Destination Guide: Gluten-Free Singapore
- Alina
- Jun 7, 2024
- 14 min read
Updated: Mar 13
One of the top metropolitan cities in the world, Singapore is perhaps the easiest Asian country to visit as a celiac.
Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multilingual society primarily comprising those of Chinese, Malay, and Indian descent. Travelers get to explore unique neighborhoods and cuisines born of these and other ethnic influences, experiencing a multitude of cultures all in one city. Given its stunning architecture, cultural landmarks, unmatched levels of cleanliness (seriously, we were so impressed), and heaps of natural beauty (even the skyscrapers often have garden cutouts and rooftops), Singapore is a fantastic destination for any type of traveler, from relaxed beachgoers to nature adventurers to city explorers.
Most residents speak English, so there typically won't be a language barrier when communicating your gluten-free needs. But make sure to double check schedules before you head to any restaurants — hawker markets are closed on Mondays, and most restaurants are also closed at least one day of the week. Keep reading for our tips, tricks, and recommendations for a celiac-safe vacation to the immaculate country of Singapore.
Note: Our posts may contain affiliate links. For example, as an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. If you purchase something through those links, you won't be charged extra, but we'll receive a small commission. All opinions expressed herein are our own, and we will only recommend products, services, and restaurants that we have personally tested and found to meet our quality standards.
Restaurants
Recommended Eats
Safety: ★★★★★
Dedicated, 100% gluten-free restaurant.
Taste: ★★★★★
As a celiac, I’ve found myself naturally creating a global “best of” list for various gluten-free foods, particularly bread. The best croissant I’ve ever had? Vancouver. The best bagel? New York. The best focaccia? Turns out it’s Singapore, specifically at The Butcher’s Wife! Everything we had here was soooooo good, but the focaccia (topped with goat cheese and tomatoes) takes the cake — seriously the best focaccia I’ve ever had, even better than regular gluten-full focaccia! Bonus: they can also handle dairy-free, vegan, vegetarian, and additional food allergies besides gluten.
Overall Experience: ★★★★★
Hands down our favorite restaurant we tried in Singapore, The Butcher's Wife made us want to live in Singapore long term! We made sure to get takeout from here on our last night so it could be our last honeymoon meal, and I still wish I could have eaten here even more. I heard recently that they almost shut down (and was absolutely gutted), but thankfully they reversed course on that for now — take that as your sign to get over there quickly so you don’t risk missing out!
Note: This restaurant fills up quickly, so be sure to make reservations! If you can’t get a table, they also do takeout and delivery.
Safety: ★★★★★
Dedicated, 100% gluten-free cafe and bakery.
Taste: ★★★★☆
With a concerted focus on healthy options for its from-scratch menu, TIANN'S insistence on using only the best quality ingredients made everything we tried a real treat. They don’t add refined sugar to any of their menu, but you certainly can’t tell it’s missing from the taste of its sweet items! And for our friends with other restrictions, TIANN’S is also corn- and peanut-free!
Must tries: Signature TIANN’S Waffles
Overall Experience: ★★★★★
A wonderful spot to get your day off to the right start, we ended up here multiple times for breakfast. From takeout pastries to sit-down waffles (sweet AND savory options), cold-pressed juices, coffee and more, this cute neighborhood eatery was another mainstay that made it fun to envision a life in Singapore. They also have gelato if you’re looking for a dessert spot, and it looks like they recently expanded to dinner on Fridays!
Safety: ★★★★☆
Not dedicated gluten-free, but staff is knowledgeable about cross contact to safely accommodate patrons with celiac disease.
Pros:
Staff is hugely accommodating — if you let them know you have celiac or another allergy when you book, they note it down and attach it to your room number. When you check in for meals, they note your restriction and ask if you’d like to have the chef come meet with you (we definitely recommend taking them up on this!).
There is a dedicated area of the kitchen for allergy-related cooking — not entirely gluten-free, but extra focused on cross contact prevention
The chef at the breakfast buffet, Senior Sous Chef Amresh Ramadass, was the kindest man, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy the challenge of coming up with safe foods for me to try. Since the buffet was too risky for cross-contact reasons, he was happy to bring us our own fresh fruit from the back, as well as separately cook my meals for me. He offered to make many cuisines, from more American-style breakfast to traditional Singaporean, Indian, and Chinese dishes.
You can have dinner here as well, which is not a buffet — just let the staff know of your restrictions when you order (they didn’t send out the chef to speak with us for dinner, but staff seemed knowledgeable)
Cons:
You have to wait a bit since your food is being made fresh and with extra precautions just for you, but it’s well worth the extra time
Taste: ★★★★★
Every single bite was delicious; you can’t go wrong at the breakfast buffet here! Full transparency, I didn’t find the dinner to be as tasty as the custom dishes made for me at breakfast (likely a different chef), but it’s still a solid choice for a meal.
