Even though Kampong Glam is one of Singapore’s most popular tourist spots, there’s more to this neighbourhood than just the usual landmarks and photo ops
Beyond the obvious, you’ll find hidden bars, niche boutiques, and unexpected experiences that even many locals overlook. If you think you’ve seen it all, think again — here are some of the best things to do in Kampong Glam that even locals might not know about.
Best attractions, restaurants, and cafes at Kampong Glam worth finding
1. Malay Heritage Centre
Three years in the making, Kampong Glam’s cultural anchor is back.
The Malay Heritage Centre reopens on 25 April 2026 after a full three-year revamp. Six redesigned galleries trace the history of Malay Singapore through textiles, trade, and community — with new interactive outdoor exhibitions on the Istana grounds and stories of Malay women in arts and education making their first public appearance.
Admission is free for the entire opening month. Otherwise, tickets start from $6.
Location: 85 Sultan Gate, Singapore 198501
Opening hours:
Monday: Closed
Tue-Sun: 10am-6pm
2. Takara House + M.Patisserie
Level two, 674 North Bridge Road: shoes off at the door, vintage from Japan and Vietnam inside.
Young owners behind Takara House handpick pieces from Japan and Vietnam — leather jackets, cult labels like Axes Femme, Pokemon cards, ceramic teacups. Sharing the floor is M.Patisserie, where slim-set tarts sit alongside the vintage racks: the Strawberry Tart ($15), Japanese Matcha Tart ($15), and Lemon Meringue Tart ($12) are worth knowing about.
Location: 674 North Bridge Road, Level 2, Singapore
Opening hours:
Takara House: 10am-10pm
M.Patisserie: Mon, Wed-Sun: 10am-8pm
3. Rumifolks
Rumi The Poet’s Cup is back — bigger, brighter, and still the best pandan latte on Bali Lane.
The team behind one of Kampong Glam’s most-loved halal cafes has moved to a wider corner space at 28 Bali Lane. Books on the shelves, a Star Wars X-wing overhead, a retro Fender amp on the wall. The menu delivers: Rendang Beef Pie ($13.9), pandan latte, croissants baked in-house. Open until midnight on weekends — this is the move for a late Kampong Glam night.
Location: 28 Bali Lane, Singapore 189864
Opening hours: Sun-Thu 11am-11pm, Fri-Sat 11am-12am
4. Open Secret
Hidden at the end of an alley off Arab Street, but no one’s really keeping it a secret.
Open Secret is a collab between State of Affairs and Grilla Gang, tucked into a back alley off Arab Street.
Camping chairs, benches, a couple of high tables — and a very good toastie. The GG Toastie ($12.5) is loaded with cheese and truffle paste; the Kaya Toastie ($8.5) is the simpler pick. Drinks from State of Affairs: the Cloud Matcha ($6.5) is the call.
Location: 60 Arab Street (first left alley off Baghdad Street), Singapore
Opening hours: 10:30am-10pm
5. TARIK
Teh tarik brewed to order, in a siphon pot, with the flame still at your table.
TARIK on Bali Lane takes the ritual seriously. Each tea is brewed individually in a siphon pot brought to the table with the heat source still lit — a considered detail that most teh tarik spots aren’t bothering with. The Teh Tarik ($3) is the baseline; the Sunrise Cheese Latte ($7) is the pick if you want something a little different.
Location: 16 Bali Lane, Singapore 189852
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 11am-8pm, Sat-Sun 11am-10pm
6. R.I.B Soul Food
American soul food — R&B on the speakers, vinyl on the walls — right in the middle of Kampong Glam.
The team behind The Halal Mixologist brings Louisiana to Jalan Kubor. Build your own lamb or beef ribs with house sauces alongside deep-fried catfish, Cajun Jambalaya, and Gumbo — a menu that commits to the bit. The room matches: neon signs, jazz prints, vintage vinyl. It fills up on weekends; book ahead if you’re coming for dinner.
Location: 8 Jalan Kubor, #01-01, Singapore 199207
Opening hours: Mon-Thu 12-10pm, Fri-Sun 12-10:30pm
7. Goodluck Bunch
A pre-WWII duplex on Bali Lane, stocked with brands most Singapore shops aren’t carrying.
Goodluck Bunch carries labels from outside the usual Singapore distribution map — Wood Wood from Denmark, Novesta from Slovakia, Nothing from Australia, alongside Carhartt, Patagonia, and Kangol. After a full renovation that gave the shophouse a proper reset, the edit is sharper than before. The kind of spot where you walk in planning to browse and walk out with a bag.
Location: 26 Bali Lane, Singapore
Opening hours: 12-9pm
8. Sultan Mosque
The gold dome alone is worth the walk in from Beach Road.
Kampong Glam’s 1928 centrepiece was partly funded by Sultan Hussein — and the base of its famous dome is lined with glass bottle ends donated by the community. A detail that’s easy to miss and impossible to forget once you know it. Open to visitors outside prayer times. Dress modestly; robes are available to borrow if needed.
Free admission.
Location: 3 Muscat Street, Singapore 198833
Opening hours: Sat-Thu 10am-12pm & 2-4pm
Friday: 2:30-4pm
9. Sifr Aromatics
You won’t leave smelling like anyone else.
Third-generation perfumer Johari Kazura trained in Grasse and built Sifr Aromatics on Arab Street from the ground up. The 1-hour workshop walks you through accords, notes, and scent profiles before you blend your own 5ml oil perfume to take home. The space itself earns a look: carved dark wood, walls of bottles, the feel of a private atelier. Book in advance; sessions fill.
Tickets start from $90 [verify].
