A hawker centre trail: Maxwell, Lau Pa Sat and Old Airport Road

A day of eating across three classic hawker centres, from chicken rice in Chinatown to satay under a Victorian iron roof and dinner where planes once landed.

Area

Heritage quarters

Start from

Chinatown

Distance

about 10 km in total, by MRT and on foot

Time needed

1 day, eating slowly

Best season

All year; weekday lunches are crowded with office workers

Difficulty

Easy

Transport

MRT between centres; taxi or bus for Old Airport Road

Tickets & rules

None

Why go

If you want to understand Singapore, eat at its hawker centres. They are open-air food halls run by the government and filled with small family stalls, each specialising in one or two dishes, sometimes for decades. A plate of chicken rice, a bowl of laksa or a plate of char kway teow costs a fraction of a restaurant meal, and many locals eat here every single day.

This route links three of the most famous. Maxwell Food Centre in Chinatown is the classic introduction, compact and full of well-known stalls. Lau Pa Sat in the financial district is housed in a beautiful octagonal iron market hall, and at night a side street turns into a satay alley with smoking grills. Old Airport Road Food Centre in the east is one of the largest and most loved by locals.

It is not just about food. Watching the queues, the tissue packets reserving seats, the uncles drinking kopi in the afternoon and the aunties shouting orders is a lesson in the social life of the city. Everyone sits together at shared tables: bankers, builders, tourists and grandparents.

The story

Street food has always been part of Singapore, but in the past hawkers pushed carts and set up stalls on pavements, often with poor hygiene and little access to clean water. From the late 1960s and especially the 1970s the government licensed them and gradually moved them into purpose-built hawker centres with running water, drainage and roofs. This is why Singapore's street food is now under one roof but kept its character.

Lau Pa Sat, which means 'old market' in Hokkien, has a much older history. A market has stood on this site since the 19th century, and the present cast-iron structure was built in the 1890s, with iron parts made in Glasgow. It was dismantled during the building of the MRT line and then carefully reassembled, piece by piece.

Old Airport Road Food Centre takes its name from Kallang Airport, Singapore's first civil airport, which operated nearby from the late 1930s until 1955. The runways are long gone, replaced by housing estates, but the name survives, as does the centre's reputation for some of the best fried hokkien mee and satay in the city.

In 2020 Singapore's hawker culture was added to UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Some hawker stalls have even received Michelin recognition, and a few have held stars, which caused long queues but also a debate about how to keep this way of eating alive as the older hawkers retire.

Getting there

Start at Maxwell Food Centre near Maxwell MRT. Lau Pa Sat is a short walk away near Telok Ayer and Downtown stations. For Old Airport Road, take the MRT to Dakota station on the Circle line and walk a few minutes.

Spread the meals out; a walk between them makes room for the next one.

A suggested plan

1. 11:30 amMaxwell Food Centre: Hainanese chicken rice and a cup of sugar cane juice. Arrive before the office lunch rush.
2. 2:00 pmWalk to Lau Pa Sat for a look at the iron roof and a dessert or coffee.
3. 4:00 pmRest at your hotel or wander the nearby shophouse streets.
4. 7:00 pmReturn to Lau Pa Sat for the satay street on Boon Tat Street, or go straight east.
5. 8:00 pmOld Airport Road Food Centre: hokkien mee, laksa, rojak and a fresh lime juice.

Where to stay

Chinatown or Tanjong Pagar is the ideal base: Maxwell and Lau Pa Sat are on your doorstep and the Circle line takes you east in minutes.

Good to know

• Order the stall's signature dish; the name on the signboard usually tells you what it is.
• Ask for 'kopi' for coffee with condensed milk, 'kopi-o' for black with sugar, 'kopi-o kosong' for black without sugar.
• Bring cash as well as a card; many stalls now take QR or card payments, but not all.
• Return trays to the clearly marked return points.