My sister is currently in town and wanted to visit this area to buy dried mushrooms and eat at the nearby hawker centers. We discovered that the mushrooms are three times more expensive here than at the mall. Also, it's best to go late afternoon when it's not so hot and most of the hawker stalls are open.
I recently bought the Makansutra Singapore 2013 and we tried a couple of the recommended food stalls.
We ordered the Mixed Rice (SGD 5 for one person with chicken, salted fish and sausage) to go and just ate it at home. It was pretty good though not sure if it was a "Die Die Must Try" (how the book describes the stores with the highest rating of three pairs of chopsticks) experience. Maybe we should have heated it first?
The line above was for the stall below - this was at 5 PM when the store opened.
We had the yam cake without chilli and it was pretty good. It also had the same "Die Die Must Try" rating, but my sister said she'd only order it once.
Chinatown should be on everyone's list of places to see in Singapore as not only is it interesting, but you'll also get a ton of cheap food options.