vegetarian
7 Sensations - Little India, Madras Street, Holistic Vegetarian Food with good variety of cuisine
Kaoyi - on Lavender Street, local and chinese dishes
Fortune center - next to Guan Yin temple, dishes that chinese monks and nuns would usually dine on
Maharaja - on Cuppage Terrace
Komala Villas - very popular as the food is good
Bombay Woodlands - in Tanglin Shopping Center, good lunch buffet and very reasonably priced esp. for an in town location
Lu Qing Qing - in Chinatown, good home made noodles
Original Sin - in Holland Village, Mediterranean cuisine
Lao Di Fang - a few locations in town
TGIF - if you feel like having a burger, try the garden burger
Kingdom - at Suntec City, noodles are good
High Teas
Raffles hotel - can't miss the most famous one in town
Four Seasons hotel
Holiday Inn Atrium - weekends only
InterContinental hotel - weekends are buffet style
Mandarin hotel - Mezzanine Lounge but on weekends and public holidays u can also have high tea at Top of the M
Marina Mandarin - weekends and public holiday
Marriott
Goodwood Park Hotel - similar atmosphere to Raffles choice of an Asian or English high tea
Buffets:
Furama RiverFront Hotel - Peranakan (mix between malay and chinese)
The Conrad Hotel - Oscars Buffet - International
Four Seasons Hotel - daily theme
Hilton - different theme daily
Holiday Inn Atrium - curry and local cuisine
Holiday Inn Orchard - International
InterContinental - Seafood & Med. cuisine
Marriott - international
Pan Pacific - Steamboat and international, for weekends you have a choice for really good Japanese buffet in Keyaki restaurant
Swissotel Merchant Court - Peranakan and International, very popular as it is very reasonably priced and quite a selection
MELT at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel- awesome variety and quality
Straits Kitchen at The Hyatt Hotel - Lots of Variety and great way to try local food at a luxurious setting
Other cuisine
Grill - not to be missed is the famous Raffles Grill, has a good wine list, Harbor Grill at the Hilton is also very good .
Indian -must order the Fish Head Curry- Muthu's Curry at Race Course Road, Little India or Samy's Curry at Dempsey Road (close to the Botanic Gardens). Very reasonable prices and great food!
Indonesian - Rice Table (they also have a buffet dinner choice).
French - L'Aigle D'Or at the Berjaya hotel is excellent, Casual French restaurant in Little India called French Stall is wonderful, Les Amis is pricey and over-rated especially by those who have never tasted really superb French cuisine in France.
Hakka - Moi Kong (unique Chinese cuisine, not very common, special dish is suan pan zi)
Thai- Patara Thai Restaurant at Tanglin Mall or at Raffles Plaza Hotel - Excellent food and service, great weekend lunch buffets
Nasi Padang - Rendezvous is the most well known and popular Hainanese Chicken rice - most famous and most expensive is the Chatterbox at the Meritus Mandarin hotel, Unfortunately, Chatterbox Chicken Rice is not so nice now since the 100% ginger sauce was mixed with spring onion and turned green in colour. Five Star at Bukit Timah is pretty good, Margaret Drive (Sun Kee), Wee Nam Kee (Thompson Road), IBM Towers (2nd floor) and Hainanese Delicacy at Far East Plaza.
Satay - Lau Pa Sat, Satay Club, Clarke Quay
Crossroads at Marriott Hotel, Corner Orchard and Scotts Rds - great menu - something for everyone with healthy choice section as well
Dining with a view/romantic restaurants
Sentosa Spa and Resort's BBQ Seafood - great view of the Island all lit up at night, over the water as well as right by the pool
Au Jardin Les Amis - Set in the beautiful and serene Botanic Gardens, in a very nice colonial building - overpriced
Flutes at the Fort - very romantic esp. at the veranda, dining outside is magical but save room for desserts at this place !
Hai Tien Lo - view of the harbor if u like chinese food
IndoChine Waterfront - popular and trendy
Top of the M - famous revolving restaurant has the Orchard area night view - city but no more smoky dry ice effect with the chocolate balls that come with coffee. Also no more tableside flambees which is a wrong move on the part of the restaurant
Jewel Box - at Mt. Faber, dining outdoor, overlooking the great view down below
LightHouse - good food and view already closed down.
Keyaki - set in a beautiful Japanese garden\
Equinox - has the be the best view due to its location and height, both city and harbor view of the lion city but food is not that good.
Jaan - posh/swanky restaurant
Graze at Rochester Park- beautiful and great food
Halia - near the ginger garden in the Botanic Gardens
Champange Brunch
Mezza9 at the Grand Hyatt
Ritz Carlton - Moet & Chandon is the champange of choice
Four Seasons - Veuve Clicquot lovers beware - free flow for S$30 more than the normal price
Hilton Hotel - a good one for family as they have a kids' corner
Conrad Hotel - accompanied by live Jazz
Specialty Brunches
Fullerton Hotel - Try the Chocolate Buffet
Shangri La's The Line - an outstanding buffet spread
Grand Copthorne waterfront - Children's buffet - adults have to be accompanied by at least one child
Rasa Sentosa - Brunch and plunge
When there is good food, how can you do without some drinks ? So here is another section for those looking for some cool places to refresh or just hang loose !
Raffles Hotel - Long Bar
The most famous drinking outlet in Singapore has to be the Long Bar @ Raffles. It is a cool place to visit once and experienced the throwing of fresh peanut shells onto the floor and stepping over heaps of them as they are littered everywhere. Your foot might not be able to find the floor but it is a great experience (kids love it - eating the nuts, throwing the nuts and steping on them !) as well as a great photo op.
This bar is where the Singapore Sling was first created but nowadays, it is a premix (yep and it cost a lot for a very sweet drink so get a glass of water handy). There is an outdoor area but the inside is air-conditioned with the mechanical fans moving to circulate the air. Nice place to hang out for a while after an outing.
The other cool place to hang out at the Raffles is the Billiard Room. If you enjoy people watching, the shopping arcade @ Raffles offer some other options e.g the garden bar/cafe
Sport Bars
It is funny how this city's better sport bars are found in breweries but what a good combination ! These are the more popular sport bars :
- Brewerkz
- Paulaner Brauhaus
- Muddy Murphy's
- Harry's (quite a few locations)
Cool fun places to have a drink and people watch :
Crossroad cafe - @ Marriott is this open air cafe at the junction of Scotts and Orchard Road, one of the busiest section in this city.
Clarke Quay - as there are many outlets here, just take a stroll and pick the one that you like best !
Boat Quay - same as above (but be warned, there are salepersons who are eager to pester you to go into their establishment)
Esplanade - same as Clarke Quay
Emerald Hill - right in the middle of Orchard road, tucked away from the main stretch are a few bars that is hidden from view by the outdoor bar facing the road. Check them out if you have time !
CHIJMES - really cool colonial property that had been converted into a tourist attraction with shopping and dining options.
Bugis Junction - a really busy place right after work hours at some of the drinking establishments
Equinox Complex - a few choices here and what a view ! More for the trendy
Zouk - the place where the young love to dance the night away
Dempsey - this area had been revamped into fine dining and drinking places
parambir singh- I had been to singapore and stayed with mrs goh's guest house at sirangoon road, wher we did a lot of shopping at the mustafa. it was a big store where you could buy everything from a pin to a watch food, all daily needs etc