The Best Things We Had in Singapore: Angus Short Rib With Black Garlic Percik; a Modern Singa Sling + More

What looks like an old-time Mama shop—local provision shops similar to our own sari-sari stores, peddling sweet and savory snacks, candies, canned goods, even toys and magazines—makes way to a laid-back drinking and dining spot where emblems of the days gone by meet modern sensibilities. Present throughout their menu are tastes definitive of Singapore, but in more casual, easy-nosh, great-to-share formats—think one-biter pie tees filled with chicken curry and a coconut foam; crisp, savory tarts filled with shredded roasted duck; pillowy baos with fried soft-shell crabs and chili sauce for pouring over, a la chili crab; buttery grass-fed Angus ribeye steaks with a sauce of kam heong (typically used in kam heong chicken, a dish with Chinese, Malay, and Indian influences).

Likewise, their cocktail lineup features distinctly Singaporean flavors—one themed after nasi lemak brings together Junmai sake, caylon arrack, ancho verde, and cucumber shrub, and comes with a side bite of ikan bilis over cucumber. There are also uber-whimsical beverages on the menu, designed to tickle the inner child with nostalgic elements like Horlicks and White Rabbit candy. 

The place is on the casual, no-frills side, but the food is really where it’s at as Samy’s serves some of Singapore’s most soulful curries and other Indian specialties. To start, the team serves each diner hot basmati rice over banana leaves, which serve as your plate; this is sauced with your choice of curry (the author got lamb), and kept company by a separate veggie curry (squash, on our visit) and salad (cucumber raita in our case). On the menu, they've got the essential North and South Indian plates—butter chicken, Mysore mutton roast, wonderfully charred tandoori, crisp-chewy and smoky naan, and so on. But what you can’t afford to miss is their fan-favorite fish head curry, a dish that isn’t so common in India (making curry out of fish head is more a distinctly Singaporean move). The stuff of heavens the dish is, with a whole fish head full of soft meat, in a pool of curry sauce that’s rich, bright, tart, salty, spiced, and a touch creamy, ending with a good kiss of heat.

Amara Hotel on Tanjong Pagar Road is home to the very spot Asia’s 50 Best Bars has named the Best Bar in Singapore, and #3 on their list of the best bars in the continent. We’re talking, of course, about Jigger & Pony—the well-loved bar and speakeasy where classic cocktails are turned on their head and into more current, playful numbers. Jigger & Pony releases a themed "menuzine" every year (2025’s is dubbed EMBRACE, celebrating openness and acceptance), and to go with it, a lineup of libations with tried-and-tested favorites as well as newcomers to discover.

Making use of techniques like carbonation and clarification, as well as specialty ingredients (banana leaf, awayuki salt) that bring new personalities to their menu. Of their best-known drinks is the Yuzu Whisky Sour, where the Japanese citrus lends its distinct floral brightness to the classic whisky drink. Not to be missed is the Singa Sling, Jigger & Pony’s take on a Singapore sling with a more balanced ratio of sweet to complex, bringing together Cointreau, cherry brandy, Monkey 47 Gin, and a pineapple foam on top. And for the open-minded, there are wildcards like the Ugly Tomatoes, a blend of Henrick’s Orbium Gin, heirloom beefsteak tomatoes, Kümmel (a caraway-flavored liqueur), and elderflower. There’s something for everyone here—true to the spirit of Jigger & Pony as a place that ultimately prioritizes its people.

Music is at the heart of Offtrack on North Canal Road; a rowdy night club, it is anything but. Rather, it’s a zany yet ultimately chill space populated by the music-loving crowd, local creatives, and cocktail enthusiasts alike. Glass bricks frame the Offtrack sign by the entrance; past that is a mosaic of colorful vinyls on display, and a glittering disco ball on the ceiling that lights up the space. Tunes ranging from funk, street soul, jazz, broken beat, and more blast through from their specially designed sound system—inevitably rendering fingers tapping and heads bobbing, but still allowing conversations to flow through.

The soft beats in the background are the perfect foil to their range of modern cocktails, which has classic-adjacents like the White Enzoni with green grapes and Codigo mezcal; easy sippers like the Lychee Royale, spiked with Grey Goose vodka then lightened with elderflower and sparkling wine; and sultrier options, like the Go Figure with of fig, cassis, black tea, Naked Whisky, and Mount Gay Black Barrel Rum. Offtrack’s drinks are best paired with their casual pan-Asian plates, which includes the likes of grilled asparagus with a fermented tea-leaf dressing, tamarind-glazed Black Angus short ribs, and more. With cool sips and bites and an even cooler atmosphere, it’s no wonder they landed on the 23rd spot in this year’s Asia’s 50 Best Bars list.