Location: 42 Arab Street, Singapore
Opening hours: Tue-Sat 11am-8pm
10. Jamal Kazura Aromatics
The grandfather’s original perfume shop, still running the same way since 1933.
Where Sifr is the workshop, Jamal Kazura is the original store — oil-based ouds, attars, and musky blends sold in ornate hand-blown glass bottles. Staff know the stock well and the bottles speak for themselves. If you’re after a Kampong Glam souvenir with some heritage behind it, this is the address.
Location: 728 North Bridge Road, Singapore
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 10am-7pm, Sat-Sun 10am-6:30pm
11. The Coconut Club
The nasi lemak worth planning your day around.
The Coconut Club’s Nasi Lemak ($18) uses 2-year-old Jasmine rice infused with fresh coconut and steamed to order — not cooked in advance, not held in a warmer. The ayam goreng berempah is properly spiced, and the sambal registers heat without overwhelming. Bib Gourmand-recognised. Reservations strongly recommended for lunch; walk-ins on weekday evenings tend to work out.
Location: 269 Beach Road, Singapore 199546
Opening hours: Mon-Fri: 11am-3:30pm, 5:30-10:30pm
Sat-Sun: 11am-10:30pm
Closed first Monday of each month
12. Round2
A private room on Haji Lane with an 85-inch screen, an F1 rig, and no one else in it.
Round2 runs a proper racing setup — Logitech Playseat Trophy, Thrustmaster T300 RS GT wheel, 2,000-plus cars and tracks to choose from. The room is yours for the session: no queuing, no sharing, no one tapping you out after three laps. Netflix and PS4 in the same space if you need a break from the track.
Tickets start from $35 per pax (early bird, 11am-2pm daily). Regular sessions from $129.
Location: 20 Haji Ln, #02-00, Singapore 189213
Opening hours: 11am-11pm
13. Blu Jaz Cafe
Three floors of live music, craft beer, and people who aren’t ready to call it a night.
Blu Jaz on Bali Lane runs jazz on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays; hip hop nights, poetry slams, and comedy acts fill the rest of the calendar. Ground floor is alfresco, middle floor is the bar and dance floor, lounge up top. Easy going early in the week, properly loud on Fridays. Check the events calendar before you go — the lineups change week to week.
Location: 11 Bali Lane, Singapore
Opening hours: Mon-Thu 12pm-1am
Friday: 12pm-2am
Saturday: 4pm-2am
Closed Sunday
14. Symmetry
The Kampong Glam all-dayer — brunch bleeds into dinner, dinner bleeds into drinks.
Symmetry on Jalan Kubor has been running the Aussie all-day dining formula since 2012 and it still holds up. Eggs Benedict done well at brunch, wagyu plates at night, a solid drinks menu for the stretch in between. The room is open and unhurried. A reliable anchor for a long afternoon in Kampong Glam.
Location: 9 Jalan Kubor, Singapore
Opening hours: Mon-Tue 9am-9pm
Wed-Fri 10:30am-11pm
Saturday: 9am-11pm
Sunday: 9am-7pm
More cafes in the area? Check out our ultimate guide
15. Arab Street
The original character of the neighbourhood is still here — silk, batik, lace, some of it sold by the same families for decades.
Arab Street’s row of fabric shophouses is one of the most underrated things in Kampong Glam. Toko Aljunied has been on this stretch since 1940, selling batik, printed cotton, and silk by the metre. It’s not an itinerary; just walk the row, browse without a plan, and buy something if it calls to you. Cotton batik starts from around $10/m.
Location: Arab Street, Singapore
Opening hours: Varies by shop (most open Mon-Sat from 10am)
16. Rich & Good Cake Shop
Twenty-seven years on Kandahar Street, and still selling out before lunch on weekends.
Rich & Good does one thing well: Swiss rolls in ten flavours. The Kaya ($14), Durian ($14), and Green Tea ($14) are the ones to know. No branding exercise, no concept refresh — just a shop people have been going to since 1997. Get there early on weekends; the popular flavours are gone by early afternoon.
Location: 24 Kandahar Street, Singapore 198887
Opening hours: Daily 9am-5pm
17. Haji Lane
Singapore’s most photographed lane is also its best thrift street — if you know which doors to push.
Haji Lane gets visited for the murals, but the real draw is the shops. WOOFIE WAREHOUSE has every item at a flat $10 — no sizing, no sorting, just volume and patience. Kaeru does pre-loved clothing with a sharper, more Japanese-influenced edit. The lane is narrow enough to cover in 15 minutes, and you probably won’t stop at 15.
Location: Haji Lane, Singapore
Opening hours: Varies by shop (most open daily from 12pm)
You could probably spend a whole day at Haji Lane with all these activities and eateries!
18. Outside Store
Outdoor gear built for hikes and the city — two floors of it on Bali Lane.
Outside carries brands with limited Singapore floor space: Cayl, Snow Peak, Keen, Universal Overall, Flower Mountain, Manastash, Wild Things. The Bali Lane store is two storeys and stocked better than most — partly because it sits at the quieter end of the lane where footfall rewards intent. Worth a proper walk-through even if you’re not buying today.
Location: 660 N Bridge Rd, Singapore 188797
Opening hours: 12-9pm
19. Vintage Camera Museum
A camera-shaped building housing over a thousand cameras and the entire evolution of photography — hidden in plain sight on Beach Road.
The Vintage Camera Museum does exactly what it says: over a thousand cameras, from early 19th-century daguerreotypes to mid-century Leicas to film-era Polaroids, arranged across a collection that traces the full arc of how humans decided to capture what they see. The building is shaped like a camera. The interior is interactive, with guided tours available that go deeper than the labels.
Location: 8C Jln Kledek, Singapore 199263
Opening hours: 11am-7pm
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