Sambal stingray is one of the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth. But really, the entire time I spent in Singapore was a foodie's paradise. If you want to experience the entirety of Asian cuisine in only one stop, make that stop Singapore.
I have to disagree with that. Genuinely good vietnamese, thai or even japanese food is pretty hard to find in singapore, and believe me I tried. Its specialities are dictated by its influences - southern china, malaysia of course, india, to some extent indonesia. The rest is decent of course but I just don't think there's an adequate population of, say, vietnamese in the city to sustain a general standard of quality comparable to what's available back home. Just try and find a good pork Banh Mi in singapore, I dare you.
If I had to name the city with the best general variety and everyday average standard of asian food - believe it or not I'd probably say Sydney.
As for hawker food, the increasing cost of doing business in SG means that hawkers use cheaper ingredients and give you less meat/fish. For dishes of Malaysian origin, Penang is the place to go for the best of the best. Even many Singaporeans will admit this.
I'd go with Bangkok as my personal #1 food city in Asia, but Viet cuisine is lacking there is well. So maybe Saigon?
I honestly debated that. BKK is fantastic food-wise but it lacks viet, korean and northern China. Don't get me wrong, it's great. I live there!
I'm sticking with Sydney. It is all due to immigrants and students. I am pretty sure Sydney, or even Melbourne, Banh Mi is the best you can get outside of Vietnam. It's so ironic that the best overall cities for asian cuisine are all outside Asia but SYD, MEL, LAX, SFO and YVR are probably the best cities in the world for asian food, and it is all about immigration!
I agree with you on Vietnamese food, but both Thai and Japanese food are very common in Singapore. Did you try Golden Mile Complex for Thai food, or Robertson Quay/Liang Court/Cuppage Plaza for Japanese food?
> Just try and find a good pork Banh Mi in singapore, I dare you.
Many eateries here cater towards the halal market, so it's sometimes a little difficult to find the pork version of anything that isn't mainstream international cuisine.
Dumplings - Chinatown Noodle King (also ridiculously cheap, order the Fried & Spicy Pork & Chive ones), Ramen - Ryo's, Thai - Khao Pla (used to be amazing, not so sure about the quality now), Viet - Hello Auntie, Banh Mi - anywhere in Cabramatta, Izakaya - Yakitori Yurripi
Sydney is generally cheaper than Singapore in my opinion. What you get for $2.50 at a hawker centre is absolute junk. Ingredients have costs, and most of it is imported from AU anyway. Any price advantage you see in SIN usually means skimping on ingredients compared to what you would see in SYD.