Last week we took the Chinatown Food Tasting & Cultural Walking Tour with Leo and Mindy of Food Tours Singapore.
After meeting them at the Tanjong Pagar MKT subway station, we headed to the nearby Singapore City Gallery for an overview of the history and transformation on Singapore over the last 50 years.
Leo and Mindy are from different generations, so it’s was fascinating to hear both of their perspectives.
Next we started the eating portion of the walking tour at the Maxwell Food Centre. Throughout the 4-hour tour we sampled more than 10 different foods popular with Singaporeans in a variety of locations from markets to street food to hawker stands.
First up was the famous Chicken Rice from the Tian Tain hawker stand.
When we put too much chili sauce on our chicken, a glass of fresh-pressed sugarcane juice hit the spot.
Next we tried the peanut soup from Ah Balling. Initially, it tasted a little bland until you bit into the rice balls in the soup.
With each dish Leo and Mindy gave of both a Singaporean and personal history. They were also very conscious of any dietary considerations and sensitive to our food “comfort zone”.
Already getting full, we walked again and explored the market at Chinatown, with Mindy explaining Pandan leaves, a plant that is used in Singaporean dishes.
This market is spotlessly clean, although there are many unusual (to us) things for sale.
We bought some spices from Anthony the Spice Maker.
Upstairs, we sampled 3 more dishes from the food stalls.
Chwee Kueh is made of rice cakes that are topped with diced preserved radish and chili sauce. It’s delicious.
Another favorite was the Poh Piah — a fresh spring roll made with a soft, thin paper-like crepe wrapper stuffed with fresh vegetables and served with a chili sauce.
Ice Kachang is a dessert of shaved ice, beans, corn, mango – very unusual and yet very tasty and cooling in the Singapore heat and humidity.
Next we headed to the Chinatown Food Street, shut off to traffic and filled with all types of food.
This outdoor space has been shaded with a giant overhead umbrella-like structure.
We sample Pandan cake at the Pure Pandan bakery.
Then we watched the long line of people waiting for their turn to be served a large helping of Curry Chicken Noodle at Ah Heng in the Hong Lim Complex. As good as this looked, we were simply too full to try it.
Finally, we cooled off with Iced Coffees and the famous Kaya Toast at Ya Kun. The toast is covered with butter and a sweet coconut and egg concoction while the coffee is made with a sock filter.
Leo and Mindy were a real pleasure as they patiently fielded our questions about the food and culture in Singapore.
Mindy wrote out recommendations for other food establishments for us to try while in Singapore.
We would easily recommend this tour. While we find it easy to get around Singapore, we never would have discovered the food locations and cuisine we experienced on this tour by ourselves.
We look forward to booking with Food Tours Singapore again on our next visit.
What’s your favorite Singaporean food? Please share in comments below.
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