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-reported by Da Vinci.


Not too long ago I found myself walking down Orchard road looking for some good eats but to no avail. It was then that I came to realise that hey, there are really no good eateries along this major thoroughfare unless you are willing to fork out at least $20 per person at a decent restaurant. So as a patriotic citizen, I decided to embark on a search mission to find the secret locations of some of the best local fare here. I decided to set out to ascertain the state of food on this island nation.

0800 hours
Early in the morning, I found myself parked behind a plastic blue table at an indian coffeeshop shoveling roti prata into my mouth. Located opposite Beauty World shopping mall, Al-Azhar coffeeshop is a favourite among the residents there and serves some pretty good prata. They are only 60 cents per prata and come out fresh, hot and crispy. You can eat it with sugar or with some of the killer curry which they serve there. Another thing which they are famous for is the milo dinosaur. Imagine a beer mug filled to the brim with milo, ice cubes and milo powder along with an optional scoop of vanilla ice cream and you've got an energising chocolate milkshake with a Singaporean twist to it. Apart from that, they also serve a really good red bean milkshake.

1100 hours
After that heavy breakfast my mind is wondering where to go next to fill up my stomach. The answer is the original Killiney Road Kopitiam for a morning snack of kaya toast and coffee. The kaya is homemade and fresh while the bread is toasted the traditional way, over a charcoal grill, giving it a smoky taste and a crunch which you cannot get from using the high-tech toasters of today. It is reasonably priced to boot.

1300 hours
I have made my way to the Bishan neighbourhood and have stopped at the S-11 coffeeshop next to Junction 8 shopping centre for lunch. There is a stall known only to residents of the nearby HDB flats and the students of Raffles who's school is next door. That stall is the "Qiu Lian Ban Mian" stall. Ban Mian is basically flat handmade noodles. There, they cook the noodles before your very eyes in a tasty broth filled with minced pork, leafy greens and an egg. It is really cheap at $2.50 for a big bowl. Wash it all down with the potent $1 iced lemon tea sold at the drinks stall there.

1930 hours
Dinner, we can afford to splurge a bit so I decided to head over to Dome. The main courses there are pretty typical of a western cafe, but the highlight here is the dessert and the coffee. The Apple Crumble with Vanilla Ice cream is killer. I recommend taking the crumble cold, not heated up. That way everything is denser and the chill really brings out the flavour. Then comes the coffee. They serve good coffee here, second only to Coffee Club in my opinion. At Dome, try the Cafe Vienna, a sinful cup of one shot espresso infused with whip cream with a foam cap and topped with chocolate shavings. Simply heaven.

So there you have it, some of the nicest and cheapest places in Singapore to eat. If you are a foreigner here don't be suckered by the Newton Circus tourist trap. Go to these places instead for good, cheap, classic Singaporean food. For more information, please email rottersint@gmail.com. Ah Fatt will be pleased to attend to your call, now that he has finished his Hello Kitty review.

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