Try these 10 unique dishes at the Singapore Food Festival 2023

Foodies in Singapore, it’s time to get excited, because the Singapore Food Festival (SFF) 2023 is back again this year from July 19 to 30 at the Bayfront Event Space. 

The festival, which turns 30 this year, celebrates Singapore’s food culture — past, present and future — and will showcase the best of our local F&B scene. 

Expect to enjoy treats from more than 100 brands spread across different zones: SG Food Walk, Food Cartel, Sweets Alley, Cafe Boulevard, SG Mama Shop and Gourmet Market.

If you find yourself wandering around the expansive festival space with no idea where to start, why not go with our take on the top 10 unique dishes to try at the Singapore Food Festival 2023?

Oh, and remember to have your cards or digital payments ready on your phones as the event is cashless. 

1. Syip’s ondeh ondeh French toast with kaya cloud drink

Widely popular minimalist brunch cafe Syip started because its founders wanted to create a space for people to sip (or syip) and dine. The name also bears resemblance to the names of the sisters, Sandee Yip and Sara Yip, who founded the cafe.

Both of its outlets at Bendemeer and Farrer Park attract long queues, so if you’ve been wanting to pop down but haven’t had a chance, the festival would be a perfect chance to do so. 

Try its ondeh ondeh French toast (S$12), an SFF-exclusive offering, and sip, or syip, on its kaya cloud drink (S$8), which combines gula melaka, pandan, oat milk and coconut cream.

Fans of the brand, don’t worry, you’ll also get to try its bestselling items such as the creamy chicken scrambled egg croissant (S$12) and mushroom fritters (S$8) at its stall.

2. Chun Feng Man Mian’s iberico char siu and wagyu duo noodle

This noodle store at Amoy Street Food Centre may be new to the scene, but Chun Feng Man Mian’s elevated take on the humble bowl of wonton mee (think truffle powder, fish roe and Iberico pork) has quite a fervent following. 

Building on its well-loved menu items, Chun Feng Man Mian is introducing iberico char siu and wagyu duo noodles (S$15) exclusively at the event. 

Those familiar with the stall would have tried its well-seasoned iberico char siu, which we hear uses an oolong tea marinade, and spicy wagyu separately, but why choose when you can have both at the same time?

3. La Levain’s nasi lemak pizza

Known for its meticulously crafted artisanal bakes, La Levain is no stranger to melding flavours from all over the world. Co-founder and executive chef Wythe Ng has rolled out intriguing bakes, such as bobo chacha croissants and bacon edamame danish, that combine Asian flavours with traditional European pastries.

For SFF 2023, Ng is serving up a nasi lemak pizza (S$13 for a half pizza, S$19 for a whole), topped with cucumber slices, eggs, ikan billis and peanuts, over a sourdough base. 

There’s a bit of everything that you love about nasi lemak spread out over the whole pizza, topped with a generous serving of cheese. Perfect for those of us who love bread, cheese AND nasi lemak. 

4. Elemen’s braised “duck” rice

Hold up, we know what you might be thinking — doesn’t Elemen serve up meatless cuisine? Founded in 2015, Elemen has been offering natural, high-quality meatless dishes to diners from its five outlets located across Singapore.

At this year’s SFF, the brand will be presenting its very own rendition of braised “duck” rice (S$10). 

The duck slices are made of king oyster mushrooms and the dish will come with braised peanuts, cucumber slices and the quintessential sambal. It’s so well-flavoured and tender that you might even forget you’re having a meatless dish! 

5. Ms Maria and Mr Singh’s chicken tikka taco 

Located within the Proper Grub Hub at the festival’s Food Cartel section, the hub sees a collective of six trailblazing restaurant and bar concepts by Proper Concepts, the parent company behind popular brands Rappu and Mish Mash. 

One of the brands is Ms Maria and Mr Singh, a Mexican-Indian restaurant by famed Bangkok chef Gaggan Anand. The casual eatery, which opened to much fanfare in Singapore last year, has sharing plates and tacos on its menu. 

It is serving up a festival-exclusive chicken tikka taco (S$16 for a pair), a taco flavour not yet seen in its restaurant, though a standalone chicken tikka masala dish does exist. Its spice levels left us reaching for a drink, so grab a cocktail or two from its sister brands The Feather Blade or Goho while you’re at the hub. 

