Maxwell Food Centre

Hawker centers in Singapore are like people across the city complaining about the heat: they’re everywhere. These large, food court-style markets are made up of stalls that specialize in one or two items each. When you find yourself in Chinatown - which you will, to roam around various religious centers and historical landmarks - you can’t miss stopping at one of our favorites, Maxwell Food Center. Toss a pack of tissues on an empty table (the local way of saying, “This seat is taken”), look for the longest lines, and follow the crowd. At Maxwell, those lines are for the chicken rice, the oyster cakes at Maxwell Fuzhou, and assorted roast meat noodles at Fu Shun Jin Ji - where the hawker basically has a doctorate in pork. People swear by the chicken rice from the Tian Tian stall, but sneak over to Ah Tai Chicken Rice instead - it’s the hawker equivalent of the quiet kid at the back of the class who gets straight A’s.