Hawker stalls at Lau Pa Sat in Singapore

I was in Singapore because we filmed a MasterChef Vietnam season 3 challenge there, and sadly, I only had less than 36 hours! This was my first time ever to this baby of a nation, and I was excited to try Singaporean food in actual Singapore. I’ve had their renowned cuisine in restaurants, and now I’d get to try the real thing.Because I was in Singapore for work, that meant I’d have even less leisure time…which meant less foods to try. Double-disappointment.As soon as I’d landed, though, I had a few hours before I had to be in the makeupchair, so I made a beeline to Lau Pa Sat.Singapore is famous for its hawker stalls—think of food halls or food courts. Lau Pa Sat was much cleaner and more civilized than I’d expected—blame it on my experiences with Vietnam’s Saigon’s Ben Thanh Market or Taipei’s night markets. I’m sure this is largely in part to Singapore being a very manicured and well-kept country—remember, it’s a country that frowns upon chewing gum because they don’t want any of it getting on their streets.Before arriving, I didn’t get to do any of my usual research, and with my call time just minutes away, I couldn’t wait around in a queue. Instead, I held down the fort at a vacant table while my friend hopped from stall to stall ordering random dishes for us to try. Because she didn’t wait in the longest queues due to our limited time, the sampling we did might not be ideal, but we had a good cross-section of what the market had to offer: Carrot and turnip cake, laksa, some noodle dish, and kaya toast.I had my first carrot and turnip cake in the Singapore Airlines lounge the year before, and I liked it then, in spite of it being a subpar airport version. Laksa, a curried rice noodle soup, was tasty but a bit ambitious for such a warm day without central air conditioning.My favorite food item, though, was something I’d never had before. Kaya toast is simply toasted bread topped with kata, or coconut jam. Uh, can you say love?! It’s sweet but not overly so, and I don’t even like coconut in my desserts.Singaporeans mostly eat kaya toast for breakfast, and I can taste how it’d be a bomb accompaniment to coffee or tea.Traveling helps me get inspired by new foods. Even in the short time I had, I was able to discover something gastronomically delectable.There are several markets boasting hawker stalls throughout Singapore, but Lau Pa Sat was the only one I had the chance to visit. So glad I had a taste of that kaya toast! Have you been to any of the hawker stalls in Singapore? Which were most memorable?Lau Pa Sat18 Raffles Quay1 Boon Tat St.SingaporePhone: +65 6220 2138