6. Fan Bao Bao’s chicken claypot rice burger

Fan Bao Bao, which literally translates to rice baby, is a new pop-up brand by the brains behind Beastro Collective. True to its name, its signature dish marries two popular carb favourites — burgers and rice — while adopting local flavours like nasi lemak, claypot rice and Hakka thunder tea rice. 

If you love claypot rice, then give its SFF-exclusive chicken claypot rice burger (S$16) a go. The burgers’ rice patties come with bits of salted fish and chinese sausage commonly found in the claypot rice dish, while its chicken patty is seasoned just like the chicken pieces you’ll find in the same dish. 

If claypot rice isn’t quite your thing, there are also other rice burger flavours such as nasi lemak (S$16), Hakka lei cha (S$16) and even a mango sticky rice burger (S$12). All burgers come with coleslaw and fries, except for the mango sticky rice burger. 

7. Chen Fu Ji’s Ultimate Sake fried rice

Chen Fu Ji’s fried rice has a decorated history, originating from the outskirts of Singapore’s Chinatown in the 1960s. Its current owner Roger Koh shuttered the brand in 2016 but brought it back in 2021, promising to retain quality control on its signature dishes.

The restaurant is well-known for its crab meat fried rice, so you can be sure that its SFF-exclusive rendition, the ultimate sake fried rice (S$30), will be an absolute show-stopper. Chen Fu Ji combines century egg yolk and sake to concoct an umami-laden sauce for the fried rice, elevating the dish on all fronts.

In case you need more convincing (which you shouldn’t), the recipe for this dish topped the International Fried Rice competition, a large-scale event organised by Chen Fu Ji back in 2001. 

8. Rumah Makan Minang’s padang-style beef burrito 

Halal Indonesian restaurant Rumah Makan Minang has been serving reasonably priced Minangkabau cuisine since 1954 in the vicinity of Sultan Mosque. The restaurant specialises in nasi padang and beef rendang, and it has managed to retain its traditional recipes up till this day. 

For SFF, the team has come up with a variety of dishes, but the one must-try is its padang-style beef burrito (S$14), which combines its classic nasi padang dish with the convenience of the well-loved Mexican burrito. Have the best of both Indonesian and Mexican flavours within this power-packed wrap.

9. Rempapa’s ayam bakar pita pocket

Chef Damian D’Silva has been making waves in Singapore for decades with his heritage dishes, and most recently at his restaurant Rempapa in Paya Lebar. The term ‘rempapa’ comes from the Malay word ‘rempah’ for spice paste and also pays homage to D’Silva’s role as the grandfather of heritage cuisine in Singapore.

At Rempapa, D’Silva builds on traditional recipes, refreshing the recipes by imbuing them with elements from different ethnic groups to appeal to the modern diner. 

One such example is the pita pockets that it’ll be serving up at SFF. We love its classic Rempapa ayam bakar pita pocket (S$12), which comes with grilled chicken thigh, mayonnaise, pickled cucumber and chives. 

But if you want something truly unique to the festival, try its chilli no carne cruffin (S$15), a croissant-muffin with Impossible ground meat chilli con carne-style. 

10. Pilot Kitchen’s gunpowder short ribs

Pilot Kitchen is a hole-in-the-wall restaurant located within the unassuming Havelock II building, right next to Clarke Quay MRT station. The restaurant only opened in late 2022, but it has already built a reputation for serving up inventive sharing plates using uncomplicated ingredients and the freshest seafood. 

The ‘pilot’ in its name refers to how the team experiments with ideas and charts new grounds in the culinary plane, akin to a pilot project. You’ll find that its dishes don’t quite have a particular cuisine tagged to them. 

Take its signature gunpowder short ribs (S$38) it’ll be serving at the festival, for example. It is marinated with Indian gunpowder spice (made of lentils, sesame seeds, chilli, cumin, and coriander among other spices) and served alongside a Greek tzatziki dip of yogurt and cucumber, with padron peppers on the side. You’ll have to try it for yourself at SFF to see if this eclectic mix works. 

For more ideas on what to eat, read our stories on atas food places you can order from and our ultimate Orchard food guide.  

This article was written in partnership with Singapore Food Festival.

Syip, La Levain, Elemen, Chen Fu Ji and Rempapa can be found on GrabFood Dine-in. 

You can also book a ride to the Singapore Food Festival 2023.