10 must-try restaurants, hawker stalls and bars to visit in Singapore

This is the hawker center that was featured in the movie “Crazy Rich Asians,” so expect a crowd. It’s also one of the best places to sample carrot cake, a savory dish made from stir-fried radish cakes. Heng Carrot Cake serves both white and black carrot cake and you can order a plate of both. The chopped radish cake is chewy and mild, with the crunchy bits that crisp up around the edges being the best parts. I prefer the black cakes, which get a hit of sweet soy sauce in the pan, helping caramelize those crunchy bits.

Alliance Seafood is a great place to try chili crab, a whole crab swimming in a tomato chile sauce that tastes a little like chile-spiked tomato soup with strands of cooked egg throughout. It’s sweeter than it is hot. Order the crab in a set with the fried cereal prawns (fried prawns coated in fried bread crumbs that do taste like breakfast cereal) and mantou fried buns. The more vessels you have for the sauce, the better.

Both the carrot cake and chili crab will be about a 30 minute to an hour wait, so order them first, then head to 22 Best Satay for an appetizer. The stall grills up chicken, mutton and prawns on a stick, served alongside a cup of peanut sauce.

Pro tip: Have someone in your group snag a table before you order any food. You’ll need to let the stalls know your table number so they know where to deliver your order.

500 Clemenceau Ave., Singapore, 229495