Singapore's Iconic Restaurants
The tables people book before they book the flight.
Hawker stalls get the fame, but these are the sit-down names: crab houses, Peranakan kitchens, zi char institutions and a few very serious dining rooms. Budgets run from a shared pot of fish head curry to a tasting menu. Book ahead for almost all of them.
0/20 · Fresh off the plane
1. JUMBO Seafood (Riverside Point)
Order: Chilli crab
Fine dining · Clarke Quay · $$$ · MRT Clarke Quay (NE5)
Daily 11:30–23:00 (last order 22:15)
The riverside branch of the best-known crab chain. Loud, efficient and exactly what you pictured when you booked the trip.
💡 Book dinner ahead. Crab is sold by weight, so confirm the price when you order. Wear the bib; nobody is judging.
2. Long Beach @ Dempsey
Order: Black pepper crab
Fine dining · Dempsey Hill · $$$ · MRT Napier (TE12), then a walk or taxi
Mon–Fri & eve of public holidays 11:00–15:00 & 17:00–23:30; Sat–Sun & public holidays 11:00–23:30
One of the oldest names in Singapore seafood, in a big breezy hall at Dempsey. This is the place to try crab the peppery way.
💡 Order one crab in black pepper and one in chilli, then argue about it. Crab is priced by weight; ask before you commit.
3. Red House Seafood (Esplanade)
Order: Chilli crab
Fine dining · Marina Bay · $$$ · MRT Esplanade (CC3)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Chilli crab from a family name that has been at it since 1976, now on the waterfront by the Esplanade theatres.
💡 Ask for a table facing the bay. From Marina Bay Sands it is a walk across the Helix Bridge. Reserve for dinner.
4. Palm Beach Seafood
Order: Chilli crab
Fine dining · Marina Bay · $$$ · MRT Raffles Place (EW14/NS26)
Daily 12:00–14:30 & 17:30–22:30
A seafood name going since 1956, a few steps from the Merlion. The terrace looks straight across the bay.
💡 Book an outdoor table for about 19:30 and the 20:00 light show comes with dinner. Check the crab price by weight first.
5. Candlenut
Fine dining · Dempsey Hill · $$$ · MRT Napier (TE12), then a walk or taxi
Daily 12:00–15:00 & 18:00–22:00
Chef Malcolm Lee cooks the food of Straits-Chinese grandmothers with a fine-dining hand. Deep, dark, slow-cooked flavours.
💡 Take the set menu so the kitchen chooses, and say yes to the buah keluak. Book well ahead for dinner.
6. The Blue Ginger
Fine dining · Tanjong Pagar · $$ · MRT Tanjong Pagar (EW15)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A long-running Nyonya restaurant in a Tanjong Pagar shophouse. The cooking tastes like someone's very capable aunt made it.
💡 Share everything. Ayam buah keluak and beef rendang are the usual order. We found no hours on its site, so call first.
7. National Kitchen by Violet Oon
Fine dining · Civic District · $$$ · MRT City Hall (EW13/NS25)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Violet Oon's dining room inside the National Gallery, all dark wood and tiles, with a veranda looking over the Padang.
💡 A safe bet for a client who wants local food and a tablecloth. Order the dry laksa and book ahead.
8. Samy's Curry Restaurant
Order: Fish head curry
Hawker · Dempsey Hill · $$ · MRT Napier (TE12), then a walk or taxi
Wed–Mon 11:00–15:00 & 18:00–22:00; closed Tue
A South Indian institution since the 1960s, in an airy colonial hall with ceiling fans. Staff ladle curry on your leaf as they pass.
💡 Closed on Tuesdays. Eat with your right hand if you like; nobody minds. The fish head curry feeds three.
9. The Banana Leaf Apolo
Order: Fish head curry
Hawker · Little India · $$ · MRT Little India (NE7/DT12)
Daily 10:30–22:30
A big, bright curry house where everything arrives on a banana leaf. It started as a thosai stall and grew into a landmark.
💡 Open all day, so come at 15:00 and skip the queue. One fish head curry and a biryani will see off three people.
10. Muthu's Curry
Order: Fish head curry
Hawker · Little India · $$ · MRT Farrer Park (NE8)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A few doors from its rival on Race Course Road. Locals pick a side early in life and defend it for decades.
💡 Try this and Banana Leaf Apolo on the same trip and form your own view. A small pot does two to three people.
