Trying 7 Affordable Singapore Michelin Restaurants

Try 7 affordable Singapore Michelin restaurants with me – from family style restaurants to hawker center gems! I was invited to Singapore this trip by Love, Bonito (my dream brand!) and the Singapore Tourism Board, and I got to try tons of iconic Singaporean foods, eat my way through hawker centers, and run around Singapore’s top spots in 1 day. What I didn’t realize is that Singapore actually has so many Michelin Guide Recommended restaurants – and some of them might surprise you!

Family Style Dining Restaurants

You may often think of Michelin restaurants as only pricy five-course restaurants or tasting menus that leave you hungry, but that’s not the case in Singapore. Rempapa, Coconut Club, and Keng Eng Kee Seafood are all Singapore Michelin restaurants that embrace family style dining at a decent price range. These are great restaurants for a special Michelin restaurant experience for a family or a big group of people without breaking the bank.

Beef Rendang – Rempapa

We ended a day of adventuring around Singapore with Family Style Dining at Rempapa, featuring cuisines from various ethnic cultures in Singapore. We ordered a bit of everything: Beef Rendang, Nasi Goreng, Kueh Pie Tie, and more. Honestly, nothing’s better than family-style dining and passing plates around the table with a group of friends!

Rempapa’s dishes are intense yet still well balanced. The beef rendang was flavorful, but melts right in your mouth! It had a little heat to it, but it was perfect to finish with a bowl of rice. I also really loved the Kueh Pie Tie, which are pastry shells filled with turnips, vegetables, and eggs. They’re a little spicy-sweet, but such a satisfyingly crunchy bite.

I enjoyed every bit of my food here at Rempapa, but with jet lag after a whole day of running around Singapore, I was ready to head to bed. Next time, I’m going to come back and give a more complete review of my experience! Rempapa is the priciest restaurant on this list, but their lunch set menu is another great way to enjoy their classic options at a reasonable price and portion.

Chili Crab – Keng Eng Kee Seafood

Of course, we’re in Singapore, and we can’t miss the famous Chili Crab. After a day of learning about Love, Bonito at their head office, we got to try the one and only Keng Eng Kee Seafood and their famous chili crab. Guess what – Keng Eng Kee is a Michelin recommended restaurant too! It’s good we’ve got a large group, because we ordered so much food. There’s simply no other way to enjoy Family Style Dining than ordering too many dishes!

Chili crab is Singapore’s go-to dish for a reason – the juicy crab is bathed in spicy, sweet, and tangy sambal. It is messy, it’s bold, it’s flavorful – AND it’s totally satisfying. I especially love dipping the fried buns 饅頭 into the sauce to soak up every bit of flavor. We also ordered tons of other classic family-style dishes – beef rice noodles, stir fried water spinach, sweet and sour pork, and more!

Out of all the meals we had in Singapore, this Chili Crab meal might be one of my most memorable ones. There’s just nothing that can beat a group of friends and family bonding over cracking crab claws. I’m looking forward to bringing my family here again in the future because I know my dad would love this place so much!

Nasi Lemak – Coconut Club

One of the restaurants that I’ve been looking forward to all trip was the Coconut Club, known for their Nasi Lemak and authentic Malay Cuisine. Walking into the restaurant, you feel instantly in a tropical paradise. Recommended by the Michelin Guides in 2021, Coconut Club’s focused approach to creating an experience around coconuts and nasi lemak has proven to be a success.

We started off with a coconut shake. Wow, it was rich, creamy and refreshing, but not too sweet. It was the ultimate Asian dessert to compliment all the spicy and savory foods we were about to devour.

We obviously had to get their Nasi Lemak, but we also added gado gado, short ribs, chicken sate, and fried chicken to complete our meal. Everything on the table was so tasty! The Nasi Lemak’s fragrant rice was cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaves, giving it a rich and creamy coconut flavor. When paired together with a fried egg and spicy sambal – it’s chef’s kiss! Everything else was cooked to perfection, and compliment the coconutty rice so well.

Honestly everything on the menu blew my mind away. For a restaurant named Coconut Club, they did coconut incredibly well. The ingredients tasted all so fresh, and the service here was phenomenal. This is a 10 out of 10 and absolutely worth the Michelin recommendation. I will for sure come back again next time I visit!

