ELTIPS AV R T
I had never eaten in a
Michelin- starred restaurant but managed three in less than 24 hours on this island nation – for about seven quid.
“Restaurant” may be stretching it. We’re talking plastic chairs, food on a tray and a conveyor belt of bustling humanity to ogle as your slurp away. That night, we venture to Little Let’s start with the cheapest. India and a place called Bismillah, Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken whose biryanis are the stuff of Rice sits in a small, covered arcade legend. leg No Michelin star here but in the city centre. I piled into their it’s my favourite meal of the day. signature dish for the princely sum Day D two and our third target, Hill of three Singapore dollars – which Street Str Tai Hwa Noodle. is about £1.70. IF shopping in Tucked T off a side street a couple
The chicken is steamed, the giant modern malls is of metro m stops from the centre, we rice cooked in broth and the your thing – not mine – then spot spo it by the queue outside. Tip: get tiny plate of chilli dipping there are plenty where you and to these places early. sauce perks up a simple and well to-do locals can splash the cash. On the wall there’s a photo delicious treat perfectly. Savour that air con if nothing else. from f 1980 of a young lad learning
Next up is Hawker Chan, a USE the wonderful Metro system. It is his trade here under the gaze of five-minute walk away – or 25 if cheap, clean, easy to use and even has his father. you choose to argue with a man charging points for mobile phones on That boy, Tang Chay Seng, is in a camera shop and stop to giggle some concourses. Just don’t travel in i charge today, ladling bowls of at the sign for hairy crab outside with smelly durian fruit. Banned! stock, st herbs and vegetables a restaurant. STICK to the local beer if you between the nine pans on his stove.
bett
This stall sits in the Chinatown are on a budget. The craft The bak chor mee noodle soup is food complex where the competing scene is way tastier but amazing. am I count six variations of
pricey – £8 a pint. smells and sounds from the huge array of counters, all only three metres wide, pull your senses apart.
In the queue for pork and noodles – again, a signature dish – I spot a family tucking into fried pork and leek dumplings and start to dribble.
A minute later I’ve swerved off to find that stall while my partner, a ferocious foodie, keeps our place in the queue. The pork, £3, is tender and melting, violently hacked up before our eyes, though the noodles take some negotiating.
A bib would help.
Crunchy
pork, including balls, strips, crunchy rind and a melt in the mouth dissolving bomb of scratching, all in the same bowl and all for £2.50.
Singapore is the perfect stopover destination for long haul Down Under. If you have kids it’s perfect. It is clean, safe – I saw a sign warning of a bicycle theft – and friendly.
We stayed at the Fullerton, a wonderful colonial-era hotel that sits in the best part of town for all that exploring.
It used to be the main post office and as our 67-year-old taxi driver Abdul tells us conspiratorially, former inland revenue home.
The gorgeous infinity pool cops the late afternoon sun when you need a rest, which I did after walking 12 miles the first day.
The foodie had given in earlier and was hard at work lapping up some spa treatment. She emerged purring like a cat after a massage.
All that relaxing made us hungry again. That night we headed to Satay Street to gorge on grilled skewers of chicken, beef and prawns as big as bananas, all washed down by chilled glasses of Tiger beer.
Still with me or dialling a takeaway? Well, think of a flight instead. FACTFILE: Flights from Gatwick to Singapore start at £197 one way with Norwegian. See norwegian.co.uk. Rooms at the Fullerton Hotel cost from £ 180 per night including breakfast. See fullertonhotels.com.