11. Spring Court
Fine dining · Chinatown · $$ · MRT Chinatown (NE4/DT19)
Mon–Fri 11:00–15:00 & 18:00–22:00; Sat, Sun & public holidays in seatings 11:00–15:00 & 17:30–22:00
Four generations in, and it still feeds weddings and birthdays over round tables. The roast chicken is the family heirloom.
💡 Come in a group of six or more so you can order properly. Weekends run in timed seatings, so book a slot.
12. Keng Eng Kee Seafood
Order: Moonlight hor fun, coffee pork ribs
Hawker · Bukit Merah · $$ · MRT Redhill (EW18), then bus
Hours unknown, check before you go
Wok-fried everything under a housing block in Bukit Merah. Plastic chairs, cold beer and plates that hit the table in minutes.
💡 Book for dinner and bring at least four people. Moonlight hor fun and coffee pork ribs are the house orders.
13. Kok Sen Restaurant
Order: Big prawn hor fun
Hawker · Keong Saik · $$ · MRT Maxwell (TE18)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A no-frills shophouse kitchen that has outlasted every trendy neighbour. The big prawn hor fun is why people queue.
💡 Book or come early. Most listings show it closed on Mondays, so check before you walk over.
14. JB Ah Meng
Order: White pepper crab, san lou bee hoon
Late night · Geylang · $$ · MRT Aljunied (EW9)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A Malaysian-style zi char shop that restaurant chefs treat as their canteen. Crisp-bottomed bee hoon and peppery crab.
💡 Michelin's own write-up says it opens till 3am, but we found no official hours page, so call ahead. Order the san lou bee hoon.
15. New Ubin Seafood (CHIJMES)
Fine dining · Civic District · $$ · MRT City Hall (EW13/NS25)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A kelong kitchen that moved to town and kept its sense of humour. Steak with fried rice sits beside chilli crab on the menu.
💡 Order the ribeye with 'heart attack' fried rice and one crab dish. Good for a mixed group that cannot agree.
16. Swee Choon Tim Sum Restaurant
Order: Dim sum, mee suah kueh
Late night · Jalan Besar · $$ · MRT Jalan Besar (DT22)
Sun–Thu 07:00–02:00; Fri–Sat & eve of public holidays 07:00–04:00
The supper spot of every Singaporean student. Baskets of dumplings, custard buns and fried mee suah cake, long after midnight.
💡 Tick the paper order sheet. Get mee suah kueh and salted egg custard buns. The official page still lists Tuesdays as closed; check.
17. The Coconut Club (Beach Road)
Order: Nasi lemak
Hawker · Kampong Glam · $$ · MRT Bugis (EW12/DT14)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Coconut rice, sambal and fried chicken done with real care, in a handsome Kampong Glam shophouse.
💡 Book, or come mid-afternoon. It serves alcohol and is not halal-certified, in case that matters to your table.
18. Odette
Fine dining · Civic District · $$$$ · MRT City Hall (EW13/NS25)
Lunch Tue–Sat from 12:00; dinner Mon–Sat from 18:30; closed Sun
The soft-pink room in the National Gallery that turns up on every best-restaurant list. Tasting menus only.
💡 Book weeks ahead, not days. Lunch is the easier seat to get. Closed on Sundays and has no lunch on Mondays.
19. Burnt Ends
Fine dining · Dempsey Hill · $$$$ · MRT Napier (TE12), then a walk or taxi
Dinner Tue–Sat 18:00–23:00; lunch Thu–Sat 12:00–14:30; closed Sun–Mon
Counter seats facing a roaring oven and a kitchen that makes smoke feel like fine dining. Hard to book, worth the effort.
💡 Closed Sunday and Monday. If the restaurant is full, the cocktail bar next door at #01-04 opens from 17:00.
20. Restaurant Labyrinth
Fine dining · Marina Bay · $$$$ · MRT Esplanade (CC3)
Wed–Thu 18:30–23:00; Fri–Sun 12:00–14:30 & 18:30–23:00; closed Mon–Tue
Chef LG Han takes chilli crab and chicken rice apart and puts them back together as fine dining. Michelin-starred and playful.
💡 Allow three hours; last seating for dinner is 19:30. Do the hawker originals first so you get the jokes.
Unofficial · not affiliated with TOKEN2049. Hours and prices change; check before you go.