American YouTuber surprised by $5 meals in world's most expensive city Singapore

In a YouTube video posted Feb. 18 on "Grif's Food and Travel Channel," which has 4,500 subscribers, he showed off his finds at Tiong Bahru Market.

"I was told that I should visit Tiong Bahru Market because it is more modern, clean and offers a lot of variety of foods to choose from and a good price. So I decided to make my way to Tiong Bahru Market to see if they fit in the category of one of the top five hawker centers in Singapore," he said in the video that had attracted 4,400 views as of Saturday.

"The one thing I was surprised with was the prices of the food. They were very reasonable and everything I ate on that day was under $5. The portion size was a good size and the quality of the food was really good at every location I stopped," he shared.

The first dish he tried was a plate of curry rice with breaded pork chop and braised pork for just S$4.8 (US$4).

"For only $4. Crazy pricing," he said.

"The curry flavor is really good," he added.

He then visited Hong Heng Fried Sotong Prawn Mee, a Michelin-Bib Gourmand stall where he ordered a plate of Hokkien mee for $3.

Grif added that the price was "very affordable."

Grif inside Tiong Bahru Market in Singapore. Photo courtesy of the YouTuber

After trying these two dishes, he and ordered a chestnut and sugarcane drink for just $1.

Then, he ordered wonton noodles for $4.5 from another famous stall - Zhong Yu Yuan Wei Wanton Noodle.

Wonton noodles is a noodle dish of Cantonese origin but is popular in mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The dish can also be found at Chinatown areas in Vietnam where it is mainly served by Chinese families, many of whom have been doing it for generations.

The last dish Grif tried from the food center was peanut and coconut pancakes for $0.75 each from Tiong Bahru Mian Jian Kueh.

"The pancake batter is so light and fluffy," he said.

"The market was really nice, with an open courtyard area in the center of the market. This offered a lot of cross wind and kept the market cool," he said.

A report by the Economist Intelligence Unit showed Singapore maintained its pole position as the world’s most expensive city for the ninth time in the last eleven years.

According to Numbeo, the world's largest database of user-contributed data about cities and countries worldwide, the average single person’s estimated monthly costs are S$1,506.

Grif has a strong passion for food. He has traveled to many countries, especially in Southeast Asia, and promotes cuisine on his YouTube channel.

A video posted on Grif's Food and Travel Channel shows the American tourist tries cheap eats under US$5 in Singapore: