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328 Katong Laksa
One day maybe someone will unearth an ancient scroll describing the original Katong laksa, and the unending dispute between the neighbouring stalls here over who was first will finally end. Until then, you won't go wrong with the rich and creamy offering here. Was it first? Do we care? The expanding size and opening of new branches would suggest it's the most popular, or at least the most business-savvy.
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Ah Tengs Bakery
Perfect spot for a coffee-and-pastry breakfast, evoking a more genteel age with its marble-topped tables and clinking china. The dim sum makes a pretty decent afternoon snack, too.
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Akashi
Sandwiched midway between the basement and the footpath, Akashi's blonde wood and purple suede interior sets the scene for elegant Japanese dining. Firm sushi, crunchy tempura, sticky teriyaki - reliably delicious.
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Al-Tazzag
Café Le Caire beats it for food, but Al-Tazzag wins the atmosphere competition. Set in the quiet backstreet of Haji Lane, this colourful café also spreads out along the five-foot ways, serving up meals, mint teas and shisha to Singapore's hipsters until the early hours. No alcohol - but boozy BluJaz Café is metres away.
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Amara Sanctuary
Top of the pile on Sentosa; private villas come with private plunge pools and outdoor baths.
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Ananda Bhavan
Little India specialises in unappealing fluoro-lit, plastic-table eateries that look more like burger joints, but swallow your aesthetic concerns and plunge into the wonderful North and South Indian veggie fare here - the set meals are truly enormous. There are other Little India outlets at Tekka Market, Selegie Rd and Syed Alwi Rd, opposite Mustafa Centre.
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Andhra Curry
This no-frills, no-ceremony restaurant specialises in fiery recipes from the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Attentive staff dish up Hyderabadi biryani (traditionally cooked in a dough-sealed pot), a very hot dry mutton curry and large vegetarian thalis. Packed on Sundays.
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Anjappar
The two Little India outlets of this Chennai-based dynasty serve up outstanding Chettinaad cuisine, from the deep south of India. Our favourites are the mutton uppu kari and the chicken nattu koli masala , the latter guaranteed to have you gasping in blissful chilli heaven. The flagship branch is on Race Course Rd, but the service is better here.
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Annalakshmi
Something of an institution, this volunteer-run Indian vegetarian restaurant serves up excellent limitless lunchtime buffets that attract hordes of office workers. When you're finished just pay whatever you feel like to the cashier. Around S$5 to S$10 is acceptable - it all goes to charity. Other branches at Lau Pa Sat and in Chinatown Point are open for dinner as well.
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Armenian Kopitiam
Scungy walls, red plastic chairs, exposed plumbing, cigarette butts, rattling ceiling fans, irritable cooks and clattering woks - this joint celebrates everything Singapore has tried so hard to purge. Grab some char kway teow (broad noodles, clams and eggs fried in chilli and black-bean sauce) and a kick-ass Chinese coffee.
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Au Jardin Les Amis
It's not difficult to see why it comes at the top of many food lists. Combine a dreamy Botanic Gardens setting with traditional French fare (frogs legs, pate de fois gras and truffles) with interlopers such as tiramisu and Iranian caviar. Bookings are essential.
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Awfully Chocolate
This is a seriously dangerous establishment. It only offers three cakes (chocolate, banana chocolate and rum cherry chocolate) and one ice cream, but they are all of the variety that produce decidedly sexual exclamations from females who eat them.
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Baccarat
There are so many windows enveloping this fish-bowl restaurant it's had to erect bamboo screens to provide some intimacy. Tall-hatted chefs waltz around the central kitchen, keeping the buffet overflowing.
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Banana Leaf Apolo
A popular stop on the tourist trail, but the uncompromisingly fiery food here has legions of fans both local and foreign, though the service can be poor. Offers wide range of Indian food, all served up on banana leaves, but most famous for its blistering fish-head curry, which will have you pouring with sweat and wondering why you ever thought such a dish would be disgusting.
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Blue Ginger
Fashionable, homely shophouse restaurant dishing up all the rich, spicy, sour Peranakan favourites, including the signature ayam panggang (grilled chicken in coconut and spices) that is the restaurant's claim to fame.
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Bombay Woodlands
Moved from its original location to a new spot a few doors down, this is still one of the hidden gems of the Orchard Area. Try the bottomless lunchtime buffet or choose from the small but uniformly excellent menu of vegetarian staples.
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Bombay Woodlands Restaurant
Ethically and spiritually aware, this heavily-wooded vegetarian joint's mission is to help you kick the 'meat habit'. Its set thali meals (around S$15 to S$25 ) are bountiful.
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Bon Gout
This eccentric place (not to be misread as 'Bong Out') is weird enough to be straight out of Tokyo. It's a second-hand bookshop/CD store/restaurant hybrid full of students and literati, reading, laughing and slurping ramen soups, Japanese curries and Tiger beer (sometimes all at once).
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Book Café
This cool (literally) café has a wall full of dog-eared mags, piles of international newspapers, comfy sofas, big breakfasts, tasty pasta, noodle and rice dishes and good coffee - perfect for a rainy afternoon.
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Bras Basah Food Court
Surprisingly untouristy, this cooks up Malay and Chinese favourites - the chicken noodle oyster sauce from May Flower (stall 79-05) will fill you full of carbs.
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Breeze
Slide into some designer togs and sashay up to the rooftop of the Scarlet Hotel with its impressive city views. Here the rich and fashionable dine on seafood feasts under the stars while keeping one eye on their phones.
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Broth
Set in a beautifully converted shophouse on a blissfully peaceful cobbled pedestrian street, Broth serves up excellent bistro classics (including a very good beef tenderloin). Proximity to dozens of sleazy karaoke bars hasn't diminished its atmosphere.
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Bumbu
Beneath the dome of the Sultan Mosque, endearing Bumbu's upstairs dining room pairs traditional furnishings with a giant antique gramophone. Try the tahu telor (egg and tofu with peanut sauce).
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Café Iguana
Finding good Mexican in Singapore is like looking for El Dorado, but if you're itching for fajitas and nachos, this breezy riverside place just might be your city of gold. The margarita jugs kick like a mule.
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Café Le Caire
Blink and you'll miss it during the day, but at night this alcohol-free Egyptian café becomes a miniature scene, especially at weekends, colonising both sides of the street with tables and rugs, filled with lounging shisha -smokers and eager diners gorging on kebabs and superb dips. A must.
