Upper Thomson: Singapore's Best Neighbourhood Food Trail

Upper Thomson Road is Singapore's most rewarding neighbourhood food trail — a stretch of the main road cutting through the central forested area of the island that has evolved from a village strip into one of the city's most celebrated casual dining destinations, its shophouse restaurants and open-air hawker stalls drawing food-conscious locals from across the island on weekends. The road begins near the Thomson Plaza shopping centre and runs north through Sin Ming toward the Upper Seletar Reservoir area, with the density of restaurant offerings peaking around the Sin Ming Drive junction.

The Thomson Road Bak Kut Teh is a cluster of competing bak kut teh restaurants that have operated here since the 1960s, serving the peppery Teochew-style pork rib soup that is one of Singapore's most comforting dishes. Multiple stalls compete across the same stretch of road, and locals have strong opinions about which version is superior — part of the joy is trying more than one. Springleaf Prata Place near the north end of the road is the benchmark for Singapore's best roti prata — the griddle-fried flatbread served with dhal and curry that is the city's great breakfast and supper food.

The Upper Thomson area has also attracted several of Singapore's finest specialty coffee shops and craft bakeries in the past decade, drawn by the neighbourhood's less tourist-facing character and lower rents than the central areas. MacRitchie Reservoir and the Treetop Walk are a short taxi ride away, making Upper Thomson a natural base for combining nature hiking with excellent food. The neighbourhood is reachable by MRT to Upper Thomson station on the Thomson-East Coast Line — one of the newer stations that has made this previously car-dependent area significantly more accessible to visitors from across the city.