Where to eat in Singapore

Restaurants, cafés and street food in Singapore, Singapore that locals actually go to — plus the local names for the chains you already know.

Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle — Bak chor mee, Crawford Lane (1). Order the Bak chor mee. Michelin-starred minced-pork noodles; the vinegar hit is the point.
328 Katong Laksa — Laksa, Katong / East Coast (1). Order the Katong laksa. Spoon-only laksa that beat Gordon Ramsay.
Samy's Curry — South Indian, Dempsey Hill (2). Order the Fish head curry on banana leaf. Banana-leaf curry in a colonial hall since 1969.
Lau Pa Sat Satay Street — Satay, Downtown / Telok Ayer (1). Order the Mixed satay + ketupat. When the road closes at dusk, the satay smoke takes over.
Song Fa Bak Kut Teh — Bak kut teh, Clarke Quay / New Bridge Rd (1). Order the Pork ribs soup + you tiao. Peppery pork-rib soup since 1969 — refills of broth are the custom.
Jumbo Seafood — Seafood / chilli crab, East Coast (3). Order the Chilli crab + fried mantou. The chilli-crab standard-bearer by the sea.
Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice — Chicken rice, Maxwell Food Centre (1). Order the Hainanese chicken rice. The chicken rice the whole city argues about.
Liao Fan Hawker Chan — Soya chicken, Chinatown Complex (1). Order the Soya sauce chicken rice. The world's cheapest Michelin meal, once upon a stall.
Ya Kun Kaya Toast — Kopitiam, Far East Square (original) (1). Order the Kaya toast set with kopi. Kaya toast, soft eggs, kopi — the 1944 original ritual.