this post is meant for tourists or foreigners new to the local hawker scene. you will be able to understand how and why singaporeans do certain things in a certain way.
hawker center, or sometimes known as food center, is an open-air complex that houses several food & beverages stall. they are considered a budget option and a daily meal to many singaporeans. this is the government's response to illegal and unhygienic makeshift roadside stalls that popped up in the 1950s. you can find hawker centers near housing estates or bus interchange, and they usually comes with a connected wet market.
singapore prides itself as a food paradise because of the wide variety of cuisine here. a hawker center is your best bet to get cheap and good local food and i'm going to share how you can enjoy the delicious food like the locals:
1. using 'packet of tissue papers' to reserve your table
given that it will get very crowded during meal times, its sometimes very hard to grab a seat, especially if you are intending to dine with your family or group of friends. unless you are dining alone, the first thing you need to do it find an empty table or seats. you can then reserve the table/seats by placing a packet of tissue paper on it. you can also use other inexpensive items to book your table/seats e.g. umbrella, a file, water bottle etc. once done, this will indicate to others that the table/seats is taken. you can then proceed to buy your food without worrying about returning with a tray of food and finding no seats.
2. non-halal and halal stalls
in most hawker centers there are stalls selling non-halal and halal food, with the non-halal stalls being the majority. the halal stalls will mostly be housed under the same roof, but together at one area in the hawker center. this is to make it easier for the cleaning staff to collect utensils which are meant for the halal stalls. while we sometimes like to share food bought from the different stalls, it will be respectful to not use the utensils from the halal stalls to eat the non-halal food.
3. hygiene grading of stalls
this grading of licensed food stalls are given by the national environment agency. all food stalls are advised to display this grading certificate in a prominent location at their stall. they are graded based on overall hygiene and cleanliness of their stall and during food preparation, and can be given anything from an A (best) to a D (worst). more information on the food hygiene standards in singapore can be found here.
4. self-service stalls
in the past there were many stalls whose owners will serve the food to you. you just have to tell the owner your table number or roughly where you are sitting, and they will bring the food to you. such stalls are increasingly rare and many stalls are now self-service, which means you queue and collect your food from the stall. when in doubt, you can look for a sign that says 'self service' in the store front, or just follow the person in front of you.
5. long queue = good food?
singaporeans are willing to queue for good food, hence many believe that long queue = good food. these are the popular stalls, and in each hawker centers there are bound to be several STAR stalls which serve some of the best local cuisine. its hard to go wrong if you follow this rule.
6. ordering lingo
most of the hawker stalls are run by the older generation hence they might not be well-verse in english hence singaporeans tend to order in part-mandarin and part-dialect. however, you do not have to worry because 90% of the time, you can get away with ordering in english. the only problem some foreigners face is the seemingly complex options when ordering. take for example a plate of chicken rice, you can choose the type of chicken, the parts of the chicken and whether you want gravy on top of your rice. another good example is mince meat noodles, where you can choose the size, dry or soup version, spicy or non-spicy version, type of noodles and anything you wish to exclude from your noodles. do not freak out when you hear the local in front of you shooting off his/her order like a machine gun. he/she is probably just saying "$5, dry, spicy, vermicelli, without lard".
7. tissue paper peddlers
occasionally you might find such tissue paper peddlers trying to sell you packets of tissue paper. these packets of tissue paper are definitely more expensive than if you were to buy in bulk in a supermarket, but some will buy out of convenience (since napkins are not provided in hawker centers) or pity (because they are usually the elderly selling it). you are not obligated to buy from them so you can just politely turn down their offer and carry on eating your food. other than these tissue paper peddlers, there will also be drink stall owners asking if you would like a drink. you can just tell them your order and they will bring the drink to you and you pay them.
8. tray return stations
in recent years there are tray return stations in hawker center where you bring your empty plate to the stations and leave it there. again, be reminded to correctly split your plate and utensils into halal and non-halal tray return stations! if there isn't any tray return stations, it is perfectly fine to leave your empty plates on the table as there will be cleaners going from table to table to collect the empty plates. however, it will be courteous to the next customer and the cleaner to not make a mess of the table when eating.
9. takeaway charges
like most food establishments, stalls will likely charge an additional fee for takeaway or food to-go. the charge is usually in the range of $0.20 to $0.50 per portion, and serve to cover the cost of plastic containers or plastic bags for the takeaway.
10. toilets
toilets in hawker centers are mostly chargeable. they cost about 10 to 20 cents per person, per entry. some of the newly renovated hawker centers can have clean toilets with a supply of toilet papers, but the older ones might, not so it will be good to buy some tissue paper before entering.
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