Photo by Greg Rodgers
Pupils dilate. Pulse quickens. Drool forms. If you love Southeast Asian food as much as I do, walking into Lau Pa Sat -- one of Singapore's most popular hawker food centers -- is enough to make you do a little happy dance as all the smells build euphoria into a cheap-eats frenzy.
While the prices are roughly the same as you would find on the street, Lau Pa Sat isn't your average food court. Forget about perching on wobbly plastic stools as you eat from dirty plates and suck down healthy doses of exhaust; Lau Pa Sat is a clean, sprawling environment with nice seating and something else you won't find at many hawker courts: Jazz.
On weekend evenings particularly, live musicians perform from the top of the drink station. A nice touch to a place that already boasts a classy atmosphere. The historic building, first opened in the 1800s, is Victorian iron; the airy interior feels more like a European train station than an Asian food court.
But forget about the ambiance; I'll happily eat at hawker stalls with chickens pecking around my feet if it means getting the best food for cheap. Lau Pa Sat in Singapore delivers well.
From Korean food to Vietnamese pho, all forms of Chinese, Malaysian noodle dishes, Indonesian food, laksa, vegetarian, and nearly anything else you would consider ingesting can be found. This is the place to get good satay (grilled meat on sticks) and unforgettable seafood. Mussels and squid dishes abound, while the grilled stingray is famous -- as well it should be.
If you try one interesting dish in Lau Pa Sat, go for a stingray; you'll be surprised!
Getting to Lau Pa Sat
Another great thing about Lau Pa Sat is the location; no need for a foray into the boonies to find a great place to eat. What appears as a tourist place to eat is actually incredibly popular with locals who work in Singapore's Centre District or CBD.
You'll find Lau Pa Sat not far from the water, just south of the giant Raffles Place MRT stop (EW14/NS26). Walk to the end of Market Street, or look for the intersection of Robinson Street and Cross Street.
Now, when you've grown hungry from shopping and exploring all the museums in Singapore, head to Lau Pa Sat and enjoy the buzzed bliss that only too much spicy food can bring.
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