Best cheap eats Singapore — Top 7 cheap but delicious foods & best places to eat them

In spite of being known for its high cost of living, Singapore has plenty of good food at affordable prices that you should not miss. Now, let’s explore best cheap eats Singapore (cheap food in Singapore) — Top 7 cheap but delicious foods and best places to eat them that you must try when traveling to Singapore with Living Nomads below.

1. Hainanese chicken rice

Traveling to Singapore without enjoying Hainanese chicken rice is a pity, because this is considered a national dish of Lion Island. Each serving consists of aromatic rice, chickens cut into pieces with a sweet bowl of boiled chicken, a few slices of cucumber, chili and thick sauce.

Hainanese chicken rice famous for its delicious taste, chewy rice, soft chicken and tang sauce which has the mouthfeel.

Scrumptious chicken rice must ensure that the rice is chewy, neither gummy nor separate.. Chicken is boiled until it is fairly soft, and it is combined with the sauce to create a special taste, which is very different from chicken rice rice in other countries.

In Singapore, you can enjoy food in many places, from restaurants to small eateries. Some of the most popular places to eat chicken rice are Hainan Tian Tian Chicken Rice Plant at Maxwell Food Center or Hainan Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice chain shop with 7 branches across Singapore. Prices for this dish range from USD 3 – USD 5.5.

2. Durian

Singapore is not the only country in the region who has durian. However, this country has exclusively built a durian-shaped theater, dubbed the “Durian Fruit Theater”.

Indeed, durian is a popular and favorite fruit in the Lion Island. It is especially sold in the Chinese neighborhood or Geylang. Durian in Singapore comes in a variety of flavors, ranging from large, delicious, fragrant durians to small ones just being slightly bigger than grapefruit with cheaper price.

There are varieties of durian with different prices, ranging from a few tens to a few dollars each.

It is interesting that there are many durian shops in Singapore serving durian at the spot. Around the sale of furniture lies plastic gloves for guests to use. Guests come to eat after picking fruit at will, just sitting at the table, staff will split durian and bring it to your sitting place.

3. Frog porridge

Singapore frog porridge is one of the famous dishes that most visitors coming to this country gotto try at least once. The most famous one is the frog porridge located in Lorong 9, Lorong 11, Geylang. Frog porridge consists of a frog cooked in a dense soy sauce, flavoured with assorted items like dried chilli or ginger and spring onion, and a separate bowl of porridge. Porridge is well cooked, while frogs are marinated and cooked with brine and soy sauce. Frog meat when served to customers look very attractive, yellow, hot and fragrant. Frogs eat are not stinking but aromatic and have bold flavor, which is suitable with eating with white porridge.

It should be noted that frogs here usually taste spicy, so you should tell sellers if you can not eat spicy food. The price for a frog is about USD 6. In addition to frog porridge, the restaurant also serves other dishes, such as frog fried with bamboo shoots, fried vegetables, seafood, e.g. squids, oysters.

During peak hours, you may have to wait 20-30 minutes for food serving.

4. Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle

Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle is popular because of quality and price. This restaurant became one of the first two street food locations in the world to be awarded a star in the Michelin Guide in 2016. The restaurant serves blind pork like dry noodles, water noodles, piglet soup…

Instant noodles, which are priced at $ 10, are the most popular dish.

Admittedly, the taste of the food here is very good, with tasty noodles, fresh and soft meat, fragrant pig liver, sweet soup. The price for each meal is USD 5-8. This is considered quite a reasonable price in this expensive country. The restaurant starts to open from 9 am and is always overcrowded. Therefore, you may have to queue patiently.

5. Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle

Located at Smith Street in Chinatown, this street food stall is owned and run by Chan Hon Meng. It offers delicious, nutritious, and cheap food. This stall has been awarded 1 star in the Michelin Guide. However, the price cannot be more affordable, with only about USD 2 and you will have a full meal.

Therefore, this eatery is always crowded, and open for sale till the evening, but the food here is often sold out in the afternoons. In addition to the famous soya sauce chicken rice and noodle, this stall serves rice, char siu pork and noodles, stir-fried vegetables and a few other dishes.

6. Dimsum

If you are a dimsum lover, you should not miss this dish when traveling to Singapore . In addition to Dimsum restaurants such as Din Tai Fung or Tim Wan Ho which are quite expensive in this most expensive country in Asia, you can still enjoy the dimsum in more popular eateries, but the quality of food is still delicious.

You can enjoy a dimsum dinner with hot dumplings, chicken legs, Liu Sha Bao/Chinese molten salted egg custard steamed buns, dumplings … with the price of USD 2.5-5.5 per dish at the popular Dimsum eateries, such as Swee Chon tim sum or Wen Dao Shi at 126 Sims Avenue. These are dimsum food stalls that are both popular with locals and tourists because of delicious tateste of the food and affordable price.

7. Bak Kut Teh

Bak Kut Teh is a dish originating from China, meaning pork rib dish. Pork ribs are cooked in broth, stewed with special water from herbs and spices. This is a nutritious, healthy food that can be eaten with rice, rice noodles, fried breadsticks, or even just a bowl of Bak Kut is enough to keep you awake and relieve your tiredness.

You can find some of the famous bak kut teh restaurants on Balestier (Founder Bak Kut Teh, 347 Balestier Road), Rangoon Road (Ng Soro Pork Ribs Eating House, No. 8 Rangoon Road) and Joo Chiat Road (Sin Heng Bak Koot Teh, No. 439 Joo Chiat Road).

Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in, from and to Singapore you can refer to

• Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) Private Transfer
• Shared Changi Airport Transfers (SIN) for Singapore Hotels
• Singapore Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off Tour (Open-Top)
• Sentosa FUN Pass
• Singapore City Pass (2/3 Days)
• [Klook Exclusive] Universal Studios Singapore™ 1 Day Ticket
• Gardens by the Bay Ticket Singapore
• S.E.A. Aquarium™ One-Day Ticket
• ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands Ticket
• Singapore Cable Car Sky Pass
• Jewel Changi Airport Attraction Tickets in Singapore
• Singapore Flyer Tickets
• Skyline Luge Singapore: Skyline Luge & Skyride
• Marina Bay Sands Skypark Observation Deck or Sampan Ride
• Adventure Cove Waterpark™ One-Day Ticket
• Science Centre Singapore, Butterflies Up-Close, Omni Theatre
• Singapore River Cruise
• Madame Tussauds Singapore Ticket
• Wings of Time Show Ticket in Singapore
• LiHO TEA in Singapore
• Singapore Travel Card (NETS FlashPay)
• Universal Studios Singapore Tickets
• Klook Pass Singapore
• 4G Prepaid Sim Card (Changi Airport Pick Up) for Singapore
• 4G WiFi (SG Airport Pick Up) for Singapore
• 4G Portable WiFi for Singapore from Uroaming
• 4G WiFi (SG Pick Up) for Europe

Are you finding more top things to do in Singapore: Tours, activities, attractions and other things? Read more: Singapore travel blog — The fullest Singapore travel guide blog for a budget trip to Singapore for the first-timers.