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Fosters
Fosters is Australian beer and the staff here are Chinese, but they manage to conjure up some decent Brit pub food (steaks, pork sausages, fish and chips, steak and mushroom pie etc) without the annoying olde-worlde interior design. The leafy outdoor deck is great for a pint.
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French Stall
Set up by two-star Michelin chef Xavier Le Henaff to debunk the notion that French food must be expensive, this unpretentious stall is a gem - great food, great desserts and great wine in a coffeeshop environment.
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Ganges
The Ganges' cool granite floors and calm sensibilities are a departure from the grimy streets downstairs. Once you've chilled-out, flow like a river towards the burgeoning buffet and load-up your plate.
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Garibaldi
Swish, sequestered Garibaldi is about as Italian as Singapore gets: Italian chefs, 250 different Italian wines and debonair Italian staff. The menu is classico; try the antipasti, then inhale the homemade tortellini di zucca (pumpkin tortellini with sage butter, raisins and nutmeg).
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Gayatri
Another popular restaurant specialising in fish-head curry and other South Indian specialties, but its relative lack of fame has ensured the service here is friendly and swift - far, far better than its Banana Leaf Apolo rival. Its fish-head curry is on par with the Banana Leaf and there are far fewer tourists.
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Golden Mile Complex
Singapore's Little Thailand. Forget all the fancy restaurants with their Buddha statues and cultural knick-knacks, if you want real Thai food, brave the stumbling drunken Isaan workers in this seedy old shopping centre for an evening of friendly service, cheap Singha and som tam (spicy papaya salad) like mother used to make. It's uniformly superb (the north-east Thai food is best), but the Nong Khai Food & Beer Garden on the ground floor is particularly good.
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Gorkha Grill
Recommended by readers, this affordable, all-comers curry house serves up a peak of the Himalayas in Chinatown. Try the Kashmiri chicken curry, or the jheenge papita (prawns marinated in wine and mountain herbs, served in a papaya boat).
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Graffiti Café
Teens vent their spleen by doodling on the tabletops at this cosy café. Bowls of handmade wanton noodles and cheap curries clatter across heartfelt 'I love Elaine's ass' and 'Free Sex!' dedications.
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Grand Shanghai
The concept here - deco Chicago-meets-Shanghai surrounds and traditional dishes with contemporary zing - is a winner. The minced chicken stuffed pastry pockets are awesome. Jazz lilts from the stage nightly.
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Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro
Outstandingly fresh, the potential meals here are either lying on a bed of ice, or crawling around in the tank inside. Well known for its fish and chips, it also has an around S$1 oyster night on Tuesdays. The fishmonger stays open from -
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Guan Hoe Soon
Claims to be the oldest Peranakan restaurant in Singapore and makes the most of its status as Lee Kuan Yew's favourite, but in a city rich in food mythology and boastful claims, this kind of information cuts little ice. It's the food that does the talking - and the food here shouts pretty loud. Try the sotong sambal (squid in sambal) or, our favourite Peranakan dish, ayam buah keluak (chicken cooked with black nut).
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Halia
With a location like this, nestled among the ginger plants in the Botanic Gardens, who needs good food? Fortunately, Halia provides that as well. Book a table on the veranda for a perfect romantic dinner, or come for their English tea and cakes ( to , Mondau to Saturday).
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Hilltop Japanese Restaurant
As if finding a Japanese restaurant here isn't strange enough, it turns out to be a Japanese-Indonesian restaurant to boot. Most diners come for the excellent teppanyaki, a few Asahis and a climb up the observation tower afterwards, though you can get your nasi goreng (fried rice) and gado gado (vegetable salad with peanut sauce) too.
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Holland Village Market & Food Centre
Despite the signboard outside telling foreigners how to navigate hawker centres and describing the different dishes, very few seem to venture from the pricier restaurants across the road. All the classics are here, from BBQ seafood to Katong laksa to fried kway teow.
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Hong Lim Complex
If you're sick of bumping elbows with tourists, head for this pocket of old-time Chinatown, where 'uncles' sit around watching the world go by and foreign faces still draw attention. The food centre is routinely overflowing with people - try the famous Outram Park Fried Kway Teow (Block 531A, 02-18), its Cuppage rival (Block 536, 01-129). If the hawker centre looks too full or intimidating, try Wuhan Food House (01-33).
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House of Peranakan Cuisine
This place milks the heritage/tradition/nostalgia angle for all it's worth. Labour-intensive meals are prepared with aplomb, many featuring the definitive Peranakan 'black nut'. Shame about the Michael Buble soundtrack.
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House of Sundanese Food
A beacon of low-key amicability on hyper Boat Quay; dine under the riverside boughs or upstairs surrounded by artefacts. Tickle your tonsils with the ayam bumbu (mildly spiced chicken in semisweet lemon gravy) or west-Javanese grilled seabass, saturated with a quenching lime juice. There's another outlet at Suntec City.
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Il Lido
Thoroughly outstanding Italian restaurant, with mouth-watering views across the Strait of Singapore, Il Lido screams out for a special occasion and the best outfit in the wardrobe. Offers modern, classic and vegetarian menus, plus one of the best wine lists in the city. Oh, and there's a yacht for private-dining occasions, a snip at around S$30 for dinner.
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Imperial Herbal Restaurant
Feeling a little heaty? Have your pulse checked, tongue examined and physical ailments remedied and your body rebalanced with a precise prescription of herbal soups, double-boiled chickens and other more esoteric ingredients.
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IndoChine Waterfront
The IndoChine cartel's riverside operation boasts Boat Quay views and sumptuous surrounds - dark leather chairs and glittering chandeliers. The menu is a sophisticated collation of Vietnamese-, Cambodian- and Laotian-inspired dishes. You'll have a similar experience (at cafe prices) at Siem Reap II next door.
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Island Creamery
Almost a religious shrine for many Singaporeans, who don't mind trekking out of their way to this tiny shop for its ice creams, sorbets and pies. Specialising in local flavours such as teh tarik (sweet Indian spiced tea), cendol (shaved iced and coconut milk dessert) and the wonderful Tiger beer sorbet, there are others devoted to its Horlicks and Nutella concoctions.
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Jiang-Nan Chun
Discreet Jiang-Nan Chun is the place to bring someone you want to impress. The diverse menu is bolstered by a fabulous wine list and impeccable service. The marinated crab claws are show-stoppers.
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Joo Chiat Place Fried Kway Teow
Home of renowned fried kway teow (flat rice noodles), the recipe for which dates back to the prewar era. The sibling owners have undergone a few location shifts, but this seems to be a permanent home. Closed on alternate Tuesdays.
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Just Greens Vegetarian
You know the vegetarian food must be good when you're lined up alongside Buddhist monks (queuing up for food is always a good sign in Singapore). Pick from the menu in the dining room, or choose from the selections at the door and take them inside.
