5 Cool Food Courts To Visit

(Images courtesy of http://eatbook.sg/)

The food court is the bread and butter of the everyday Singaporean’s life, but you probably won’t want to hang around in it for too long after you finish your chicken rice. It’s greasy, humid, crammed and noisy. But more and more F&B operators are aiming to change that by reimagining the classic no-frills food court as a chic destination slavish enough to the vibes of a hipster café or restaurant, yet still humble enough to offer you a wallet-friendly meal. We check out these unusual spots.

Timbre+

Credits: Screenshot / YouTube / Timbre Music

Timbre Group, best known for its various nightlife ventures, runs this sprawling 700-seat space which used to be a staff canteen. It’s been given a new lease of life with hawker stalls carved out of containers and old-school caravans – which Timbre Group’s co-founder Edward Chia says are imported from the US – masquerading as mini-restaurants serving more upmarket dishes like steaks and escargots. The complex is draped in bracing murals by local art movement RSCLS, lending it an edgy feel. A sizeable stage at the rear hosts live performances at dusk, although we find the volume a little too loud for our liking.

Third Place

Credits: Facebook / Third Place

Credits: madamechewy.com

Industrial minimalism meets posh dining concept in this outlet of catering firm Select Group’s Third Place, which combines a food court, a café and a bar into one. Located on the premises of a Tuas facility that produces medical equipment, this airy space is aptly flanked by naked concrete floors and walls, giving it a rather sterile look. Thankfully, the eccentric motivational phrases screaming at us from the pillars and the cheery lamp posts illuminating parts of the seating area help to cut through some of the lethargy, making the place more fun than it has any right to be.

The Bedok Marketplace

Credits: Instagram / booninorbit 

Credits: eatbook.sg

At first glance, it looks like we might have tripped onto the set of a local period drama. But the rows of dainty shophouses are actually home to a group of new-generation hawkers brandishing la-di-da stall names such as Ballistic Meatballs, The Burning Oak and The Chop Chop Selections, each with a feisty attitude to match. The Burning Oak, for example, sports a rebellious all-black stall front that sticks out like an untucked shirt among its neighbours. The beverage stall, run by the centre’s management, even gets in on the act with replicas of retro vehicles on display at the counter.  A vintage Beetle car near the entrance also proves unmissable.

Five Square

Credits: Facebook / Five Square

The grandest entry on our list is this multi-concept number on the outskirts of the CBD, which houses a food court, a bar boasting live acts and sports screenings, a wine cellar and a swanky VIP-only 50-seat whisky bar camouflaged from public view. Most of the space here is taken up by the food court, which has a soul that leans heavily towards parent company Five Bar Group’s roots in the watering hole business. Lamps in an assortment of aluminium and wooden shades sprout dim light that bounces off rugged brown brick walls, creating a strangely romantic atmosphere.

 Food Republic Westgate

Credits: Loh Yong Jian

Food Republic is perhaps best known for its numerous concept stores that typically run the gamut from bright, gleaming enclaves that send Earth Day environmentalists into a fit to rustic, gloomy kumpung-like food courts that make snapping pictures of your nosh almost impossible. The Westgate outlet tries to do both, tugging at our nostalgia bug with old-world theatre posters hanging from the walls, but unfortunately still trying to sting our eyes with overly aggressive lighting. A cute Suzuki truck repurposed into a stall hawking tu tu kuehs (rice flour cakes with coconut filling), however, wins it some points.