An Institute of Policy Studies Social Lab survey recorded the cost of a selected menu of seven hawker food items (chicken rice, chicken biryani, nasi goreng, rice with two vegetable dishes and one meat option, rice with one vegetable dish and two meat options, iced milo and black coffee with sugar) at 80 food spots in 26 neighbourhoods.

The aim of the survey was find the differences in the cost of dining out across neighbourhoods. Here's the list, beginning from the cheapest:

At the extremes, people eating hawker fare in Marine Parade would be paying 20 percent more than if they were eating the same thing in Bukit Merah.

Factors that determine pricing

It was noted that "hawker centres in many older estates, such as Bukit Merah, Queenstown and Toa Payoh, offer the cheapest meals" and that "cheaper food prices could boil down to a simple case of demand and supply, where hawkers charge what they think their clientele are able to afford."

On the flip side, Bishan has relatively fewer elderly and Marine Parade has a higher proportion of private condominiums and landed estates residents.

To read more about the survey and its suggestions to keep hawker food affordable, you can read it here.

Top image from Charles Haynes

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