Cover Lunch spread at Hayop, a modern Filipino restaurant in Singapore (Photo: Hayop)
Lunch spread at Hayop, a modern Filipino restaurant in Singapore (Photo: Hayop)
1 / 1
From Filipino and Burmese to African and Hawaiian, lesser-known cuisines are finding a broader audience in Singapore, as restaurants offer diners new ways to discover their flavours, histories and traditions
Singapore’s appetite for the world has been shaped by familiarity. Some cuisines become part of a city’s vocabulary through years of exposure: restaurants multiply, signature dishes become recognisable, chefs gain followings and diners learn what to order before they even sit down. Japanese, Korean, French and Italian food have all benefited from this virtuous cycle, developing audiences broad enough to accommodate everything from casual eateries to ambitious fine‑dining expressions.
Now, Filipino, Burmese, African and Hawaiian cuisines are finding more space within that conversation. Their growing visibility reflects a dining culture interested not only in new flavours, but in understanding the histories, traditions and regional identities behind them. Restaurants such as Hayop, Burma Social, Kafe Utu and Butcher’s Block are helping to build that familiarity, offering diners points of entry while showing how expansive each culinary tradition can be.
The process is less about introducing something new than expanding what diners already know. A memorable dish may open the door, but context gives it dimension: where it comes from, why it tastes the way it does and how generations of migration, trade and cultural exchange have shaped it.
Don’t miss: 8 vinegar-rich cuisines to try: how acidity shapes global flavours and classic dishes
Above Wagyu and watermelon sinigang at Hayop, a modern Filipino restaurant in Singapore
Wagyu and watermelon sinigang at Hayop, a modern Filipino restaurant in Singapore
1 / 1
For Abba Napa, founder of The Moment Group and the restaurateur behind Hayop, that complexity lies at the heart of Filipino cuisine. “Our cuisine is not defined by any one dominant flavour profile, ingredient or cooking technique,” she says. “Rather, it’s a cuisine that has been shaped by geography, migration, trade and centuries of cultural exchange.”
Indigenous traditions sit alongside Spanish, Chinese, Malay and American influences, producing a culinary vocabulary that changes across regions and occasions. At Hayop, familiar dishes become a way of illuminating that breadth. Sinigang, the country’s iconic sour soup, demonstrates the importance of acidity and freshness, while pork sisig—sizzling, chopped and intensely savoury—speaks to the ingenuity and resourcefulness that underpin many Filipino dishes.
In case you missed it: Hayop is the latest restaurant to visit for a taste of Filipino flavours
Above Mohinga
Above Lahpet in hot stone
Mohinga
1 / 2
Burmese cuisine similarly reveals itself through layers of exchange. Sarita Kedia, culinary director of Burma Social, sees greater international travel and curiosity about Southeast Asia as creating new opportunities for diners to explore Myanmar’s food in greater depth. Its geography, bordered by countries including India, China and Thailand, has produced a cuisine in which different influences meet without overwhelming its distinctive character.
Mohinga, the fish noodle soup regarded as Myanmar’s national dish, offers one introduction: comforting and woven into daily life. Ohn no khauk swe, a coconut curry noodle dish, carries traces of Indian influence while remaining unmistakably Burmese. “The beauty of Burmese cuisine is that it does not feel borrowed,” Kedia says. “It takes all these influences and turns them into something completely its own.”
Don’t miss: 5 popular national foods that surprisingly come from different countries
Above African spread at Kafe Utu, one of the lesser-known cuisines in Singapore that is now gaining traction amongst local diners (Photo: Kafe Utu)
African spread at Kafe Utu, one of the lesser-known cuisines in Singapore that is now gaining traction amongst local diners (Photo: Kafe Utu)
1 / 1
At Kafe Utu, the conversation widens from a country to a continent. Africa’s 54 nations encompass an enormous range of culinary cultures, and operations manager Rich Jacob sees the restaurant as an opportunity to introduce diners to that diversity dish by dish. Rather than attempting to capture an entire continent on one menu, Kafe Utu draws attention to ingredients, places and traditions, allowing each to tell its own story.
Groundnut stew, a peanut-based preparation found in different forms across East and West Africa, carries particular significance for the owners. Malindi halwa, meanwhile, is scented with rosewater, cardamom and saffron, its flavours recalling centuries of exchange along the Swahili coast, where African, Arab and Indian cultures converged. “Our job is to make sure that when someone sits down at Kafe Utu, they’re tasting something genuine,” Jacob says.
Read more: Neighbourhood Guide: Where to Eat, Drink and More Around Keong Saik Road
Above Snack trio at Butcher’s Block, serving Hawaiian cuisine in Singapore
Snack trio at Butcher’s Block, serving Hawaiian cuisine in Singapore
1 / 1
Hawaiian cuisine offers another example of how greater specificity can deepen appreciation. Jordan Keao, head chef of Butcher’s Block, distinguishes between Hawaiian food, rooted in the ingredients and traditions of Native Hawaiians, and the broader category of local food, which reflects the many communities that have made Hawaii home.
“Hawaiian food refers to the traditional ingredients, techniques and flavours of Native Hawaiians, while local food reflects the influences of the many cultures that came to Hawaii,” he explains.
At Butcher’s Block, Keao draws from both. Kalua pork belly, finished over wood fire, references Hawaiian cooking traditions, while lomi lomi kanpachi with beet-cured tuna, smoked kanpachi, tomato sorbet, marigold oil and tomato water carries those ideas into a contemporary restaurant setting. Together, the dishes offer a broader picture of a food culture shaped by both inheritance and evolution.
Singapore’s dining culture has always evolved this way. Curiosity leads to exposure, exposure creates familiarity and familiarity makes room for greater nuance. Filipino, Burmese, African and Hawaiian cuisines are now entering that cycle with a growing number of chefs and restaurateurs giving diners the vocabulary to appreciate them in all their specificity. The result is not simply a wider choice of places to eat, but a richer understanding of the cultures, histories and people that give those cuisines their character.
Dudi Aureus is the senior dining and travel editor at Tatler Singapore, covering the city’s most exciting restaurants, global travel trends, and the personalities shaping the culinary and lifestyle scenes. She also serves as co-jury chair for the Tatler Best awards in Singapore, celebrating the very best in hospitality. When she’s off duty, she can often be found at a favourite hole-in-the-wall Thai spot, savouring a perfectly balanced pad thai.
