Welcome to NUS, the place where good food does not equal to sky high price. In this article, I will bring you around the top 5 food in and around (that is, in short walking distance from) NUS. Contrary to the popular belief that campus food does not taste as good as the food outside campus, NUS offers a wide range of eateries that will make you less eager to leave the campus.

1. Reedz Café

Location: Mochtar Riady Building, 15 Kent Ridge Drive

Price: $3-$10

Lectures and assignments might stop you from café-hopping. But, fret not, NUS students! You can always indulge your craving or get your daily dose of caffeine without having to leave the campus. Located at the Mochtar Riady Building, Reedz Café is easily accessible from both outside and inside NUS. Reedz café is not only a cozy café to study or to do your homework but also a place to wind up after a long day at school. The café offers a wide range of food ranging from muffin to fish and chips. My personal favorites are Duck Breast Aglio Olio and Blueberry Bagel. Of course, it is no Jamie’s Italian, but the hearty meal here is certainly something you cannot resist.

2. Al-Amaan Restaurant (previously known as Ameen Makan House)

Location: 12 Clementi Road

Price: $1-$15

For students who love supper (don’t we all do?), Al-Amaan is the place to go. The supper place is located just behind the Eusoff Hall. If you feel too lazy to move, you can always get your food delivered to your doorstep. The supper place opens daily from 11am to 3am. It offers a wide range of food that will satisfy your late-night cravings: fried ice cream, pasta, Maggie, fried rice, roti john… you name it. Their kampong fried rice is definitely a must try. The second place goes to butter chicken if you prefer more savory food.

3. Yong Tau Foo @ The Deck

Location: 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road

Price: <$3

The third place goes to the stall with the longest queue in The Deck, the Yong Tau Foo stall. Having been featured in various media, the stall still maintain their pricing and quality. The stall offers a scrumptious meal with extremely affordable price. One bowl of yong tau foo normally cost less than $3. Sounds too good to be true? The only downside is that to get a bowl of piping hot yong tau foo, you will have to queue for about 30 minutes during lunchtime. But, trust me, it’s worth the wait.

Meatball

4. Indonesian Panggang @ The Frontier

Location: Science Drive 1

Price: $2.5-$6

Indonesian Panggang offers Indonesian food such as ayam penyet (crushed chicken), udang penyet (crushed shrimp), baso (meatball), lemongrass chicken set and so on. Do try their crushed chicken wings. You will get two pieces of deep-fried chicken wings, vegetable, rice and fried tofu for as low as $3.

5. Asian Mini Wok @ E-Canteen

Location: Prince George’s Park Residence (PGPR)

Price: $3-$4

The Asian Mini Wok in PGPR’s E-Canteen is one of the most popular stalls among the students and staffs. They offer various Asian dishes for less than $5. I strongly recommend their Salted Egg Chicken.

Special Mention

I believe that it is impossible to review the top food outlets in NUS without mentioning these two outlets. However, you might need to wait or travel slightly longer than the above top 5 food.

1. llaollao (opening soon)

Location: One Kent Ridge (Kent Ridge MRT Exit C or D)

llaollao is arguably one of the most happening dessert today. To be honest, I don’t have the patience to go to city centre to queue for another 30 minutes or more to get my froyo craving fixed so I figure I will just wait for the new llaollao outlet at NUH! (Good news ! llaollao has since been opened)

2. Wah Chee

Location: 5 Dover Crescent

Despite its location which is not so near to NUS, I believe that it is worth mentioning because of its mouthwatering dishes. Located one stop away from NUS UTown or about 10 minutes walk from Faculty of Science, Wah Chee is definitely one of the best eateries around NUS. Its location might be relatively hard to find but many NUS students keep patronizing the place simply because we can’t get enough of its wide variety of tze char. Whatever you order, you will never go wrong. Just make sure you try their famous butter squid!

Having spent 4 years living on campus, I have tried most of the food in NUS. To my amazement, I cannot recall any bad experience of eating on campus. Almost all the eateries offer decent food with relatively affordable prices. You can always try the other stalls and, hopefully, find a food that suits your liking!

Photo Credits:

Indonesian Panggang (Lemongrass Chicken Set and Baso): Tiffany Widjaja

Reedz, Al Amaan: Teresa Widodo

Photos from the Internet:

Yong Tau Foo: http://www.keropokman.com/2008/04/yong-tau-foo-deck-arts-canteen-nus.html

Asian Mini Wok: Asian Mini Wok’s Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/asianminiwok)