Food For Thought

As my time in Singapore nears it end I thought I would start highlighting some of the little things that have really appealed.

It is no coincidence that there have been several references to food in my previous posts. One of the great delights of this country is the sheer variety of food and its abundance. Whatever style of cuisine you fancy, it's all here.

And it is not hellishly expensive. Over the four years we have abandoned any pretence of home cooking and our main meal of the day (lunch) is consumed at hawker stalls, food courts and the occasional mid-range restaurant.

My favourite is Malaysian food.  Spicy, with varying degree of hotness, it is also some of the most flavoursome.  Just yesterday a meal at the food court in the Botanic Gardens (pictured above) cost a mere $5.80 for two meat and two veg; served as almost all meals are, with a generous portion of rice.

At our local Queenstown food courts the prices are even cheaper with one meat and two veg from the economy food stall costing under $3.  We frequent the second of these food courts; the one furthest away from the MRT escalators.

Not that all hawker stalls are so salubrious.  The rather infamous Sheik Allaudin, managed to kill two people and poison 150 others with his unhygienic practices. The National Environment Agency (NEA) has decreed that he will never again sell Indian rojak and he was very lucky he was not charged with manslaughter.  He escaped with a $9,000 fine and in my opinion got off very lightly.


But even this should not deter people people from trying the real food of Singapore.  It is not to be found in the sanitised mall food courts.  One needs to go to the 'Heartland' to get the best the country has to offer.  Places such as the Redhill where the Teochew style Satay Bee Hoon is legendary and the queue is lengthy.

Eating is a national passion and I have enjoyed every culinary moment since we arrived in 2006 and during my many trips preceding that date.

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