SQ319

I definitely agree that hawker centre is a more authentic experience and Zion Road is a good choice if you do want to make a detour. Char Kway Teow and Prawn Noodles Soup would be my reccommendations at this hawker centre.

However, given your time contraint, a food court will give you a feel of what SIngapore food have to offer. ION is more expensive, yes, but it is one of the better food courts around (Beef Soup, Bak Chor Mee (Minced Meat Noodles) and Prawn Noodles soup are my recommendations here).

I think it really depends on how your day work out. You may want to play it by ear as to whether to go or not.

(If you do go Zion, just fyi, that Great World City, the shopping mall opposite the hawker centre runs a shuttle bus to Orchard and other nearby MRT stations https://www.greatworldcity.com.sg/getting-there/)

Yes, 7-11 takes credit cards. You need cash for taxis, because not all taxis take credit cards, and you don't want to spend time waiting for one which does. Also the major taxi operator only takes Mastercard and not Visa.

evergrn

Appreciate the follow-up info!

At the zoo, my kids would be most interested in hands-on things, such as petting or feeding. They're not particularly into monkeys per se. I just brought up Bukit Timah because I figured they'd be interested in seeing wild animals. Thanks for the detailed info. As long as the weather's good and the family's not fatigued from the trip, I think we're going to do the zoo.

ION food court sounds good. We'll also keep Imperial Treasure on our list. Zion food centre is 2km away from Hilton, which is 4x the distance compared to the easily-walkable ION. Based on that and based on what you're saying, I think things like Gardens by the Bay and Zion hawker centre would be options only if time permits. Personally I'd really love to go check out the hawker centre, but the rest of the family might not be keen if there's no A/C, etc.

Are a lot of these spicy? We are really lightweight when it comes to spice. Prawn noodle soups, in particular, look really spicy. Char kway teow looks great, though. Is pho popular in Singapore? In HKG, I sometimes like to have things like roti chennai, sauteed morning glory with garlic, satays and pomelo salad. I've never found those things anywhere outside of HKG (mind you, I've only been to HKG so far in Asia). But I presume all those dishes come from Malaysia or Singapore. Do you think the food court might have some of those things?

Anyways, I'm sure there will be no shortage of great food that the whole family will love.

dsgtc0408

Well, you can pre-plan your visit to food places at ION: try this
http://www.ionorchard.com/en/store.h...%20Fast%20Food

Just one last pitch for Zion Hawker Centre: the hawker centre is one of the cultural things that's unique to Singapore, while to me a shopping center food court is a shopping center food court. Anyway it's an easy 15 minute bus ride from your part of Orchard Road - take bus 5 from the Far East Plaza shopping centre bus stop. Get out when you see the Great World City shopping centre, cross the road by the overhead bridge, walk through Great World to Zion Road, and just ask for directions. It's just two minutes on foot. Going the other way, just board the bus at the bus stop on Zion Road across from Great World, and exit when the bus reaches the Royal Plaza on Scotts (next to DFS). Or take the Great World Shopping Centre shuttle bus (free!) to go back to Orchard Road.

Regardless, you're right: you will find lots of food your family will love.

P.S. Suggest you get for the kids ice cream sandwiches from the street vendors - this is a local thing too. There's a couple such vendors doing their trade on Orchard Road, should be able to find one somewhere in front of Takashimaya/Ngee Ann City or Lucky Plaza. Mango will be a good choice, between two wafer biscuits (could never get used to having a brick of ice cream between a slide of white bread).

P.P.S. If you make it to West Coast Plaza, go to Jalan Kayu Prata Café for Roti Prata (the Singapore name for Roti Canai). They do a pretty good job.

SQ319

The good thing about Singapore food is that there is always the option to have it without chilli. All the dishes I listed can be served without chili (just remind the staff when you place the order, as sometimes, the default option is with chili).

For prawn noodle soup, it looks spicy, because the prawn shells are fried until they are orange red in colour and then pressed to extract the flavour, hence the red color soup. It's not spicy on its own. There is chilli powder (similar to ichimi but finer powder and spicier) which you can add on the side.

You will find pho in some hawker centres and food courts and also in Vietnamese cuisines, but I haven't been to Vietnam to know if they are really authentic or have enough pho to know if they are good. There is a local Vietnamese chain called Nam Nam which serves pho. If you are keen, there is a branch located at the basement of Wheelock Place, just 2 buildings from the Hilton.

As mentioned by dsgtc0408, roti canai = roti prata in Singapore. You may even be able to find it on the buffet breakfast at Hilton.

Sauteed morning glory with garlic - This is a local staple. You will be able to find it in most hawker centres and food courts in the zi char stalls (Zi char is a Hokkien dialect used to describe the cooking method used in these stalls - wok fried home style dishes cooked upon order). The local name for morning glory is kang kong. So use the local name and everyone will know what you're talking about. This is typically cooked with spicy sambal chili, so make sure u emphasize the no chili.

Satay = again very common, but this is more of a evening appetiser than a day time one. Zion Road has satay (around 60 to 80 cent per stick - minimum 10 sticks). I wouldn't order satay in any food court, as the best satay needs to be charcoal grilled!

Pomelo Salad = more of a thai than local dish. Can be found, but not that common.

SQ319

The one in front of Takashimaya is almost a permanent fixture. Personally I love the red bean or yam flavours, but you can be daring and try the more unique ones like sweetcorn or durian (tastes nothing like the real thing).

