5 Best Wet Markets in Singapore to Immerse in Local Culture

1. Tekka Wet Market

Built in 1982 and closed for a significant renovation in 2008, Tekka Wet Market was reopened in 2009. Since then it has been a clean and well-organized place, offering a refreshing environment for shopping. Its location in Little India, a vibrant and colorful area in Singapore, has made it a good advantage of Tekka Market.

Highlights

• Singapore’s most culturally rich market: Tekka Market is a place to be if you want to know more about Singaporeans and our way of living. Step into this most vibrant and colorful wet market, you will hear a hum of voices in various languages, from English to Hokkien, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil. Each of the ethnic communities still maintains their unique way of life with their culinary cultures, so this market is a place to observe and learn more about life in Singapore.
• Almost anything for your grocery needs is available here: Being the largest wet market in Singapore with 284 stalls, Tekka Market offers fresh produce and dry goods for all kinds of needs, even shark fins, which rarely found at a wet market.
• Long operating hours: While most of Singapore’s wet markets close around noon, Tekka Market opens till late afternoon. The longer it is, the more opportunities we have to fulfill our different needs.
• A 3-in-1 destination: Situated at Tekka Centre, home to a wet market, a food court, and a shopping area, Tekka Market is considered a one-stop destination where you can buy groceries, have good foods, and do shopping without traveling from place to place.

2. Chinatown Wet Market

• Image: Choo Yut Shing

Chinatown Wet Market is one of the most exotic wet markets in Singapore. Situated at the iconic Chinatown Complex along Smith Street, this wet market still retains its Chinese heritage and cultural elements.

Highlights

• A part of Chinese culture in Chinatown: Located in Chinatown Singapore, Chinatown Wet Market has a vibrant atmosphere of this ethnic neighborhood. You can find typical Chinese cooking ingredients like Chinese vegetables, herbs, and spices and have a chance to observe the way Chinese people doing business as well.
• A place to buy live shellfish: Whether you want to find expensive stuff like crabs and lobsters or more affordable ones like cockles, clams, and prawns, you can get them at Chinatown Wet Market. The array of big, live crabs and lobsters in plastic crates is impressive.
• A market for exotic meats: Live frogs, eels, and even turtles are meat ingredients in some special recipes of the locals. If you want to taste something different and delicious without learning any exotic recipes, you can try the popular frog porridge at these places.

3. Tiong Bahru Wet Market

Tiong Bahru Wet Market is well known as one of the markets for the freshest produce in Singapore. At some of its stalls, produce is packaged like the way it is in supermarkets to make it more convenient for shoppers.

Highlights

• A traditional market drawing an international crowd: Tiong Bahru Wet Market is popular among international residents, especially expats living in Singapore. You will be impressed with a variety of Western fresh produce available there. Australian and New Zealand beef at half the price of the supermarkets’ is a highlight of this market.
• A place to get flowers, especially orchids at reasonable prices: At one of the market’s entrances, there are a few floral stalls selling fresh-cut orchids and orchid plants with a beautiful selection at reasonable prices. An orchid branch is offered at prices from 40 cents to 1.20 Singapore dollars, depending on the varieties.
• Breakfast, shopping, lunch, coffee, and bookstores: If you want to spend a whole weekend day enjoying those listed things available at Tiong Bahru Estate, you can do it because Tiong Bahru Wet Market is in close proximity to the area's dazzling coffee shops, restaurants, and bookstores.

4. Geylang Serai Wet Market

Geylang Serai Market is one of the biggest and busiest wet markets in Singapore. Since 1964, this market has been a focal point for the local Malay community, with a good selection of Malay and Indian-Muslim specialties on offer.

Highlights

• A market in a traditional Malay kampong house: Situated in the heart of the Singapore Malay community, Geylang Serai Market plays the focal role of a hub celebrating Malay culture in its way. After the renovation, this market is dressed in a cultural suit - a traditional Malay kampong house. Together with Malay spices and foods offered there, the building’s pattern and structure say the celebrating word.
• Offering ingredients for cooking Malay culture-rich dishes: This market is where many Malay Singaporeans get ingredients to prepare traditional dishes. If you are looking for peeled and blended tapioca for making kueh, Geylang Serai Market is a place to check out.
• Malay spices and Middle Eastern spices: Geylang Serai Market supplies all sorts of Malay spices and a variety of spices from the Middle East. Visit BB Spices (stall 01-166) to get cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon and many more.
• Best Malay food: The second floor of Geylang Serai Market is home to hundreds of food stalls with a main focus on Malay and Indian cuisine. This is the best food court to enjoy Malay dishes such as asam pedas stingray (spicy stingray), beef rendang (spicy beef), ikan terubok (fried fish) and goreng pisang (banana fritters).

5. Senoko Fishery Port

Senoko Fishery Port is one of the two fishery ports operated by the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore. This wholesale fish market gets stocks from local fish trawlers, in-shore vessels and fish farms as well as imported sources, and distributes to markets, supermarkets, food courts and restaurants across Singapore. Besides the fish market, there are other facilities at Senoko Fishery Port, including a canteen where shoppers can have some foods and coffee to boost energy.

Highlights

• Venturing into another world of wet market: People may know typical wet markets in Singapore, but not everyone notices the existence of another kind of wet markets, different from what normally seen regarding location, operating hours and on offer products. It is interesting to make an outing to Senoko Fishery Port to take in the bustling picture of a wholesale market, supplying fish and shellfish to Singapore’s food scene. Embarking on this journey involves staying out late, but it is a chance to do things differently, observe and capture frenetic activities at a wet market while the dark of the night is surrounding.
• Fresh seafood at wholesale prices: Venture and get freshest ingredients for a seafood barbecue. Does it sound good? Choose your favorite seafood after feasting your eyes on an amazing selection of sea creatures, and treat your beloved to a seafood party in the afternoon. The good news is its wholesale prices.