Must tries: Appam + ask the chef for a noodle stir fry at breakfast
Overall Experience: ★★★★★
This was our first experience navigating a hotel breakfast buffet with celiac, and boy did it set a high bar. Looking back at our pictures from breakfast here and seeing my giant grin reminds me just how special it was to be treated not like a burden, but as a joyful, exciting opportunity to demonstrate the chef’s skill. Even if you don’t stay at the hotel, we’d recommend enjoying a breakfast here if you build Sentosa into your itinerary.
Safety: ★★★★☆
Not dedicated gluten-free, but staff is knowledgeable about cross contact to safely accommodate patrons with celiac disease.
Pros:
The gluten-free tea comes with everything you’d get in a standard tea, just modified to be gluten-free: tea, sandwiches, scones, and a plethora of desserts
Cons:
You need to book the gluten-free tea in advance
You don’t get the exact same desserts and savories as the regular tea — but they’re still very detailed and fun, so you won’t be missing out at all
Taste: ★★★★★
One of the rare highlights of the gluten-free life is that when you go to an afternoon tea with a gluten-eater, you get a whole gluten-free tray just for you — no sharing like everyone else! The tea itself was excellent, and the three layers of scrumptious tea sandwiches, scones, and sweets made me feel like a queen.
Overall Experience: ★★★★★
Another one of the highlights of our honeymoon! The hotel is exquisite, the views of the water and Marina Bay Sands were gorgeous, and the tea itself was simply delightful. We've heard that the gluten-free option comes and goes, so be sure to confirm it’s available when you make your reservation. It’s definitely worth adding to your list as long as it’s available!
Note: Reservations are required. Be sure to request the gluten-free tea set when making your reservation!
Safety: ★★★★☆
Not dedicated gluten-free, but staff is knowledgeable about cross contact to safely accommodate patrons with celiac disease.
Pros:
Gluten-free items are clearly marked on the menu
Once you mention your allergy, they’ll send a manager out to confirm what’s safe for you and personally take your order to ensure proper precautions are taken in the kitchen
Cons:
There weren’t a ton of gluten-free options to choose from, but still a decent variety
Taste: ★★★★☆
This is a fantastic option for those with a spicier palate. If you can’t handle a kick, it may not be quite up your alley. The gluten-free items are not plentiful, but it gives your gluten-eating companions a chance to eat a truly Singaporean menu while you still have some safe choices.
Overall Experience: ★★★★☆
My favorite part of this restaurant was the ambiance — it’s located inside of an art museum, and the restaurant itself has so much character as well. Choose your swankiest attire for an extra fun time!
Note: We recommend making a reservation.
Safety: ★★★★☆
Not dedicated gluten-free, but staff is knowledgeable about cross contact to safely accommodate patrons with celiac disease.
Pros:
Separate gluten-free menu is available online {EDIT 6/7/24: No longer available online as of now, but servers should be able to let you know what can be made gluten-free}
Dessert is available too!
Cons:
Service was very slow, so bring your patience
No physical copy of the gluten-free menu, so be prepared to pull it up on your phone or save a screenshot of it before you arrive {EDIT 6/7/24: No longer available online as of now, but servers should be able to let you know what can be made gluten-free}
Taste: ★★★★★
A delicious and safe meal! We highly recommend the roasted cod and crushed potatoes dish.
Overall Experience: ★★★★★
A Gordon Ramsay restaurant, it was fun to be able to say we’d been here. In addition to the food, we also really enjoyed the view here, and it would have been even better if we’d have gone before it got dark outside.
Note: We recommend making a reservation.
Safety: ★★★★☆
Not dedicated gluten-free, but most of the menu is gluten-free, helping to reduce cross contact risk.
Pros:
Gluten-free items are clearly marked on the menu
Most of the menu is gluten-free
Lots of healthy options
Cons:
N/A
Taste: ★★★★☆
We only stopped here for a snack, but there were a lot of fun options to choose from.
Must-try: Smoothies
Overall Experience: ★★★★☆
A cute cafe on an even cuter street! If you find yourself in need of a snack or lunch near the Far East Square, this is an excellent spot for a bite and a photo op.
Safety: ★★★★☆
Not dedicated gluten-free, but they only use gluten-free cones, thereby reducing cross-contact risk.
Pros:
Gluten-free cones!
The majority of their ice creams are gluten-free (clearly marked), and they only use gluten-free cones, so just ask them to change gloves and switch to a fresh/washed scoop, and you’ll be golden
Bonus for our vegan and dairy-free friends: All of their ice cream is vegan, plant-based and free from dairy, egg, and other artificial additives
Cons:
They did have some gluten-full desserts in a separate container (not made onsite), so it’s important to ask for a glove change!
Taste: ★★★★★
Really yummy ice cream! We forgot to take a picture, but this was a great treat for a quick break from shopping while at the Paragon.
