Signature dishes at Chilli Padi Nonya Restaurant in Singapore. Photo courtesy of the restaurant
Singapore has been ranked among the world’s 15 best culinary destinations by U.S. magazine National Geographic, joining Vietnam’s Buon Ma Thuot as the only two Southeast Asian places on the list.
Singapore packs an extraordinary culinary punch into its less than 300 square miles, boasting 38 Michelin-starred restaurants, thousands of UNESCO-recognized hawker stalls, and several establishments featured on the World’s 50 Best Bars list, an annual ranking compiled by hundreds of drinks experts since 2009, National Geographic wrote.
The magazine recommends a visit to Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre, where young Singaporean hawkerpreneur Sarah Sng runs Nyonya Pok Pok Kay, a popular stall known for its homestyle Peranakan cuisine. Among its standout dishes is ayam buah keluak, a signature Peranakan chicken stew made with buah keluak nuts, the seeds of the Southeast Asian Pangium edule tree.
