A travel piece today. The photo is of Smith Street in Singapore China Town. If you've never been to Singapore, but you find yourself there one night (hey, it could happen!) you owe it to yourself to head for Smith Street with an appetite for great food. You will not be disappointed. Do not pass go do not collect two hundred dollars, just go to Smith Street. You can thank me later. If you're planning a trip with the option of a one-night stop over in South East Asia, choose Singapore. And go to Smith Street for dinner. Really.
Those of you who have been know what i'm talking about. By day Smith Street is just another Chinatown street, undistinguishable from the other streets surrounding it other than the fact that it has a European name.
A little history: It commemorates the hugely popular Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, then Governor of the Straits Settlements and High Commissioner in 1887 to 1893, who was a Chinese scholar and responsible for most of the work to combat the problems of secret societies. It has an informal Chinese name, hei yuen kai, meaning Theatre Street in reference to the Lai Chun Yuen Theater that was the center of entertainment in the Kreta Ayer area. The theatre existed sometime in the 1880s and staged Cantonese operas until 1927. It was later converted to a cinema.
Its red-light reputation contributed character to the street, which was also known for hawker stalls crowding into the street during its heyday reputation as the main "Food Street". And that is where you should be any night you're lucky enough to be in Singapore from eight p.m. on, for that is when the shops close and the food carts come out and the street is transformed as if by magic into an open-air food fair, with tables all down the center of the street. Veterans of the drill know just what to do, but it's a bit daunting for first timers.
The trick is to stake out a table and leave one person to hold it. The other/others go down the row of stalls, and there are many, and find out what's on offer. It doesn't vary much from year to year, but it's all wonderful. You go and place orders and pay at each of the stalls you want to sample from and then repeat the journey to collect your food. Tis folly to gather up the food and then look for a table. On a busy night, which is most of them, you may find yourself up the creek.
I don't know that I can do justice to the magic that is Smith Street by night. The smells, the lights, the chatter of the crowd, the shouting of the cooks as they work in intense heat producing prodigious amounts of food in short order. Of course there is ice-cold beer of every type for those so inclined, and lots of other cold beverages. The food is simply sublime. The best Chinese cuisine you'll ever eat outside of a five star restaurant.
Recommended dishes are Chilli Crabs, for those who like it hot, any of the satay meat skewers, the steamed chicken buns, the Shanghai prawn noodles, oh hell, it's all wonderful. Take twelve people and order everything. Tell them I sent you. They'll look at you like you've lost your marbles. Just smile serenly. It unnerves them. Nothing wrong with maximizing the fun quotient.
Singapore has other delights, and while I know it's politically incorrect to some to linger there, it's a wonderful place full of courteous, helpful people who are quite happy with their lives. If you find yourself there for two nights, the second night should be devoted to the Peking Duck at the large corner restaurant across the street from the end of the row of stalls. Best i've ever had, and i've had it in several countries, including China.
So that's the skinny on Smith Street, a foodie paradise. You owe it to yourself to find yourself there one day. Shift happens.