Visited by folks from all walks of life and teeming with stalls offering local eats at prices the everyman could afford, hawker centers are an indispensable part of Singaporean food culture. In the UNESCO’s words, these centers serve as “community dining rooms” home to range of dishes spanning the different cuisines of Singapore—Chinese, Malay, Indian, and all those in between—in light of which hawker centers can be called a microcosm of Singapore’s vibrant, multicultural makeup. So deeply embedded they are in the daily lives of Singaporeans that, in 2020, the organization inscribed hawker culture on their Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

As the Straits Chinese made their way to Southeast Asia, a distinct cuisine was born, fusing together the cooking techniques of China with the dominant use of herbs and spices of the Malays and Indonesians: Peranakan cuisine, also called Nyonya or just Straits Chinese cuisine. And at one-Michelin starred Candlenut, Chef Malcolm Lee to bring his Peranakan heritage to the realm of the contemporary. Their dine-in space on Dempsey Road juggles sophistication with its warm wooden elements and high ceiling; and nostalgic, homey charm thanks to the use of bamboo and rattan furnishings and colors associated with Peranakan art (turquoise, punch-pink, and forest green).

In modernizing the flavors of Straits Chinese tradition, Lee takes a subtle approach, making small but impactful shifts such as changing up the presentation, incorporating more current techniques, and using premium ingredients bring refinement to traditional dishes without risking them losing their essence. Their winning satay uses juicy, clean-tasting Kurobuta pork neck brushed with kicap manis and grilled over charcoal; they also make an especially flavorful udang sambal petai (stir-fried prawns and petai beans) using fresh Ang Kar sea prawns, stir-fried with feisty ikan bilis sambal. Lee also interprets heirloom family recipes his way—from his Aunt Caroline's babi buah keluak, with Iberico pork jowl in a sauce of the infamously earthy-bitter black nut called buah keluak; to the famous chicken curry of his mom, who Chef Malcolm calls his biggest food critic.

For countless Singaporeans and Malaysians, the local counterpart of soul food is zi char—a genre of dishes that are cooked upon order, typically rooted in Chinese cooking with influences from Malay, Indian, and Peranakan cuisines. And if you’re looking for great zi char fare, Keng Eng Kee is the place to go. The restaurant’s journey goes all the way back to the 1950s, as Hainanese couple Low Peck Yah and Koh Yok Jong arrived in Singapore and set up a Hainanese chicken stall on Old Havelock Road. In the ‘70s, they opened another stall on the same street, this time focusing on zi char fare; by the ‘90s, they moved to open their own standalone dine-in spot in Alexandra Village, where they still reside today, headed by third-generation owners Paul and Wayne Liew.

To this day, families and big groups gather at Keng Eng Kee (KEK for short) for the likes of salted egg fish skins that are light and crisp in texture despite being doused in a rich, savory salted-egg sauce; claypot pig liver in a dark, umami-rich sauce, served by the pot, into which the staff mixes in steaming-hot rice as they arrive at your table; wonderfully QQ char kway teow with a good amount of smoky wok hei; and chili crab, available whole (per tradition) or with the crab meat picked and shredded in advance, with a proper tangy, chili-kissed sauce you’ll want to mop up with fried mantou. It should, of course, come as no surprise that accolades for KEK are plenty: they were featured on episodes of Netflix’s Street Food Asia and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown; they were also recognized by the MICHELIN Guide, and included in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Essence of Asia list.

Looking to down extraordinary cocktails in an low-key, arguably semi-hidden space? Night Hawk—#16 on Asia’s 50 Best Bars in 2024, then #77 on this year’s list—is your best bet. It’s cozy in size, housing just 25 seats, yet futuristic in feel: they were given the Asia’s 50 Best Bar Design Award in 2023 for their interiors, a sort of retro-futuristic reimagination of the Edward Hopper painting they’re named after. The idea, according to owner owner Peter Chua (who is also behind fellow Singapore bars Junior The Pocket Bar and Nemesis), was for Night Hawk to create the feeling of escapism—and if the visuals don’t do it for you, the drinks no doubt will.

Chua and his team present a lineup of out-of-this-world, revamped classics bridging together the old with the new, with compelling flavor stories to go with them. Evoking a good ol’ root beer float gone fruity is the Black Hole Sun, with a base of bourbon, sloe gin, aperol, raspberry, citrus, and soda, topped with ice cream and popping candy; their signature Nighthawks cocktail gives espresso martini added umami dimension with MSG and a hot coconut foam over a spiked mocha base. Petrichor Tangible is another fun one with the sprightliness of pickled beetroot, and a good amount of body from gin, mezcal, fortified wine, and white chocolate.

