Tag: cbd food

Hidden Hawker Fare In The CBD, So Lunch Doesn’t Have To Cost Over $5

Tall, shiny glass towers, sprawling skyscrapers, the infamous ERP and people donned in crisp, smart suits. When you think of Singapore’s CBD, such imagery may come to mind.

Many of us working – or interning – in the CBD know the struggle of trying to eat cheaply in the CBD. If you’re tired of burning a hole in your wallet from eating $10 lunches everyday, here are some delicious hidden (and not so hidden) hawker gems that will ease the burden on your wallets.

Tanjong Pagar Precinct

1. Amoy St Boon Kee Prawn Noodle

If we had to describe the prawn mee at Amoy St Boon Kee Prawn Noodle in one word, it would be ‘SHIOK!‘.

Previously located at the old Amara Food Court, the stall has since shifted to Hoe Chiang Road, where it still sees brisk business everyday.

Their soup consists of a clear broth, as well as a generous serving of soya beans to amp up the flavour. Priced at $4.20 for rice/noodle with 6 ingredients ($0.60 per add. piece), you can expect long queues during lunchtime.

Famous Amara Yong Tau Foo
Address: 9 Hoe Chiang Road, Singapore 089312
Opening Hours: Mon – Fri: 10am – 3pm; Closed on Sat & Sun

3. Ace Eating House

The char siew chicken rice stall and the fish soup bee hoon stall at this coffee shop are the bomb.

A plate of char siew rice costs $3, while a plate of fried fish bee hoon noodles costs $4. Great value for your money, the food at this coffee shop will make you want to come back for more.

What’s also great about this coffee shop is that it opens until the wee hours of the morning. This means if you OT late into the night, you’ll be able to get your food fix here. While not all the stalls open till late, you can always count on the tze char stall to come through with some midnight grub.

Ace Eating House
Address: 243 Cantonment Rd, Singapore 089770
Opening Hours: Mon – Sun: 9am – 8.30am

Raffles Place Precinct

4. Scorch

If you’re a fan of Taiwanese street food, Scorch is a CBD gem you must check out.

Housed in Clifford Centre, a popular lunch haunt among the office crowd, Scorch sells Taiwanese Lu Rou Fan (Braised Meat Rice) from a very reasonable $3. Aside from Lu Rou Fan, you’ll also find Nasi Lemak set lunches from $2.50. Yes, you can find cheap food in the CBD.

Scorch
Address: 24 Raffles Place, #01-12A Clifford Centre Singapore 048621
Opening Hours: Mon – Fri: 7am – 4.30pm; Closed on Sat & Sun

5. Chin Chin Eating House

While those working in the Raffles Place area are probably well-acquainted with Golden Shoe Food Centre, they may be less aware of the smaller coffee shops in the area. Chin Chin Eating House is one of them.

Chin Chin Eating House
Address: 19 Purvis St, Singapore 188598
Operating Hours: Mon – Sun: 7am – 9pm

The City Hall Precinct

6. Swagat Indian Vegetarian Stall

Nestled within the throngs of government buildings, offices and hotels is an old building called Peninsula Plaza.

Standing at its corner of the street for many years, it’s one of those places you pass on your way to the glitzier Raffles City Shopping Centre. Something not many Singaporeans know is that its basement boasts a great array of food choices, with affordable meals easily found at their food court, Food Alley.

At this food court, you’ll find Swagat Indian Vegetarian Stall. An indian vegetarian stall that sells vegetarian dishes like naan, mee goreng and thosai, vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike will find something to fill their bellies here. Masala thosai costs $3.50, while plain thosai costs just $1.60!

Swagat Indian Vegetarian Stall
Address: Basement 1 Peninsula Plaza, 111 North Bridge Road 179098

7. Tony Café

While there’s plenty of good food in City Hall, there’s not a lot of variety in the way of cheap food. An under $5 gem you must check out is Tony Café in The Adelphi.

Here, a plate of chicken wings (fried/honey) rice is $3.50 and if you add curry vegetables and salted egg, your grand total will be just $4.50. A plus point is that this stall is fully air-conditioned, so you get to enjoy finger-licking good fried chicken without sweating buckets.

[caption id="attachment_32779" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image Credit: Image Credit: There’s A Shop In The CBD That Sells Nine Types Of Avocado Toasts From $5.50

At Just $10 A Bowl, This Wagyu Beef Donburi Will Have You Dashing For It Like A Mad Cow

If you’re a meat lover and your ideal meal is one that’s piled high with meat – and specifically beef – Gyu Nami is a lunch spot we think will quickly become one of your favourites.

Newly opened in Amoy Street Food Centre, Gyu Nami is easy to spot with its minimalist white, black and red signboard, and logo resembling Japan’s famous wave print, “The Great Wave off Kanagawa“.

Priced at an affordable $10, the young foodies behind Gyu Nami wanted to make high quality gourmet-fare available for the masses – and they do not stinge on their ingredients.

A Mountain Of Beef

Order a bowl of their Beef Donburi and you’ll find your bowl piled high with slices of beef so that you can barely see the rice beneath!

Slow roasted to a nice medium rare, the beef is tender and juicy.

A creamy yoghurt sauce is poured over the mountain of beef, with a sous-vide egg to go along. If the thought of eating so much meat puts you off, don’t worry, the bright, tangy yoghurt sauce offsets the meatiness of the dish, while also giving it that extra dimension of flavour.

The next time you’re in Amoy Street Food Centre for lunch, stray from your typical order and try one of Gyu Nami’s beef Donburi bowls! Delicious and great value for money, your first time at Gyu Nami will likely not be your last.

Gyu Nami
Address: Amoy Street Food Centre, 7 Maxwell Road, Singapore 069111 
Opening Hours: Mon – Fri: 11am – 3pm 
Contact no.: 9066 3566
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Also read This Local Instagram Account Is Turning Dabao-ed Hawker Food Into Works Of Art

(Header Image Source: @gyunamisg)

Popular Omotesando Koffee Is Coming To S’pore So We Can Get Caffeinated In Style

Yes, you heard us right!

The famous Omotesando Koffee which draws crowds in Hong Kong and Tokyo is finally coming to our sunny little island.

Come June, the cafe will be at level 4 of new mall, Downtown Gallery, in Shenton Way. The cafe is located within The Work Project, a large co-working space located within the mall.

Decor-wise, Omotesando Koffee is known for its minimalist design. Both the Tokyo and Hong Kong outposts have similar decor, so we can probably expect something similar in Singapore.

If you are wondering if the quality of the coffee is going to be as good as its other branches, fret not! The baristas here will be trained by the baristas from Omotesando Japan and Hong Kong for three to six months.

Also, the coffee beans used here in Singapore will be roasted in Kyoto by Ogawa Coffee Roasters, just like the outlet in Japan. Coffee afficionados will also be able to sip the signature Omotesando Koffee blend by Eiichi Kunitomo.

The owners have promised that the Singapore outlet will have similar menu items to its Hong Kong and Tokyo branches. On top of that, there will also be items exclusive to the Singapore outlet. The menu is still a work-in-progress, so stay tuned for more updates!

(Top Image Credit: eatandtreats)

Also read 5 Harsh Realities Of Working In S’pore You Won’t Want To Hear But Should