Singapore Travel Guide

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Cuisine

Singapore is a gourmet’s paradise, ranging from humble street stalls to 5-star restaurants. There are over 30 different cooking styles, including various regional styles of Chinese cuisine, American, English, French, Indian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Russian and Swiss. Malay cuisine is a favorite, famed for its use of spices and coconut milk.

Things to know: One of the best ways to eat in Singapore is in the open at one of the ubiquitous street foodstalls. Although there are many self-service establishments, waiter service is more common in restaurants. Bars/cocktail lounges often have table and counter service. There are no licensing hours.

National specialties:
• Beef rendang (coconut milk beef curry).
• Chilli crab (fresh crab with a piquant sauce).
• Gado gado (a fruit and vegetable salad in peanut sauce).
• Satay (skewers of marinated meat cooked over charcoal) served with spicy peanut sauce, cucumber, onion, rice and coconut.
• Char Kway Teow (thick rice noodles stir fried in soy sauce with vegetables, fish or meat).

National drinks:
• Singapore Sling (cocktail containing gin, cherry liquor, cointreau, benedictine, pineapple juice, lime juice, grenadine and angostura bitters). It was invented in the early 20th century for the Raffles Hotel in Singapore.
• Teh arak tarik (ginger tea with milk).
• Soya bean milk.
• Sugar cane juice.
• Tiger Beer (ubiquitous local lager brand).

Legal drinking age: 18.

Tipping: Officially discouraged in restaurants, hotels and the airport. A 10% service charge is included in restaurant bills.

Nightlife

Singapore has a vibrant and exciting nightlife. Entertainment ranges from bars, clubs, discos, karaoke pubs, street opera, night markets, river cruises, multiplex cinemas to theater productions and international stage shows. Boat Quay and Clarke Quay are popular riverside landmarks that offer exclusive restaurants, alfresco dining and lively bars. Moored Chinese junks have been refurbished into floating bars and restaurants.

Bugis Street, Changi Village and Holland Village, known as Holland V, are popular areas for food, drink and entertainment. Muhammad Sultan Road is one of the latest entertainment hubs in Singapore with a wide variety of pubs, nightclubs and wine bars, as is Club Street. In 2009, Singapore is due to gain its first ever casinos, with opening of two huge new ‘integrated resort’ complexes at Marina Bay (website: www.marinabaysands.com) and on Sentosa (website: www.resortsworldatsentosa.com).