Migrants from China’s Hainan province came over to Southeast Asia (Singapore included, of course) in the mid-19th century, and they’ve since left behind a most delicious cuisine that fuses Chinese flavors, the use of spices of other Asian nations, and Western cooking methods. One of the last few remaining Hainanese eateries in Singapore is Chin Chin Eating House, which has been around since 1934, located on Purvis street (formerly known as Hainan street). They maintain a simplicity to their space—white walls, round tables, plastic chairs, fluorescent lighting—which allows the food to take the center of the spotlight.

You’d be at fault to visit Chin Chin without ordering their Hainanese chicken—which is righftfully plump, its meat oozing with juices and seasoned well enough that it’s great on its own, but even better with the classic trio of sauces (ginger paste for zip; chili sauce with a proper kick; and dark soy sauce for a touch of umami). There’s a roasted version, should you prefer your Hainanese chicken with a touch more savory depth. Save space for their other specialties as well, like the cereal prawns with a generous coating of savory-sweet cereal; the Hainanese porkchop with a crispy biscuit crust; and any of their beancurd specialties (we’re all for the rich, custardy beancurd they use).

Belimbing is a recently opened restaurant and sibling of nasi lemak superstar Coconut Club, the second floor of the building of which Belimbing occupies. It’s named after a tree that produces the sour green fruit known to Filipinos as bilimbi or kamias—which is native to tropical regions of Southeast Asia, but can be hard to come by today. Head chef Marcus Leow, who heads R&D at Coconut Club, pays tribute to his heritage with “New-Gen” Singaporean dishes highlighting local flavors and ingredients, in applications suited to current dining sensibilities.

Mee sua is fashioned into a crispy pancake of sorts, designed to be dipped into a sauce of fermented soy and gula melaka; chinchalok, a Malay delicacy of fermented krill, gives subtle umami to thin slices of their smoked Wagyu ox tongue; pink guava joins coconut milk that dresses the starter of aged kampachi. A standout is the dish of USDA Angus Prime short rib, grilled and cloaked in deeply savory black garlic percik sauce, and served over green curry. Sure doesn’t hurt that Belimbing goes laid-back but polished look with tropical elements, mirroring the union of tradition and modernity in their food.

Shangri-La Singapore’s resident cocktail source, The Origin Bar, is luxe in look and feel. Present throughout its dimly lit interiors are shades of gold, green, and cobalt blue, taking after the Golden Peacock, a bar that once occupied the space. There are wall lamps and wooden and glass panels reminiscent of train stations—Singapore’s Tanjong Pagar Station and New York’s Central Station, specifically—while arches framing the bar and plush leather seats evoke grandeur.

Once you get to know the skilled team manning the bar however, you’ll know they’re an ultimately welcoming spot that values people—both those behind it, and their visitors. Making up the cocktail list are refined but playful numbers, with familiar flavors alongside more novel (and daring) ingredients. The exact lineup changes annually; the latest edition, called Points of View, has three main subsections: Reimagined, or Origin-fied takes on past cocktails and ideas; New Era, inspired by present matterst; and Boundless, the decidedly unusual and eye-opening of the lot. Of the more approachable options is Bubble Club, a Belvedere Vodka-spiked drink gone sunny with guava, umeshu, and lychee, plus lychee balls that pop once placed lightly crushed in the mouth. The less inhibited would do well to try Saz-Air-Ak, a decidedly brawny number with the flavors of peach and lemon, pus Michter’s Rye Whiskey, bitters, and absinthe air. For the truly adventurous, there’s Ants & Bees, which gets its caramel-like, floral profile from Iichiko Saiten, burnt honey, vanilla, and verjus—and comes with a surprisingly fruity square of Amazonian Ants chocolate.

We see the pair’s commitment to sustainability in everything from FURA’s interiors, as many of their furnishings are made from upcycled materials; to the food and drink menu, where you’ll find the likes of crickets, cultured Japanese quail, jellyfish, and even mealworms—foods of the future that deliver nutrition and, as FURA proves, taste, minus (or with considerably less of) the negative impact on the environment. Cocktails to try include the cheekily named Caviar Papi topped with black garlic caviar (vegan, and made in-house!), and the decidedly offbeat Get the Worm with tequila, chili, and mealworm. They also serve wines by Ugly Delicious, made using “ugly” (read: not-quite-presentable, but still very much edible) fresh produce that would otherwise be discarded. The food menu shouldn’t be glossed over, as it’s got gems like jellyfish ceviche over tortillas; a savory tart of butternut squash and cricket garum mahumarra; mafaldine pasta with charred purple corn from Talula Hill Farm; and more.

FURA was #42 on the 2024 Asia’s 50 Best Bars list, and winner of the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award that year; they’re currently #95 on this year’s edition of the list. They also finished as a finalist on the 2025 Tales of the Cocktail Foundation’s Spirited Awards.