Singapore's most famous dish has a new stage. Tiong Bahru Hainanese Chicken Rice, a retro-styled restaurant inside Takashimaya Shopping Centre on Orchard Road, takes its cues from the 1980s Tiong Bahru Market — all smooth curves, glass blocks and avocado green tiles. It's a deliberate dose of nostalgia, and the founders, Anders and Max Cheong, lean into it with a menu of what they call 'old Singapore' favourites.
The headline act is, unsurprisingly, the chicken rice itself. The bird arrives succulent and flavoursome, with that bouncy, slippery skin the dish is known for, and it's paired with the essential chilli and ginger sauces. What sets this version apart is the choice of rice: diners can pick Thai Hom Mali, basmati or Niigata Koshihikari instead of settling for a single standard. It's a small twist that gives the classic dish a personal touch.
Beyond the signature plate, the menu digs into lesser-seen Hainanese-Singaporean cooking. The Hainan Curry Fish Pot and Hainanese Crispy Pork Jowl are the kind of comforting dishes the Cheongs associate with the city's past — hearty, saucy food that predates the airport lounges and hawker guides most visitors know. For drinks, the Iced Coconut Latte with Matcha Cream is the standout, a sweet, creamy combo that suits Singapore's humidity.
Why bother adding this to an Orchard Road shopping day? Location, mostly. Takashimaya sits at the heart of Singapore's main shopping strip, so it's an easy refuelling stop between malls, and it sidesteps the trek out to the actual Tiong Bahru neighbourhood if your schedule is tight. It also works as a low-effort introduction to Hainanese cuisine for travellers who associate chicken rice purely with hawker centres — here it's served in an air-conditioned, design-forward room that channels the market stalls of decades ago.
If you have more time, the real Tiong Bahru Market and Food Centre remains worth the short trip for its morning atmos and stall lineup, but this restaurant packages the same culinary heritage in a form that fits neatly into a downtown itinerary. Come hungry, order the chicken rice with the Koshihikari if you like your grains sticky, add the crispy pork jowl for the table, and finish with the coconut latte. That's a solid taste of old Singapore without leaving the mall.
