Vote for your favourite eatery in Singapore Food Masters 2020 and win

All over the island, eateries are busy serving up food. They feed us during this pandemic, an important task as some of us just lose the energy and mood to cook.

Between juggling social distancing mandates, keeping up with delivery orders and serving the walk-in diners, it has been a trying time for F&B operators.

So it is timely that we celebrate their efforts.

About 100 eateries have been shortlisted for Singapore Food Masters 2020.

They are divided into four zones for the annual competition - North, Central, East and West. Public voting determines the top 10 from each zone, while a panel of judges will make unannounced visits to try the dishes and pick a top three from each zone.

Public voting ends on Oct 24, and voters have a chance to win shopping vouchers worth $100.

The judging panel that picks the top three include DJs like Anna Lim of 96.3 Hao FM and Bernard Lim of Money FM 98.3. These first-timers join panellists such as Charmaine Phua of One FM 91.3 and Maureen Ow of Miss Tam Chiak fame.

Head to www.sgfoodmasters.sg to find out the names of shortlisted eateries and vote for your favourites.

You can also use the list as a guide to answer one of Singapore's most-asked questions: "Eat what, ah?"

If you need some help, here are some recommendations:

CENTRAL ZONE

The shortlisted restaurants on the Central Zone list are all newcomers.

There are some popular names - Go Noodle House at 313@somerset and HariAnns Nonya Table at Suntec City - and others that foodies swear by, such as Mariners' Corner Restaurant, New Hong Kong Congee and Tasty Loong by Chef Pung.

There are also some promising eateries that should be easy to get to because of their central locations.

EAST ZONE

The East is a well-known area for good food. Easties eat well, and they are happy to let everyone know about it.

From Bedok Reservoir Road (Ah Orh Teochew Fish Head Steamboat at Block 739) to Geylang East Avenue 1 (Kwan Tzi Zhai Vegetarian Cuisine at Block 134), there is a variety to choose from.

There is also seafood from Melben Downtown East, lok lok at Malaysian Local Delights (Tanjong Katong) and traditional soups from Tan Ser Seng Herbs Restaurant.

Or just head for Paya Lebar. This seems to be the new magnet for food in the East, with Kanada-Ya, Monga Fried Chicken, TingKat PeraMakan, Western Mahua and XiXiang Kaya Kopitiam all located at PLQ Mall.

NORTH ZONE

The North Zone has the most returning nominees and it was also the most awarded zone last year.

Eight of the 25 shortlisted restaurants were also nominated last year, with three finishing in the top three (Feng Food, Swatow Garden and Xinghua Delights Restaurant).

So the competition is stiff here.

Woody Family Cafe and Caffe Zeppin are two of the returning restaurants, and their escalating popularity may make them winners this year. But they will face a tough fight from newcomers such as As-Safeera Restaurant, Mata Thai and Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang.

WEST ZONE

In the West, there are lots of traditional food outlets - briyani and butter chicken from Brinda's, ban chang kueh from Han N Han Peanut Pancake and bak kut teh from Kota Zheng Zong Bak Kut Teh.

But if you're looking for interesting options, among the shortlisted restaurants are those serving up vegetarian nasi lemak (Daily Green) and lala bee hoon (Diamond Kitchen) as well as a pet cafe (Wooftopia).