Gone are the days of pasar malams popping up regularly in our neighbourhoods.
Millennials have zhng-ed the street market trend with large-scale festivals featuring hipster food, bright lights and ginormous crowds.
If you’re looking for the next event like that, look no further because popular pop-up market Artbox is having a food festival spinoff this Friday (11 Jan).
You may recall Artbox to be terribly crowded with over 400 event partners on site and countless visitors.
We’re hoping that Eatbox’s smaller location and fewer booths would mean a more intimate setting for you to enjoy your meal with live music in the background.
And it’s a food festival, so expect to find way more food than Artbox had to offer.
The event will boast 50 local and regional F&B brands, and here are some vendors you should look out for.
No food festival is complete without our sweet, sweet Broti.
We’re not sure if it’s their teas or 1-litre cups that draw the crowds, but the richness of their sweet Thai milk teas – both in OG red brews & green variants – are irresistible.
Share a cup with a friend if you think your bladder can’t tank all that tea.
A newcomer to the pop-up scene, Rumi The Poet’s Cup is gaining popularity for their tall venti cups of artisanal iced drinks.
The menu includes iced hazel malt, iced caramel cream, iced caramel macchiato and iced high tea.
Each drink comes with a quote by famous Persian poet Rumi, so you can sip your tea while reflecting on life.
Hungry for some meat but don’t feel like eating a whole steak? The beef cubes from Beef Bro Singapore will cure your carnivorous hunger pangs.
The tender and juicy beef cubes are grilled using a blow torch, so they’re served hot and fresh the moment you order.
Beef Bro is famous for coming up with Singapore’s first ever Mentaiko beef cubes so don’t miss your chance to try them.
Halal Japanese food isn’t very common, so to have a Muslim-owned Japanese street food pop-up is a blessing for those with strict dietary preferences.
Saikō currently only serves takoyaki, at pretty steep prices — but we’re not complaining as they’ve got a vast array of flavours and fillings.
Takoyaki balls come with a choice of four toppings — bonito flakes, miso butter, dashi broth and truffle salt. You can even add an onsen egg on top for S$2.
Pick your fillings from octopus, teriyaki chicken, braised mushrooms or a mix of any two and you’ll have an explosion of flavours in a bowl.
You’d want something sweet to complement the savoury food and there’s nothing better than a chunky cookie filled with all your favourite treats.
Nasty Cookie loads your regular cookie with generous amounts of sweet treats like chocolate bars, marshmallows, pretzels, cereal and even more cookies.
The mixture creates a chunky, crunchy and chewy texture all at once, so you can imagine the thrilling sensation of biting into one of their cookies.
Make sure to watch your sugar intake in the following days because just one of these cookies might overshoot the recommended daily amount.
You’ve tried all the food you can eat and you’re looking for a way to let loose and maybe burn some calories.
Head over to one of the arcade games brought by The Arcade People and try your hand at the exciting games available.
You might not necessarily sweat, but playing games would be a great way to work up the appetite to try more food at the festival.
But if you’ve really had too much to eat and just want to sit somewhere and chill, find a comfortable spot and relax to the ‘live’ music performances at Bacon Beats.
Don’t worry, the only non-halal thing there is the beer but Bira 91 also offers non-alcoholic drinks.
You need a ticket to watch the performances. A $15 ticket entitles you to 1 drink coupon from Bira 91 and 2 game tries at Bacon Beats’ screen toy catcher.
With a line-up of local music acts like Subsonic Eye and Coming Up Roses, it’s a great way for you to know more about Singapore’s music scene and perhaps discover a new artiste that you like.
You can purchase tickets at a cheaper price of $48 for a group of 4 online. Or spend S$50 for a five-day pass for one if you’re keen on checking out all the musical acts.
Eatbox and Bacon Beats will be happening over two weekends, 11-13 Jan and 18-20 Jan 2019 at Downtown East.
Dates: Fri-Sun, 11-13 Jan & 18-20 Jan 2019
Opening hours: 3pm-11pm
Address: Downtown East D’Marquee, Open Plaza 1 & 2, 1 Pasir Ris Close, Singapore 519599.
Nearest station: Pasir Ris MRT
A weekend of food and music would be a perfect way to start the new year with a bang, so bring your friends and family there.
Featured image from Beef Bro SG, Saikō and Nasty Cookie on Facebook, and Broti SG on Instagram.
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There has been no year-end Covid-19 wave, as had been expected.
The beef was imported without a veterinary health certificate and halal certification.
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