Allergy-friendly restaurants in Singapore

Eating out while having a food allergy is challenging in Singapore, as labelling of ingredients and awareness of cross-contamination risks remain uncommon among food businesses.

It’s food allergy awareness month! And awareness is something that can be sorely lacking among food businesses in Singapore, which I recently wrote about in a story for The Straits Times.

Having a loved one with severe allergies to nuts and shellfish (he carries an EpiPen everywhere he goes), eating out in Singapore is a real struggle. That’s because restaurants and eateries often lack detailed lists of their ingredients, awareness of cross-contamination risks, and crucially: an understanding of how severe (and potentially fatal) food allergies can be.

This challenge appears to be a common experience among the food-allergic families (mostly with young children) I spoke to in the course of writing my story (see here for another story on the daily challenges of food-allergic families). Of note, while the rate of food allergies remains low in Singapore, there is a growing trend of these allergies among children.

Clearly, more needs to be done to accommodate people living with food allergies in Singapore. In the meantime however, I figured that it might be useful to compile a list of eateries that I or others have had positive experiences with.

Here’s a list of restaurants that go the extra mile for people with food allergies:

Highly recommended

Din Tai Fung. Honestly, this Taiwanese chain really is the gold standard that other restaurants should aspire to. It’s truly impressive to me that when I informed the staff about my loved one’s food allergy, a waiter proceeded to mark out every menu item on a paper menu which was suitable for someone with a nut allergy, as well as every menu item which carried a cross-contamination risk, after consulting a mammoth binder stating each item’s ingredients.

The company also told me that they conduct training for staff regarding dietary restrictions and cross-contamination risks, and use food-allergen test kits to compile an allergen profile for each of their menu items. Amazing!

My only issue with Din Tai Fung is that they don’t provide this allergen advice online, and one must head down in order to ask for it. Also, unfortunately, no xiaolongbaos for my nut-allergic loved one because of the cross-contamination risk.

Restaurants under the Proper Concepts Collective umbrella. These restaurants include Ms Maria and Mr Singh, The Feather Blade, Rappu, Goho and Mezcla.

Though I’ve only ever dined at Ms Maria and Mr Singh, I was impressed by how the reservation system for all their eateries allows you to clearly indicate your food allergies and dietary restrictions.

On arrival, the staff confirmed with us our food restrictions, and took care to explain which items on the menu were not suitable and which could be made suitable with ingredient substitutions — along with an explanation of each dish’s ingredients when they were brought to our table. Having had many a time when restaurant staff would react with confusion over the phone when I try to explain our dietary restrictions, this really was a breath of fresh air.

The Butcher’s Wife. This gluten-free Brazilian restaurant has the most detailed menu I have ever seen, listing a slew of potential allergens for each dish, as well as potential substitutions. It’s impressive to me that they went the extra mile to show all of this information at a glance, and it’s something I wish were more commonplace in Singapore.

McDonald’s. The fast food place with the most detailed allergen warnings, available on its online menu, for all of its products (even seasonal/promotional items)! Not ashamed to say that this was probably our most reliable and frequent go-to place when in an unfamiliar locale and after many futile attempts at asking restaurants if they could accommodate someone with a food allergy. Honorary mention goes to Nando’s as well for having a similarly detailed online menu. However, I am concerned that they don’t extend their allergen information to promotional items or newer additions to the menu.

Recommended by families I spoke to

These restaurants were not places that I have personally visited while eating with someone with a food allergy, but they came highly recommended by the food-allergic families I interviewed.

Putien. Was recommended by others I spoke to for having staff that either asked about dietary restrictions or were knowledgeable when informed about dietary restrictions.

Tiann’s. Gluten-free restaurant with detailed ingredients lists.

The Whole Kitchen. Gluten-free restaurant with detailed ingredient lists.

Two Men Bagel House. Their in-person menus contain some allergen information, along with a sign to inform staff about dietary restrictions.

Other recommendations

These were places I visited or ordered from, which said they could accommodate someone with a food allergy (nuts and shellfish), but did not have detailed allergen warnings on their menus.

Chatterbox. A really kind internet stranger gave us a $100 voucher to eat here after hearing about our plight with finding hawker food that was definitely safe to eat. Note that a plate of chicken rice costs $25 here, oof! The staff were really conscientious regarding dietary restrictions.

Chef’s Hats (Hougang Green). The staff were really helpful when we told them about our food allergies, and double-checked with us about whether certain oils and other ingredients would be appropriate, which I thought was really sweet.

Poulet. The staff checked the ingredients to make sure the menu items we wanted were safe to eat. Alas, no sauce for my nut-allergic loved one because of cross-contamination risk!

Ma Maison. The staff checked the ingredients to make sure the menu items we wanted were safe to eat.

Collin’s. The staff checked the ingredients to make sure the menu items we wanted were safe to eat.

Mendon. The staff pulled out the ingredients list on the bags of curry they use for us to read, and even called up their boss to be certain if a menu item would be safe.

Hero’s. We were there for their weekly comedy night (Comedy Masala) and indicated in advance that we had someone with a food allergy. They assigned a member of staff to us to make sure we knew what menu items we could order, and to check in with the kitchen regarding our queries.

Unfortunately, due to the severity of my loved one’s allergies, we never risked trying hawker food together.

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