On the road: Singapore a foodie paradise

Nadine Kam photos
In Singapore, a love of food is proudly on display.

BY NADINE KAM

SINGAPORE—I knew Singapore was a foodie destination, but I didn’t realize the extent of pride they have in their food heritage.

As soon as I got out of the plane, I came across two food sculptures lauding two of the dishes any visitor must try when they are here. In other food courts, some like People’s Park in Chinatown with hundreds of small hawker stalls, you might spot top 10 lists of must-try dishes, and murals around town also pay homage to the country’s culinary delights.

Here’s a look at Day 1 of eating Singapore style:

Getting off the plane at Singapore’s Changi Airport, I was greeted by this sculpture of Hainanese chicken and rice, one of the specialties here. Another sculpture paid tribute to roti prata.

This mural reflecting multi-cultural Singapore's universal love of food marked the site of Holland Village Market & Food Centre.

At Holland Market & Food Center, there are dozens of hawker food stalls and food is very inexpensive. These $3 plates are the USD equivalent of about $2.25.

At New Lucky Claypot Rice at Holland Market & Food Center, rice is layered with meat, vegetables and seafood of your choice, and cooked over a charcoal flame.


Non-flash video

I had their specialty, the Wu Wei Clay Pot filled with lup cheong and shrimp paste, or harm ha, chicken. So delicious! Feeds two or three for $10 Singapore, about $7.50 in USD.

 On Day 1, also had laksa at Katong Laksa in another area of Holland Village. Very close to what’s served at Panya, except more shrimp paste flavor and the noodles are cut up into bite-size pieces so they don’t slosh and spatter as much as noodles in the U.S. I kind of like it this way. This was $4 Singapore, or about $3 USD.

Also at Katong Laksa, a fried chicken plate with rice, egg, dried fish and spicy sambal. At lunch time, more people were ordering the rice plates than laksa.

Coca-Cola celebrated in a mural at Katong Laksa.

Spent the morning with pastry chef extraordinaire Janice Wong. More on her and her art work later. What a story she has!
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Nadine Kam is Style Editor and staff restaurant critic at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser; her coverage is in print on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Contact her via email at nkam@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Rebel Mouse.