Local favourites with a premium twist: Restaurants’ take on hawker classics

Singapore’s iconic hawker culture and cuisine is a tour de force in the world’s street food scene. It’s such a large part of our marketing that it’d be hard to find a description of Singapore without the usual phrases like ‘melting pot of regional cuisines’ and ‘recipes refined over decades’. Our first major outing on the big screen for Crazy Rich Asians even managed to find time between copious shots of the CBD skyline and Marina Bay Sands to slip in a scene at a hawker centre. All said though, it really is simply great grub. So much so, that many fine restaurants are recreating hawker favourites - substituting in premium ingredients where possible.

All said though, times are changing. CBD joints and upscale establishments are constantly having to reinvent what they do to stay ahead, even if that means breaking the rules a little. That means ditching delicate puff pastries and perfectly plated morsels for some elevated local favourites that can only benefit from the inclusion of premium ingredients and the affordances of a five-star kitchen.

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