Travel / Singapore

Singapore Food Festival – Back to the 60s at Lau Pa Sat

By Veron Ang | Tags #Lau Pa Sat #Singaporean

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The annual Singapore food festival is on! From 4 to 27 July, foodie events would be happening at various locations across the island. Even unconventional foodie places like Sentosa and the night safari have whipped up a few events of their own!

During the opening weekend, I celebrated with a hearty meal at Lau Pa Sat, which now sports a 60s theme. Grilled sambal stingray and calamari are my weakness, topped only by satay (meat skewers). Food galore!

(to be perfectly honest, I have yet to come across a decent grilled seafood stall at Lau Pa Sat. The two prominent ones there, ming yen and boon tat street BBQ, simply do not make the cut. The satay from the best satay stall was perfection though.)

It being Sunday during the hours between lunch and dinner, the place wasn’t exactly brimming with hungry customers. Many of the outdoor stalls had just started setting up for the day.

Lau Pa Sat satay street

All the satay stalls have been given a brand new look. Gone are the bright red coca-cola tents. In their place are wooden pushcart stalls reminiscent of the Singapore street hawker scene in the 1950s and 60s.

Satay seller at Lau Pa Sat

And there’s the satay seller grilling up a storm!

Regular patrons of Lau Pa Sat would notice that some of the walls have been newly affixed with black and white photos. These are scenes from the trades of yesteryears, in keeping with the 60s theme.

Lau Pa Sat in the 1960s Photo by Singapore Food Festival

Just for the opening weekend, old black and white movies played on outdoor giant screens while people dined under the stars. So that isn’t exactly what people did in the 60s, but it’s a nice touch. If they would keep this thing going even after the food festival, it would certainly be a much more fun dining experience.

Singapore Food Festival at Lau Pa Sat

Other programs lined up include culinary classes, where eager participants can learn to cook dishes like chicken rice and Indian fish head curry from experts. The classes are conducted on a newly-built raised podium, where I could get the above view of the dining area.

Singapore Food Sampler

For the first time, the Singapore food sampler is being sold here for 10 dollars. It can be used to redeem for four “petite-sized” local fares from designated stalls and a cup of tea or coffee. It’s targeted at tourists, allowing them to sample various food items such as laksa, black pepper crab, bak kuh teh and rojak, just to name a few. It’s a very good idea actually, though not necessarily an economical one for locals.

Stamp exhibition

Perhaps most surprising (and a little out of place) is the stamp exhibition smack in the middle of the busy food area. Not quite what I was expecting! Here, stamps depicting the theme of food are on display.

Singapore and Macao joint stamp issue

This set of stamps was launched on the first day of the food festival. It is a joint issue between Singapore and Macau, featuring the best-known signature dishes of the two places. What’s unique about the stamps is that they are available in both Singapore and Macanese currencies.

And that’s it for Lau Pa Sat! To be frank I was expecting a whole lot more from this dining enclave. Fortunately, there is a whole slew of other events held in many places to look forward to.

Lau Pa Sat
18 Raffles Quay
Singapore 048582

From a quick glance at the events calendar, the seafood weekend at robertson walk and ethnic food trails in Chinatown, kampong glam and Little India sound most intriguing to me. There is also a facebook group that you can join to keep track of upcoming events.

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About the Author

Veron Ang is the founder and chief editor of Sparklette. She lives in Singapore and has dined and traveled across the world. She also runs Sparklette Studio, a web design and WordPress development firm. If you'd like to connect with her, head on over to the contact page or follow her personal updates on Twitter: @VeronSG.

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11 responses

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r.p
July 8, 2008

the satay looks delicious. Thinking to go this week food festival at Chinatown. I heard there will be eating competition?
Reply
Peko Peko
July 8, 2008

The stamps are pretty awesome — and of course the food you feature always is too! So those stamps are issued by the postal service? They are real stamps, right?

KyotoFoodieã®Peko
Reply
py
July 8, 2008

Thank you for mentioning this on your blog, otherwise I won’t have known about the food festival at Lau Pa Sat. Hopefully the events would bring more people to Lau Pa Sat.
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Veron
July 8, 2008

r.p: The Singapore round of the Major League Eating competition would be held at Robertson Walk this Saturday, though I’m not so sure about Chinatown. The events calendar of the food festival may give you a better idea (see link above).

Peko Peko: Yep, they are real stamps issued by SingPost and Macao Post in a joint collaboration. Wouldn’t it be cool if they were scented like the food they depict? I know of a certain sweet-and-sour pork scented stamp from China.

py: There isn’t much publicity about the food festival, is there? At least they are getting some interesting places involved like the Night Safari and Robertson Walk. Come to think of it, the International Museum Day this year was a little lackluster too, compared to the previous year.
Reply
Id
July 9, 2008

Your post couldn’t come at a better time. I am planning to go out with a friend of mine tomorrow but we’re stuck on where to eat. Your blog helped tons during this time, so thanks again! =D
This foodie fest looks wonderful! =) I hope to be able to the sample the cuisine before the festival is over.
Reply
r.p
July 9, 2008

Oh ok. Thx for the info Veron.
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Veron
July 9, 2008

Id: That sounds awesome! Enjoy yourselves, and oh, do come back and share with us on your foodie experience!

r.p: My pleasure :)
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Ames
July 12, 2008

Looks really cool

If only I can attend…
Reply
Sally
July 14, 2008

wow, the pictures are making me hungry. how i wish i could attend all the food fest event too. but i sure going to Lau Pa Sat to try soon.

hey veron, if you have any experience on buffet, could you please share it on your blog with us? i need some recommendation for my class gathering.

thks for the above sharing. i will be looking forward to more recommendation from you.
Reply
Veron
July 14, 2008

No problem. Do a search for “buffet” here and you’ll see all my past reviews on various buffets around Singapore. Enjoy!
Reply
walter
July 14, 2008

Hey nice coverage there on Lau Pa Sat, and will try to check out the satay. Yeah, I think after many years of the food festival, it could be a challenge trying to ring up publicity and attract sponsorship dollars. This is a similar challenge that we face with International Museum Day.

Perhaps it is time for us to join forces and gain strength through unity….
Reply