Hawker Center Cheap Eats

When people think of Michelin-recommended restaurants, they usually picture them as super fancy and expensive. While that’s sometimes true, Singapore is also famous for it’s array of Michelin-recommended hawker center food! Some of these hawker center stalls have since become their own standalone restaurants, but the quality remains.

Bak Kut Teh – Song Fa Bak Kut Teh 

I decided to grab a quick soup break before dinner, so it’s time for the famous Bah Kut Teh (肉骨茶), Singapore’s iconic herbal pork rib soup at Song Fa Bak Kut Teh.

Song Fa, which is one of Singapore’s many Michelin recommended restaurants, has served Bah Kut Teh around Singapore since 1969 as a pushcart. Their consistent quality over the decades has kept them recommended by the Michelin guide year after year for 8 years, and they have multiple branches around Singapore and internationally!

Bak Kut Teh (肉骨茶) is basically a comforting soup made with pork ribs cooked for hours in a flavorful broth of garlic, herbs, and spices. It’s hearty and aromatic, yet is incredibly light. The meat is so tender it literally falls off the bone. I especially love the slight kick from the white pepper. I had this 10 years ago, and it’s still just as good as I remembered it.

As a side dish, I ordered braised pig intestine. To combat the hot weather, i added an iced lemon tea too. The braised pork intestine was deliciously fatty and savory. It’s great paired with the soup! If it was up to me I would have a bowl of this pork soup every single day. Song Fa Bak Kut Teh‘s soups range about S$10-15, and also offer a variety of side dishes at around S$1-10. They’re quite popular, so there will be a bit of a wait at some of their bigger branches!

Hainanese Chicken Rice – 天天海南雞飯

Arriving at Maxwell Food Center, I went straight to Tiantian Hainanese Chicken Rice 天天海南雞飯. There’s so many delicious chicken and rice spots in Singapore, but I am finally reunited with the one and only Tiantian Chicken and Rice! Started in 1987, this hawker stand is also a Michelin-recommended location. It’s THE DEFINITION of “simple is best”.

Their chicken is poached to tender perfection and served over flavor-packed rice cooked in chicken broth and ginger. It comes with slices of cucumber and a braised egg, and covered with their signature sauce. I can easily eat this every single day, especially since it’s only S$5-9 depending on size. Be sure to come by after lunch time around 2 pm, because the lines can get long! Tiantian is CASH ONLY, so remember to stop by the ATM!

Fishball Noodles – Lixin Teochew Fishball Noodles

Every day on this trip, I went out on my own mini adventures to find more delicious food. I’m so glad I tried Lixin Teochew Fishball Noodles on one of those adventures! Originating in 1968 as a street cart, Lixin is now a Michelin Gourmand Bib Restaurant while remaining affordable and delicious. They make their fish products fresh daily from yellowtail fish, with specialties includeing freshly made fish balls, fish dumplings, and fish cakes. You can get them in both soup form or noodles of your choice.

Of all the options, the best seller has to be the dry mee pok, or flat noodles, set, which is what I ordered today. This delicious fish ball soup and dry noodle combo is the reason this place was recommended by the Michelin guides, and I can tell why. The fish balls were super bouncy! I could never imagine something made of fish to have this texture. The dry noodles were first blanched, then mixed with the slightly spicy and super addicting sauce.

This combo was less than S$7, and if I lived in Singapore I would have those at least once a week. There are branches of Lixin Teochew Fishball Noodles all over the country so you’re bound to find one nearby. If you’re in Singapore, give this classic Teochew fish ball soup a try.

Chicken Briyani – Allauddin’s Briyani 

Inside Tekka Center, Allauddin’s Briyani serves plates and plates of delicious briyani. The smells of it cooking wafts through the air nearby. Whenever I watch them pack bright orange-yellow rice and steaming chunks of meat onto plates from those big briyani pots, I can’t help but want to order right away. It’s no wonder, because this unassuming briyani stall is a Michelin recommended hawker stall!

I fell in love with their briyani! Their chicken briyani (S$6) was so well balanced, and so flavorful. Despite the hot weather that that got me dripping in sweat, I wanted to get another steaming plateful. I could not stop eating this fragrant combo of chicken and rice. It’s a 10 out of 10, highly recommend! Allauddin’s Briyani usually doesn’t require a wait, and it’s totally worth a trip out to Tekka Center.

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