The best Singapore hawker dishes
The top 3 according to 225 votes from people: Hainanese chicken rice · Chilli crab · Bak chor mee. (Updated Mar 30, 2026.)
The dishes to order at Singapore's hawker centres, whose hawker culture is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list since 2020, according to Migrationology, Traveloka and Singapore food guides.
Top 12
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1
Hainanese chicken rice
Poached chicken over rice cooked in chicken fat, with chilli and ginger; the national dish.
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2
Chilli crab
Mud crab in a sweet, spicy tomato-chilli sauce, mopped up with fried mantou.
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3
Bak chor mee
Minced pork noodles with vinegar and chilli; one stall won a Michelin star.
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4
Nasi lemak
Coconut rice with sambal, fried chicken, anchovies and egg.
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5
Char kway teow
Wok-fried flat rice noodles with cockles, Chinese sausage and dark soy.
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6
Satay
Grilled meat skewers with peanut sauce, at Lau Pa Sat's Satay Street.
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7
Hokkien mee
Prawn and squid noodles braised in rich seafood stock with lime and sambal.
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8
Laksa
Katong-style coconut curry noodle soup with cockles and prawns, eaten with a spoon.
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9
Fish head curry
South Indian-style curry with a whole fish head, created in Singapore.
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10
Roti prata
Flaky flatbread with curry, the late-night supper.
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11
Carrot cake (chai tow kway)
Fried radish cake, 'white' or 'black' with sweet soy.
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12
Bak kut teh
Peppery Teochew pork rib soup.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 12… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
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13
Kaya toast
Toast with coconut jam and butter, with soft-boiled eggs and kopi.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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