Overall Experience: ★★★★★
Fun fact: Kind Kones was founded in collaboration with MasterChef season 4 winner Inderpal Singh! There are three locations in Singapore, so it’s worth a visit if one is near your sight-seeing for the day.
Others We Tried
Safety: ★★★☆☆
Not dedicated gluten-free. Chefs are aware of the necessary cross-contact precautions, but servers are inconsistent with knowledge of gluten.
Pros:
A rare opportunity to sample a delicious array of gluten-free dim sum, including the Singapore staple of fried sweet potato balls filled with salted egg
Gluten-free dim sum set or a la carte dim sum available if requested in advance
Separate fryers for gluten-free fried dim sum options
Cons:
TLDR: Knowledge of what gluten-free means was inconsistent, leading to a full-on panic and sprint to a bathroom after being (incorrectly) told I’d been served someone else’s gluten-full dumpling. Thankfully, it turned out they were misinformed, and it was indeed gluten-free.
The long version: Somewhere along the line, someone was confused and decided that gluten-free also meant vegetarian, swapping one of our meat-filled dishes to an egg yolk dumpling without communicating that to us. Upon biting into it and realizing it was not what we’d ordered, we quickly confirmed with the waiter, who at first went back to the kitchen and returned to tell us it was the wrong dish and was a gluten dumpling. Still holding the first bite in my mouth at this point without swallowing (thankfully), I promptly broke out into a cold sweat and sprinted to the bathroom (which wasn’t even in the restaurant) to spit it out and wash out my mouth (apologies to the random other women who had to watch that, haha). Upon my return, I was informed they had actually been mistaken the first time they checked, and the dumpling WAS gluten-free, just accidentally swapped to vegetarian. Nothing like an unnecessary panic attack to make a meal special, right?!
Taste: ★★★★★
The best dim sum we’ve ever had, can’t complain on this front!
Overall Experience: ★★☆☆☆
We post about this restaurant with mixed feelings. At the end of the day, the meal did turn out to be safe, the restaurant was beautiful, and they served some of the best dim sum either of us has ever had. But their servers were consistently confused, making me feel increasingly unsafe as the meal continued, climaxing into a panic attack after mistakenly being led to believe I’d just eaten a mouthful of gluten. We leave this with you as an option since I didn’t get sick and they had seemed knowledgeable/took proper precautions according to our email correspondence with them ahead of the meal, but it clearly comes with caveats. Personally, it wouldn’t be worth the stress and anxiety for me to return at this stage of my celiac journey, but we hope they’ve made improvements since this incident with us.
Safety: ★★★☆☆
Not dedicated gluten-free, and staff weren’t knowledgeable about gluten — proceed with caution.
Pros:
Gluten-free (and vegan, halal, and nut-free) flavors are listed on the website and include: original gula melaka, brown coconut and durian
Separate section of the stand with a dedicated employee making the putu piring (which were all gluten-free at the time of our visit)
Cons:
Gluten-free items are not labeled on the in-person menu
Additional food items besides putu piring were being made at the stall and didn’t seem to be gluten-free, BUT they were being made in a separate section by a completely different staff member than the putu piring
Staff weren’t knowledgeable about what was gluten-free, and therefore not educated for preventing cross-contact (though it’s low risk if all putu piring is still gluten-free and is assigned to a dedicated staff member in a separate section)
Taste: ★★★★★
Putu piring is a rice flour based treat from the Malay community. We really enjoyed sampling this traditional Singaporean dessert!
Overall Experience: ★★★★☆
Despite the staff not being knowledgeable about gluten-free, we still felt comfortable eating here given their website’s gluten-free claims and the putu piring being made in a separate section by a dedicated staff member. I didn’t get sick (and I’m very sensitive), and it was fun to get that traditional hawker market experience. However, menus and setup may have changed since our visit, so we’d recommend checking the website again at the time of your trip to confirm if all of the putu piring is still gluten-free. If it isn't, for cross-contact reasons we wouldn’t recommend chancing it.
Coriander Leaf Chijmes
Safety: ★☆☆☆☆
Not recommended for celiacs or others sensitive to cross contact.
Pros:
Gluten-free items are marked on the menu
Cons:
Staff didn’t seem to understand requests for cross-contact precautions
Either due to staff not alerting chefs to my allergy/need for cross-contact precautions or chefs not knowing how to accommodate accordingly, I unfortunately got very sick
Taste: ★★☆☆☆
The food was unfortunately subpar.
Overall Experience: ★☆☆☆☆
The area the restaurant was located in, as well as the restaurant itself, were super cute and inviting. Unfortunately, something went wrong in the kitchen, and I definitely got hit with — at a minimum — some very significant gluten cross contact, leading to some very bad symptoms that put a damper on the rest of the trip. Hopefully education on this has improved, but I can’t personally recommend risking a visit here if you have celiac or are otherwise very sensitive to gluten.
