50 Dollars Challenge: Surviving 5 days in City Hall

Welcome to City Hall, home to monumental structures with an impressive history that dates back to the 1920’s. City Hall boasts an impressive amount of food options, most of which come with quite a hefty price tag. If you work in the City Hall area, lucky you! We have come up with a guide that will help you spend no more than 50 BUCKS on breakfast, lunch and dinner in 5 days.  We stretched a little to Bugis, because it was really a challenge to find affordable food in City Hall. Read on and find out how to eat well, and save at the same time!

Monday Breakfast: Makanan Bollywood Restaurant

Makanan Bollywood serves a pretty dope chicken curry that comes with 2 pieces of Roti Prata ($2). Found in the basement of Peninsula Shopping Centre, the quiet air-conditioned coffee house guarantees you a short escape from the hustle and bustle of humid Singapore. I found the texture of the prata slightly doughy, but the chicken curry was surprisingly rich in texture and in flavour. Start the day right with a sweet and savoury combination by dipping the Prata in curry and sugar!

Monday Lunch: Supreme Pork Chop Rice

This is a hidden gem. It has always been my go-to lunch spot if I’m in the area. The Chicken Chop Fried Rice ($4.80) comes with a portion of fried rice, chicken chop coated with mushroom sauce, sunny side up or braised egg, and a choice of vegetables. I highly recommend the salted vegetables over the mixed vegetables. Each piece of chicken is tender and well marinated, and pairs excellently with the watery chilli sauce that you can get at the counter.

Monday Dinner: Eleven Fingers (Eu Kee) Scissors Curry Rice

They offer a variety of dishes that go well with their curry rice but you can opt for a basic combination of curry rice with a piece of curry chicken wing and curry cabbage for only $3. Although it doesn’t sound like much, the deliciously rich curry gravy will fill your tummy. 

Total Cost: $9.80
Remaining: $40.20

Tuesday Breakfast: Si Ma Lu Goreng Pisang

Fancy something light for breakfast? Drop by Si Ma Lu Goreng Pisang in Albert Centre and grab a Green Bean Goreng ($0.80) to go! The exterior remains crispy even after it’s been left out for sometime, and the green bean filling is flavourful. The stall also offers their famous goreng pisang in the morning. 

Tuesday Lunch: Leong Yeow Famous Waterloo Street Hainanese Chicken Rice Branch

For $3.80, you get a plate of rice, and chicken on a separate plate. The rice was mild tasting and lacked the usual taste of ginger and garlic. However, the taste of the rice can be elevated with an added dose of their chilli, which is pleasantly spicy and citrusy. Although I found the portion of the chicken slightly insufficient for its price, each piece is soft and tender. It isn’t the best chicken rice, but it is not bad an option if you’re looking for affordable chicken rice.

Tuesday Dinner: Mother’s House

For 5 dollars, you’ll get a portion of rice with 2 veggies, 1 meat, as well as a bowl of soup. The shop’s Burmese rendition of Chinese economy rice is similar to our chap chye peng. Dishes include pork belly, kang kong and corn. Although the Kang Kong and corn weren’t the best, the braised pork belly was flavourful. There is even a free flow of bean sprouts and chilli sauce. If you’re new to Peninsula Plaza’s basement, be prepared to brave an unfamiliar pungent smell that lingers in the premises.

Total Cost: $9.60
Remaining: $30.60

Wednesday Breakfast: YY Ka Fei Dian

One of the best breakfast deals lies in YY Ka Fei Dian, a quaint coffee shop along Purvis Street. Baked in-house, their soft Kaya Buns ($1.20) boast a crisp light crust and a fluffy and super soft interior. Within this delicious bun, you’ll find a generous portion of kaya and a slab of butter that might make this place your new favourite breakfast spot. If you want to stretch your budget a bit, you could always grab a cup of kopi to complete your breakfast!

Wednesday Lunch: Tony Cafe

This unassuming chap chye peng eatery serves up fried chicken that you absolutely must try! Come early to beat the lunch queue if you’ll like a taste of Tony Cafe’s Chicken Wing Set ($3.50). The fried chicken was a stunner in every aspect – seasoning, taste and texture. Adapted from corona chicken recipe, the skin was beautifully golden and addictively tasty. The well-seasoned chicken wings were immensely tender and juicy! No wonder almost every table ordered it. Just take note that Tony Cafe serves the fried chicken wings only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays!

Wednesday Dinner: Penang Laksa

You can grab a bowl of Penang Laksa ($4.50) at Esplanade Xchange. Each bowl contains noodles, and a generous amount of sliced onions, chilli padi and sardine flakes. You have the option of adding prawn paste, so do ask for it if you like a splash of heh ko. Although the broth lacked the usual sourness, it might be the perfect lunch for those who like their Penang Laksa less tangy. 

Total Cost: $9.20
Remaining: $21.40

Thursday Breakfast: May’s Delicacies

Esplanade Xchange has a Chee Cheong Fun Set ($2.50) that you must try. It is a simple assembly of rice cake, fish cake, fish-flavoured beancurd skin, and homemade sweet sauce and chilli. The novel addition of fish cake and beancurd skin really adds a delicious twist to the traditional chee cheong fun. If you’re feeling sleepy, the fiery chilli will jolt you awake.

Thursday Lunch: Thunder Tea Rice

An unnamed corner in Chang Cheng Mee Wah Food Complex at Queen Street has been selling Lei Cha AKA Thunder Tea Rice ($4) since January 2017. Each set comprises a bowl of basil tea soup, a bed of rice, fried anchovies, and various greens which include diced french beans, cabbage, kailan, and more.  A healthy, tasty, and affordable lunch option!

Thursday Dinner: Noodles

Pop by Waterloo Street for an array of dinner options. Go for the Fu Zhou Fishball Noodles ($3.50) that can be found at the stall with the word ‘Noodle’ embossed in red. The noodles have an al dente texture and a mild alkaline aftertaste. You’ll find in each fu zhou fishball a slightly salty pork filling that complements the noodles.

Total Cost: $10.00
Remaining: $11.40

Friday Breakfast: Zheng Xing Mei Shi

TGIF! For breakfast, you might like to savour a hot bowl of Tau Suan ($1.60) topped with crispy you tiao. There is a generous amount of mung beans. There’s no better way to celebrate the start of Friday than with a sweet little treat for breakfast, right?

Friday Lunch: Auntie Teo Place

The Adelphi is home to another pocket-friendly find. Auntie Teo serves local cuisine that does not contain any pork or lard. For just $4, we got a very filling meal of nasi campus – rice, chicken rendang, and sunny side up egg (you can substitute the egg with a vegetable of your choice). The rendang chicken is sweet and savoury, and the big portion surprised us. Don’t forget to mix in into their homemade volcano sambal chilli.

Friday Dinner: Claypot Rice

To celebrate surviving City hall with only 50 bucks, dive into this Kong Pao Chicken Claypot Rice ($5.70) which is found in The Gallerie food court at Marina Square. Where else can you enjoy claypot rice in an air-conditioned setting, with a view of the Marina Bay skyline? The claypot rice contains marinated Kong Pao chicken and sliced dried sausages laying on a sizzling bed of rice.You can watch your very own claypot rice being cooked over the fire, as you stand in the queue. The bottom half of the rice is nicely crisp while the top half remains moist and flavourful. The chicken is also tender and well marinated. This is a hearty meal to round off the work week. 

Total Cost: $11.20
Remaining: $0.10

Still think it’s impossible to navigate the eateries around City Hall with only 50 bucks for 5 days? We (barely) did it. Although some of the eateries are nearer to Bugis, we hope that our guide will keep your bellies satisfied! 

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visits and paid its own meals at the stalls featured here.

Let’s build a food community that helps to update the food news in Singapore! Simply comment below if there’s any changes or additional info to the cafes/stalls listed above. We will verify and update from our side. Thanks in advance!