Did you think I was going to come all the way to Singapore and not eat at Ananda Bhavan a third time?
That’s right. Breakfast on the fifth day of our visit was rice, chapati, vegetables, parippu, sambar, puzikuzhambu, curd, pickle, rasam, thuvaiyal, appalam, vadai, and payasam. You know, a light meal.
We spent the rest of the day exploring Kampong Glam district, including Sultan Mosque. By complete coincidence, we got to witness a nikah (Muslim wedding ceremony) between a Malay-American couple during our visit. The volunteers at the mosque were super friendly and encouraged us to explore the colorful halls.
Speaking of colorful, how beautiful is Haji Lane and Arab Street? I only wish we had more time to explore Kampong Glam. A snack of Korean mango shaved ice and Sichuan-style dry hot pot capped off our afternoon. (Bay Area: where can I find dry hot pot? This flavor is what dreams are made of.)
Dinner was the best idli I’ve ever had at Murugan Idli Shop in Little India. Service was curt, but who cares when the food is delicious?
A nightcap at the creative, quirky, and super friendly Vagabond Bar ended our day perfectly. Shahrul, Kamilah, and Mauro, if you’re reading this: we miss the Vagabond!
And just like that, we were out with a melancholy goodbye to our hotel the next morning. But it wasn’t totally over yet.
We had a few hours before our flight at Changi Airport, so we enjoyed a lunch of la mian with minced meat and mushroom sauce and stir-fried lettuce at Paradise Inn. And you can’t come to Singapore without trying a curry puff, so you know. One last snack for the road.
Teh-c. Kopi-o. Teh peng. Kopitiams are traditional coffee shops in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, where coffee and tea are ordered with terms drawn from different languages. My favorite? Teh-c, or hot tea with evaporated milk.
A breakfast of teh-c and kaya (coconut jam) toast at Killiney Kopitiam was more than enough to get us started on our third day in Singapore.
But what I was really on the hunt for that morning was the chicken biryani at the famed Bismillah Biryani in Little India. It’d easy to miss this nondescript spot were it not for the crowd of businessmen and uncles packed in for lunch. This dum biryani is cooked Hyderabadi-style: fragrant, pillowy strands of basmati rice infused with the flavor of meat and spices and served with a yogurt sauce on the side.
We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Mustafa Centre and Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple. What’s Mustafa Centre, you ask? Mustafa Centre is a 24-hour shopping mall filled with literally everything you could ever think of: electronics, groceries, jewelry, books, apparel, sports equipment, restaurants. Really, everything. I may or may not have walked away with a few too many bags of murukku.
We slowly made our way to Chinatown in search of what may be Singapore’s most famous dish: chicken rice.
Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice is perhaps the most popular place to get chicken rice. Located in Maxwell Food Centre, there is always a lineup here. Service is fast, food is cheap, and the chicken is velvety. Ethereal, even. It’s comfort food.
We also tried fish soup bee hoon at Jin Hua Fish Head Bee Hoon. How do they make the fish so tender? Why is everything so tender in Singapore? How does everyone cook so well?
We spent the rest of our evening in the Kampong Glam district near Sultan Mosque, exploring lively Arab Street and Haji Lane. The sounds of the azan blended with laughter and pop music and traffic to produce a vibrant, chaotic energy. Restaurants and boutiques line the streets: the food smells wonderful, people are impeccably dressed, and folks are all smiles. It’s hard to narrow it down, but I think this is my favorite neighborhood in Singapore.
Naturally, we had to go for a second dinner. Singapore Zam Zam Restaurant is famous for its murtabak (here’s an explainer on murtabak for the uninitiated) and Nishan and I split a plate of the mutton murtabak. Murtabak is a meat-filled stuffed pancake originating in Yemen and its made its way through South Asia and Southeast Asia. This restaurant has perfected it.
Internet, this was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten in my life. Eggs, onions, and ground meat all came together in a super-thin encasing of dough. But you know what really made this magical? The fish curry-like sauce on the side. Together, this sauce and murtabak became next level. I probably think about this meal on a weekly basis since leaving Singapore.
But here’s the problem with Singapore: I also tried one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my life the next morning for breakfast. Sungei Road Laksa in Kampong Glam specializes in, well, laksa. The cockles, the fish cake, the spicy, coconuty broth, the noodles: together, they became the breakfast of champions. And all for three dollars. I will learn to cook you, laksa. Oh yes, I will.
From there we made our way down Victoria Street and to the Sentosa Cable Car to head to Singapore’s playground, Sentosa Island.
Major amusement park vibes here. It rained a ton for most of the day so we took refuge at Tanjong Beach Club and eventually headed back.
For dinner, we headed to Chinatown, where my search for char kway teow and dim sum resulted in mediocrity. It’s okay; you can’t win ’em all. But you can come really, really close in Singapore.
“Singapore is Disneyland with the death penalty.” “Singapore is too dull.” “Are you sure you want to visit Singapore? It’s so sterile.”
My experience in Singapore couldn’t be further from the truth. I know Singapore isn’t without its fair share of problems and its planned and regulated to a tee, but you know what? From the moment we entered customs until we checked out of our hotel, Nishan and I were smitten with Singapore’s vibrancy, from the diverse neighborhoods to the heavenly food at every corner. Our most dystopian experience was at a place that rhymes with Faffles, but we’ll get to that later.
First, let’s talk about the food. Singapore is heralded as one of the best places on earth for food. I concur, a million times over. When we landed, Nishan and I rushed to our hotel to check in and then quickly walked ran to our first stop to grab dinner before they closed.
Gandhi Restaurant in Little India is a no-frills restaurant serving South Indian fare. Sit down, get a banana leaf, and they’ll serve you ladleful after ladelful of curry and dal. Say yes to it all because it is all delicious. My lamb curry, papad, rice, dal, and chicken curry brought me back to life after our flight from Thailand.
The next morning, we had lunch at what would become my favorite restaurant in Singapore: Ananda Bhavan. Specifically, the one on Syed Alwi Road in Little India. This casual vegetarian eatery is nearly always packed, and with good reason.
I got the Mysore masala thosai, served with sambar, dal, pickle, and chutney. Nishan got the South Indian set meal, served with rice, chapati, vegetables, parippu, sambar, puzikuzhambu, curd, pickle, rasam, thuvaiyal, appalam, vadai, and payasam. We struggled to finish our heavy breakfasts, but since then, nothing has come close to replicating the flavor of this meal. Believe me, I’ve tried. Consider this my love poem to the cooks at Ananda Bhavan. Ananda Bhavan, if you’re reading this, will you consider publishing a cookbook? Us plebeians outside of Singapore wistfully long for your sustenance.
Afterwards we walked it off at Singapore’s most famous attraction: the Gardens by the Bay. It really is larger than life and with views of the Marina Bay Sands and the entire city as you walk through the park.
Next we headed to the iconic Raffles Hotel. You know, the home of the Singapore Sling yadda yadda yadda. We had a drink at their Long Bar but mostly we were creeped out by the hotel’s glorification of colonialism. To visit the Raffles Hotel is to encounter the colonial experience, complete with Sikh doormen and a discreet side door for those only dining at the hotel — after all, the lobby is for real (read: moneyed, largely European) guests.
Anyway, they’re really into this guy.
Enough about that. For dinner, we headed to Momma Kong’s in Chinatown. Momma Kong’s specializes in crab which are flown in from Sri Lanka daily.
Red chili crab, black pepper crab, mantou, garlic water spinach, and grilled squid.
After a quick visit to the Sands SkyPark we headed back to our hotel (the wonderful Hotel Vagabond) for a nightcap.
