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Once upon a time in Singapore, food hawkers wheeled their pushcarts through the streets, enticing people in homes, shops and offices to buy their dishes as snacks or parts of a complete meal. Today, Singapore food vendors are conveniently grouped at hawker centers, where the Ministry of Environment can regulate their standards of hygiene.

A meal at a hawker center is a must for any visitor to Singapore. A perennial favorite is the Satay Club, which occupied the waterfront Esplanade at Connaught Drive until the site was chosen for construction of a new amphitheater. Most of the famous Satay Club carts then moved to Clarke Quay, an area of restored shophouses and godowns now used as restaurants, nightclubs and retail outlets.

Like many hawker centers, the Satay Club at Clarke Quay is open-air. You can cruise the line of vendor carts, deciding what to eat, before taking a seat at one of the numbered tables. You may sit wherever you like, and if you can't find a vacant table, it's quite acceptable to ask to share one.

Order your selections from hawkers who approach your table or directly from the carts of your choice. Because different hawkers specialize in different dishes, it's common practice to order from several different carts. You pay for each dish as it is delivered to your table. Prices are remarkably cheap, with a full meal rarely costing more than $5 per person.

Dishes represent the main cultures of Singapore and more—Chinese, Malay, Peranakan, Indian, Indonesian and even Western. Often, recipes have been passed from generation to generation, with hawkers carefully guarding their secrets.

Perhaps the most popular hawker center dish is satay—bite sized pieces of chicken, beef or mutton marinated in spices, threaded onto a bamboo skewer, barbecued over charcoal embers, and served with peanut sauce. It's interesting to sit where you can watch one of the satay men at work, fanning the flames with a rattan fan while brushing cooking oil on the sizzling meats.

Other hawker fare to try includes:
Bee Hoon Goreng - Vermicelli noodles made from rice (bee hoon) fried with eggs, sprouts, onions and other vegetables.
Chai Tow Kueh - Fried cake made from Chinese white radishes, egg, garlic and chili.
Goreng Pisang - Deep fried banana fritters.
Murtabak - Pancake comprising paper thin layers fried on a cast iron griddle and filled with meat, egg, vegetables or a combination of ingredients.
Rojak - Salad of bean sprouts, pineapple, white turnip and fried bean cake tossed in a spicy peanut and shrimp paste.

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