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Café Les Amis
The mild-mannered all-day menu here covers all the bases: soups, cakes, noodles, burgers and stir-fries served on an outdoor fountain terrace. Use the Cluny Rd entrance.
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Canteen
Unappealing office-block views fail to deter romantic couples here, gazing into each other's eyes over sharp-edged tablecloths and weathered floorboards. The fare is meaty - the veal cheek cooked in red wine and orange reduction is a standout.
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Cha Cha Cha
For a Singaporean slant on Mexican classics, Cha Cha Cha makes an interesting outing. Join the pallid expats sucking cigarettes on the forecourt or head into the cheery yellow dining room for crab-meat enchiladas and margaritas by the pitcher.
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Charlie's Peranakan Food
When chef Charlie Tan retired 10 years ago, people kept begging him to cook for them - so he went back into business! The essential Peranakan staple is ayam buah keluak (chicken with black nut) - Charlie's version is brilliant.
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Chatterbox
The aesthetic is uncompromisingly 'hotel lobby', but Chatterbox's chicken rice is legendary. Boiled chicken is plunged into ice then served cold with warm broth, fragrant rice, rich soy, chilli and freshly ground ginger.
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Chiang Mai Palace
Not much to look at, but Chiang Mai Palace takes our prize for the best Thai food in the neighbourhood (and the friendliest staff). Try the fragrant, warming om kai (northern Thai chicken soup) or the laap (Lao/northeast Thai minced-meat salad).
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Chilli Padi
Home of homestyle Nonya cooking, set in a row of picturesque shophouses in the heart of Peranakan country. Dig into some fiery, sour asam (tamarind) fish head, the range of classic chicken dishes, or the sambal seafood. Its success has spawned other branches and a range of home-cook pastes.
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Chinatown Complex
As you'd expect, the large, eternally busy hawker centre here has some great Chinese food stalls. The choice is vast, the smoky atmosphere appropriately unkempt.
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Christa & Naomi (CAN)
Crowded with weird furniture and second-hand gas masks, telephones and abacuses, CAN Café is a remedy for Singaporean rigidity. Twenty-somethings smoke, chug jugs of beers and munch pizzas, noodles, cakes and curries. Music drifts from jazz to trance.
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Coastes
Best of the Sentosa beach eateries, serving up excellent pizzas, pasta and curries to a relaxed crowd. Grab a rustic table under the pergola, or look louche on the sun loungers. It's not exclusively for the hip, tanned and beautiful, as the thumping music suggests.
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Colours by the Bay
Colours by the Bay comprises seven different Thai, Chinese and Japanese restaurants, where you can sit at one and order from any of the others. The Garlic Restaurant creatively uses the pungent bulb in many of its dishes, including ice cream!
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Coriander Leaf
An exercise in fusing the tiny morsels and artistic sauce (or should we say jus?) dribbles of nouvelle cuisine with traditional Asian flavours. Largely, it works, though the menu can be a little disorientating (hmm...Scottish salmon, miso cod or Thai barramundi?). Also runs highly regarded cooking courses.
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Crystal Jade Kitchen
This busy, carpeted Cantonese place is one of many reliable Crystal Jades across the city. There's an extensive numbered 'I want that one' menu (try the congee) and several set menus.
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Din Tai Fung
Taiwanese restaurant acknowledged even by hype-resistant luminaries such as Anthony Bourdain as producing the best dumplings on Earth (though some insist that only applies to the Taiwanese original). The signature dumplings ( xiao long bao ) are nevertheless sublime, the beef noodle soup rich and hearty, and the shrimp-pork wanton soup delectable. Be prepared to queue, especially at weekends, but the wait is worth it. A must.
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Dosa Corner
This lurid-lit vegetarian place is wicked! Wash your hands at the basin near the counter then chow down on 2ft rolled paper dosas (crispy pancakes) stuffed with funky potato, turmeric and onion masala.
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East Coast Lagoon Food Village
Certainly there can be few hawker centres with a better location. Tramp barefoot off the beach, order up some satay , seafood, or the uniquely Singaporean satay (rice vermicelli) from Meng Kee at stall 17 (get there before , or you'll end up in a long queue).
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East Coast Seafood Centre
Overlooking the Straits of Singapore in the salty breeze, this renowned seafood centre boasts eight excellent Chinese and Thai restaurants, all with outdoor seating. Don't miss the chilli crabs and the intoxicating 'drunken' prawns.
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El-Sheik
Desert hues wash over this up-market Lebanese option on the fringe of Kampong Glam. If the English Premier League in the front room proves distracting, take your tub of blue Mediterranean honey (!) and jaw-clenchingly strong coffee and head for the lantern-lit roof terrace.
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Eng Seng Coffeeshop
Known all over the island for its black-pepper crab (though surprise, surprise - many dispute its pre-eminence) the queues start even before . Evidently people duck out of work early to eat here. The crab is worth a wait, but if you're hungry and impatient the BBQ seafood stall also has several loyal fans.
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Equinox
If it wasn't for the incredible views, this might be rated an average restaurant. As it is, 70 floors up you won't care that the food is good, but not great. Book ahead, ask for a windowside table and chances are you'll spend so much time looking outside you'll forget to eat anyway. After dinner, head to City Space to continue gawping.
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Erich's Wuerstelstand
An eccentric Austrian hawking very low-priced sausages and sauerkraut from a stall in Chinatown - it's hardly a surprise this place has achieved a certain fame. And deservedly so: what could be better than a hearty sausage and beer (from across the lane) after a hot day in the city? Check out the German and Austrian breads and hearty Central European meals at his Backstube and Imbiss outlets opposite.
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Faber Hill Bistro
The high canopy makes it feel a little like you're inside a wedding marquee, but with views like this from Mt Faber Hill you'll only be looking outwards. The steaks and pastas are just good enough to complement the twinkling skyline.
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Five Star Hainanese Chicken Rice & Porridge
'You want chicken rice?' is the stock greeting here. Say 'Yes, indeed I do!'. Two minutes later you'll be tucking into fast food that's actually worth waiting for. The mee goreng (fried noodles) is a steal at around S$4 .
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Food Republic
Perennially packed, it's survival of the quickest when it comes to grabbing a table at peak times, but the food is worth it. If it's full, head for the private sitting areas attached to the Chutneys Indian and Waan Waan Thai stalls, where you pay a little more. We also particularly like the teppanyaki counter and the beef noodles.