SQ319

Then you may want to assign more time to the Kids World, as that's where the petting and farm animals are.

Just one last thing about hawker centre, if you are keen to explore Zion, I definitely recommend going in the evening, or late afternoon, the weather is much more pleasant then. I'll also say to avoid the lunch hours between 12.30-2pm, as the hawker centre is crowded with lunch crowd and that's when it's the hottest/most humid.

evergrn

Your link above brings up various fast food establishments within the ION mall. But then there's also a listing of different places under "ION Food Hall."
http://www.ionorchard.com/en/store.h...%20Food%20Hall

But I actually thought SQ319 was referring to the food court called "Food Opera" at the basement of ION Orchard, which has a whole different set of eateries yet from either of the above two lists. I was thinking this Food Opera food court looks great, as google results show that it's touted as a place offering hawker food in an updated air-conditioned setting.

Thanks for the suggestions. Will definitely keep an eye out for these ice cream sandwiches, although my kids are not at all adventurous and so they will probably go for a plain flavor.

Unfortunately I highly doubt we'll make it to West Coast Plaza. It just seems we already have quite a lot on our agenda to fit into 2 days, not to mention having to deal with kids who're probably going to be whining about heat and humidity. Sort of the reason why I'm not sure I'd be able to work in things like Zion Rd hawker centre, even as I appreciate your recommendation and would personally be very interested. Maybe I might try to head down there alone.


That's great to know! Will definitely put Nam Nam on our list. Seems like food options are endless in the immediate vicinity of Hilton. And we only have 3 nights. (not to mention Hilton's exec lounge will supposedly have free evening bites, which we'll have to try to resist)

Thanks so much also for the education on those other Singaporean food. Having never been to SE Asia before, I would've never been exposed to any of this, had it not been for Hong Kong. I thought they were pretty good in HKG, but I'm sure they're a couple notches better in Singapore and I can't wait to try them.

So I think the default plan for our one fun day is to start out early at the zoo, try to get back to the hotel before 1.30pm for a rest, then a few hours at Marina Bay. And if there're issues with the weather or the family's too worn out from the long plane ride the day before, then we'll skip the zoo and then take our sweet time hanging out around the Marina Bay area.

shuigao

I know other posters have suggested Liang Court, River Valley Road, Robertson Quay etc but ... what it's a bit hard to understand what exact "Japanese Things" you're seeking.

Liang Court (the shopping mall) has a Japanese supermarket (meidi-ya) and maybe 70-80% japanese restaurants and shops ... but that's about the extent of the "Japan-ness." Other than perhaps a marginally higher proportion of Japanese people shopping in the supermarket aisles, the entire mall is barely distinguishable from any other mall in the city.

Same story with Robertson Quay or any of the other commercial pockets where Japanese businesses / restaurants set up.

dsgtc0408

You know what? I take back what I said. SQ319 had it right, it is the Food Opera. Check out this review - all these choices look like they would be very, very good... http://www.misstamchiak.com/food-opera-ion-orchard/

Having said that, the one local thing in ION Food Hall is Ya Kun. It serves local style coffee and toast (and local style coffee is really local, can't get it anywhere else except Malaysia and I think Indonesia). Quite a few folks would have this for breakfast or afternoon tea.

<snip>

I was guested to the Executive Lounge a few months ago: it's not evening bites, it's a full blown buffet dinner with free flow of wine and beer. It was quite good. You should go hungry (and go on a diet afterwards).

This is a plan which sounds really well worked out. I'll stay out of your way now but will wish you and your family a wonderful visit. And thanks too, to SQ319 - lots of rock solid advice from him/her.

evergrn

dsgtc0408: Omg I did not realize it's a full-blown dinner buffet at Hilton's EL, and a good one at that! Combined with the daily breakfast buffets and all these great food places nearby, I don't know how we're going to manage the food intake!

You and SQ319 were amazing with your help. Thank you so much once again! Our trip is at the end of Nov. Will definitely report back!

evergrn

We're Japanese (well my wife isn't, but she might as well be for all intent/purpose) but there is a potential opportunity in Singapore that I may or may not pursue. Anyways we just want to get some idea of the Japanese community there and the types of things that are available to the Japanese community. It's really sort of a general thing.

evergrn

delete

sandyph

or just use Uber (or Grab).
They are plentiful in Singapore and at times can be much cheaper than taxis

dsgtc0408

I'm okay with red bean, but can't wrap my brain around sweetcorn (a vegetable flavored ice cream?). That's why I always order mango (I can be pc with that choice but indulge my artfully hidden ang moh side)!

evergrn

About to leave in a few days.

Few last-minute questions:

- Time-permitting we might be interested in checking out one or two rental condominiums, just to see what housing is like in Singapore. In Singapore, can you only tour apartments/condominiums through rental brokers, or are there condominiums (but not one that's outrageously priced) where there's on-site rental agent who can take you on a tour if you just show up?

- It seems like it's raining everyday there and will continue to do so. I'm reading that River Safari is good on a rainy day. However, the Zoo has a lot more. If it's raining off and on throughout the day, would you recommend a 1st-time visitor to go to the River Safari or still do the zoo?

- If it's raining, then it won't be good to go to Marina Bay for the promenade or the MBS Sky Deck, right?