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Anyone who visits or lives in Singapore has gone to a hawker center at least once. They have some of the best food for the most reasonable prices and are the best places to get a real taste of Singaporean food. Over the last few years, I've tried a myriad of hawker centers all over Singapore. My favorite by far is Lau Pa Sat, also known as Telok Ayer Market, located in the heart of the downtown area in the Central Business District.
The reason for this is the outdoor section called Satay Street, which is a stretch of Boon Tat Street that is closed off to traffic every night and transformed into a street food paradise. Hawkers set up tables and chairs for customers and start cooking up some of the most delicious food I have ever eaten in my life. Having grown up in India, street food has always been an essential part of my diet. Moving to Singapore, I did not expect to continue that tradition here. Still, satay street has allowed me to continue enjoying street food differently. I remember I went to Lau Pa Sat the first week after moving to Singapore in 2016, and I instantly knew it would become somewhere I would often visit when coming to Singapore for breaks.
This time, I went to satay street with my friends who live in Singapore, and they convinced me to try more than just the satay. And so I did. However, before I tried anything new, I got my satay fix from stalls 7 & 8, which are my favorite stalls along the street. We got a 60 piece satay with 20 chicken, 20 beef, and 20 prawns between my friends and me. But then I tried some of the other Singaporean delicacies Lau Pa Sat has to offer.
I first tried a Singaporean classic, a chili crab with mantou buns, and oh my god, I was in love! The crab meat was so soft and easy to eat from the shell; it made me feel like more of a pro than I am. And the sauce, oh my god! The flavors were incredible and created fireworks in my mouth. Eaten with the mantou buns, there was a new layer of sweetness added by the bread. Mantou buns which are like little clouds of bread, have a slight sweetness to them, which adds a new dimension to any savory food you eat them with. I ate the buns with the chili crab sauce, and I was left licking my fingers; it was so good.
We then ate the sambal stingray, which was going way out of my comfort zone. I've never been much of a fish eater, and stingray was definitely not something I thought I would ever try. But alas, my friends insisted I try at least one bite, so I did, and man, was I surprised. The meat melted in my mouth, and the sambal it was coated in was spicy and such a good blend of flavors. I've never been so surprised by something, and I ate quite a lot of it.
To wash down my food, I got a few of the famous Lau Pa Sat beers, and for someone who does not usually drink beers, I downed quite a few throughout the night. Overall my meal at Lau Pa Sat that night was terrific, and I will keep going back for more incredible satay and hawker food.