At lunchtime the office workers of Raffles Place stream towards Lau Pa Sat; after dark, the satay smoke takes over the street outside.
The former Telok Ayer Market was built between 1890 and 1894. Municipal engineer James MacRitchie kept the octagonal plan of the 1833 market and dressed it in Victorian cast iron from Walter MacFarlane & Co. of Glasgow. It has been a National Monument since 28 June 1973, the date Singapore’s first monuments were protected. Dismantled in 1986 for MRT tunnelling, it was reassembled in 1989.
The hall is open 24 hours. In the evening, satay grills fill neighbouring Boon Tat Street: Satay Street runs on weekdays from 7 pm to 3 am and at weekends from 3 pm to 3 am. Lau Pa Sat is not on NEA’s list of hawker centres, but you order at the stalls and share tables in the same way.
