What are the best things to do in Chinatown Singapore?

Visit the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, Sri Mariamman Temple and Thian Hock Keng Temple, the Chinatown Heritage Centre, then eat at Chinatown Complex or Maxwell Food Centre.

Where can I eat cheaply in Chinatown?

Chinatown Complex, Maxwell Food Centre and Amoy Street Food Centre serve hawker dishes, though individual stalls set their own hours.

Can I book a food tour in Chinatown?

Yes. Geeky Glutton Trails and Everyday Tour Company both run guided tours from Smith Street.

Which Chinatown restaurants close on Sundays?

NAEUM, Native, The Clubroom, Les Bouchons and Restaurant Born close on Sundays. Check each listing for current hours.

Things to Do in Chinatown Singapore

Q: Is the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple an active temple?

Yes. It is an active worship site, so dress respectfully and check museum access before you go.

Temples, hawker centres, tours and tasting menus in Chinatown, with straight-line distances from Mondrian Singapore Duxton.

The best things to do in Chinatown Singapore are spread across a tight grid of shophouse streets, with three major temples and several hawker centres close together, so the day works best as a loop on foot. The relic temple on South Bridge Road is the natural anchor, and from there the street market on Smith Street and Chinatown Complex are each within a few hundred metres.

If you are staying at Mondrian Singapore Duxton, the temple is 360 metres north-east of the hotel in a straight line. For evenings, Duxton Hill and Keong Saik Road are the nearest dining streets to the hotel.

The three temples and the heritage centre

Chinatown has temples for three traditions within a short walk of each other. Dress respectfully, keep your voice down and follow the posted times at each entrance.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple at 288 South Bridge Road is built in Tang-inspired architecture and holds Buddhist art.

It is an active worship site, so dress respectfully and check museum access before you go.

Sri Mariamman Temple

Sri Mariamman Temple at 244 South Bridge Road is the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, with an ornamented entrance tower.

Respect worship times and dress rules at the door.

Thian Hock Keng Temple

Thian Hock Keng Temple at 158 Telok Ayer Street is a historic Mazu temple with southern Chinese craftsmanship.

Telok Ayer Street runs past the temple, so it is an easy stop to pair with a late lunch.

The Chinatown Heritage Centre at 48 Pagoda Street recreates 1950s shophouse interiors to explain the lives of early residents. Check the listing for closure notices before you plan the visit, because the centre schedules maintenance closures.

Smith Street, the market and the tours

Chinatown Street Market at 29 Smith Street is the place to browse souvenirs and stroll the historic pedestrian streets. Individual shop hours differ, so check before you go.

Geeky Glutton Trails

Geeky Glutton Trails runs guided culinary walks through hawker centres and historic neighbourhoods, led by a former private chef.

The routes cover hawker centres such as Golden Mile Food Centre, Chinatown and Joo Chiat, and introduce dialect specialities including oyster cakes, chicken rice and steamed char siew rolls.

Everyday Tour Company - Bespoke Food and Culture Tours

Everyday Tour Company runs private, bespoke tours on food, culture, history and architecture from its base on Smith Street.

The itineraries range from hawker dishes and kopi in Chinatown to the city-planning scale models inside the URA Centre.

For a quieter hour, Tea Chapter at 9 Neil Road offers a relaxed Chinese tea experience, and you can book a workshop for a structured cultural activity.

Hawker centres: where to eat cheaply and well

Chinatown has more than one hawker centre.

Chinatown Complex

Chinatown Complex at 335 Smith Street serves traditional local dishes at its level-two food centre.

Stall hours vary, so combine the meal with your Chinatown walk rather than timing a trip around one stall.

On the second floor, Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice cooks each pot over charcoal until a crispy crust forms. The mixed pot is topped with marinated chicken, Chinese sausage and salted fish, and diners mix in their own oil and dark soy sauce at the table.

Maxwell Food Centre

Maxwell Food Centre at 1 Kadayanallur Street has local hawker dishes including chicken rice.

Individual stalls set their own hours.

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice at stall #01-10/11 in Maxwell specialises in classic chicken rice.

Amoy Street Food Centre is a weekday lunch stop for varied hawker food near Telok Ayer. Stall availability varies, so treat it as a lunch option rather than a dinner plan.

Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee fries flat rice noodles with egg, cockles and fishcake to order, serving breakfast and lunch Tuesday through Saturday. It is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Telok Ayer, Amoy Street and Ann Siang: sit-down dining

Amoy Street and Telok Ayer Street are where the tasting menus cluster, so book ahead for dinner.

Nouri

Nouri at 72 Amoy Street serves multi-course tasting menus around a central counter, with sake pairings and wine selections.

It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Cloudstreet at 84 Amoy Street builds tasting menus around an open kitchen, with mains such as Sri Lankan curry lobster and aged duck. NAEUM at 161 Telok Ayer Street serves modern Korean seasonal tasting menus led by Chef Han, and is closed on Sundays.

Restaurant Born at 1 Neil Road pairs contemporary French technique with Chinese flavours in progressive tasting menus. It is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Luke's Oyster Bar and Chop House in a corner shophouse on Gemmill Lane serves fresh oysters, lump crab cakes and steaks such as tomahawk cuts. Its extension, The Clubroom on Amoy Street, sits behind a blue door and is closed on Sundays.

Les Bouchons on Ann Siang Road does French steak frites and bistro dishes for lunch and dinner, and closes on Sundays.

The Blue Ginger at 97 Tanjong Pagar Road serves classic Peranakan recipes paired with wine. Miznon on Stanley Street is a counter-serve Israeli street food spot with sidewalk seats. My Awesome Cafe at 202 Telok Ayer Street serves handcrafted salads and sandwiches, with wine and spirits.

Bars in and around Chinatown

Native at 52A Amoy Street makes inventive drinks from regional spirits and local ingredients, with profiles inspired by chicken rice, pandan and mango. It is closed on Sundays.

Stay Gold

Stay Gold at 69 Amoy Street mixes signature cocktails alongside classics such as the whiskey sour and penicillin.

The kitchen sends out beef cheek pasta, chicken schnitzel and crab hand pies, and the bar is open Monday through Saturday evenings.

Side Door at 3 Neil Road serves an unconventional cocktail menu with savoury bar dishes such as prawn and scallop noodles and dumplings. Le Bon Funk on Club Street pours living wines with produce-led plates.

A wellness break on Tras Street

Capybara Bathing at 77 Tras Street is a bathhouse in a heritage shophouse with a warm mineral bath, cold plunge, dry sauna and steam room. It also schedules sound immersion sessions and Nordic-inspired sauna rituals.

Planning the day

A workable order starts at the Chinatown Heritage Centre, moves to the temples, then a hawker lunch, and ends on Telok Ayer in the late afternoon. Keep some small change handy for hawker stalls and small shops.

The rest of the island is mapped in our district-by-district guide to Singapore. The river is next door, and the three quays along the Singapore River fill an evening.