Singapore Chinatown: Street Food Tour & Michelin Hawker Tasting

4.70

(125 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

“Try this one — but don’t ask for the recipe,” our guide grinned, sliding a slice of warm bakkwa into my hand. It was still sticky from the glaze, sweet-smoky, and I could smell charcoal in the air. We stood outside a little shop in Singapore’s Chinatown, just after five — the kind of humid dusk where your shirt sticks to your back and every sound is sharper. Locals hurried past with bags of fruit or chattering on their phones. I tried to say thank you in Mandarin; Li laughed and corrected me gently (I’m still not sure I got it right).

We wandered through rows of stalls selling everything from dragonfruit to durian (which honestly smelled like old socks but everyone else seemed unfazed). The main keyword here is food tour Singapore — but it didn’t feel like a “tour” at all, more like tagging along with someone who knows all the shortcuts. At the hawker center, Li pointed out which auntie made the best carrot cake (not actually cake or carrots — it’s radish fried with egg and soy sauce). The place was loud: spatulas clanging, someone singing along to an old pop song on the radio. I burned my tongue because I couldn’t wait for it to cool down.

The highlight was soya sauce chicken rice at this tiny stall that apparently has a Michelin star — not that you’d know by looking at it. Tender chicken, glossy with sauce, over plain rice with peanuts on the side. Simple but somehow perfect after all those flavors. Dessert came last: something cold and wobbly with coconut (I forgot the name), eaten standing up while watching teenagers play on their phones outside. When we finished, Li pointed us toward the MRT station and waved goodbye like we were old friends. I still think about that first bite of bakkwa sometimes.