Additional Researched Options
You can find our full list of researched restaurants, including some we didn’t get a chance to visit ourselves due to temporary closures, on Find Me Gluten Free here (get $5 off FMGF Premium here). In addition, you can also find gluten-free foods at Marks & Spencer locations (love the UK labeling! plus, they have great gluten-free truffles similar to Lindt's milk chocolate truffles), and hit up a Five Guys for fries in a pinch (fryer is dedicated, and typically the staff member assigned to the fry station doesn’t work with any other food items). The Gluten Free Singapore Facebook group is also an extremely helpful resource — well moderated and highly engaged, the admin of the group also sells her own gluten-free Singapore guide if you’re interested in additional support from a local (use code SINGAPORE2024 through 12/31/2024 for 20% off!).
**Please note, all places on this list were well-reviewed for celiac safety at the time of our visit. We were only able to visit the above guide restaurants ourselves, though, so if venturing to any places on the larger app list, be sure to read the reviews and do your own due diligence before visiting.
Food Safety Tips
Tourist Attractions and Activities
In terms of lodging, we’d recommend staying near Tiong Bahru due to its great location and being home to two great dedicated gluten-free restaurants (The Butcher's Wife and TIANN’S). Or if you’re staying on the island of Sentosa, Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort is a great luxury option with safe food onsite. Regardless, the prevalence of public transit means you shouldn't be too removed from any attractions. Once you’ve got the food and lodgings sorted, here are a few fun attractions and activities to consider in Singapore as you’re planning your trip.
Explore the Great Outdoors
Sentosa Island
Make the trip over to Sentosa Island, where you’ll find a fun mix of both relaxing beaches and theme parks (e.g. Universal Studios Singapore). Check out the cable cars as well for some great views!
Mount Faber
Take the cable car up to Mount Faber to see gorgeous views of the Singapore skyline and take hikes through the rainforest. Beware of monkeys, though! Put away any food or plastic bags to avoid monkey aggression.
Supertree Grove
Ever wished you could step into the Avatar movie? Then this is your place! Gardens by the Bay is filled with so many cool features worth a visit, but if you only have time for one, pick the Supertree Grove (Bonus: the grove is free to visit!). And don’t miss their evening light and music show, Garden Rhapsody!
Culture It Up
Old Hill Street Police Station
Formerly home to the Singapore Police Force, this historic building with rainbow windows makes the perfect photo spot!
Chinatown
Make your way over to Chinatown for a glimpse of the hawker market at Maxwell Food Center, and shop to your heart’s content at the many shops along the street market.
Don’t miss the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, another excellent example of Singapore’s beautiful architecture and rich cultural heritage.
Little India
Explore another hawker market by visiting the Tekka Centre, enjoy the many shops and treat yourself to a mango lassi, and then be sure to stop by the vibrant Tan Teng Niah (the last Chinese villa in Little India).
Peranakan Houses
If you’ve searched Singapore on Instagram or Pinterest, chances are you’ve come across these colorful pastel homes. An excellent spot for a stroll and frame-worthy pics!
Merlion Park
Alongside the waterfront, this park is home to Singapore’s iconic mascot, the Merlion. Part fish, part lion, these water fountain / statues also come with an epic view of the city skyline and are especially fun to visit at night to see the city lights. There are several fresh juice carts nearby as well that are worth a visit!
Haji Lane
Head on over to the Kampong Glam section of Arab Street, and you’ll find the trendy Haji Lane. Filled with both traditional and modern shops and cafes, this fun street is an excellent glimpse into yet another segment of Singapore’s diverse ethnic makeup.
Get Your Shop On
Bugis Junction
This gorgeous mall is of course fun for shopping, but also to simply walk around and see the architecture.
ION Orchard
Another great option for shopping, but what makes this mall especially unique is that it is also home to art galleries, the ION Sky observation deck, and the beautiful Library@Orchard.
Jewel Changi
Convenient enough to hit on a layover, this world famous mall is attached to the airport and features an indoor rainforest repleat with a waterfall and canopy park, a Pokémon Center, and more!
Embrace Your Inner Child
Singapore Zoo
Pandas, a river cruise…need we say more?
Play a round (or five!) on the claw machines
No trip to Asia is complete without playing their ubiquitous claw machines! And who knows, you just may find yourself the proud new owner of an extra cute plushie!
Explore the Singapore Changi Airport
This may sound like a joke, but we’re serious! From a huge slide to butterfly gardens and more, this is one of the coolest airports in the world.
Spectra Light Show
Located in front of Marina Bay Sands, this fun laser and water show happens nightly at 8 and 9 pm, and has an additional 10 pm showing on Fridays and Saturdays.
***Date of travel: May 2022
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