FOOD PAIRING
01
Fortune Centre is not a building you can do in five minutes. Walk in one entrance, out the other, and you’ll come away thinking it’s just another older mall with fluorescent lights and shuttered units. Slow down, though, and it starts to reveal itself floor by floor. A door you nearly missed. A queue forming outside a shop you’d never heard of. The smell of something baking drifting down a corridor that looked empty a moment ago.
That’s the charm. Fortune Centre rewards a proper wander. The best finds here aren’t signposted with neon or splashed across a billboard. They’re tucked between tailors, tuition centres and decades-old businesses, waiting for anyone curious enough to take the stairs instead of heading straight for the exit.
We spend a lot of time here, for obvious reasons, so consider this a friendly walk-through from people who’ve done a few laps.
Start with what Fortune Centre is famous for. This building is home to one of Singapore’s largest concentrations of vegetarian restaurants under a single roof. If you’ve heard of the place before, there’s a good chance it was in that context.
For many regulars, this is the whole reason to visit. And it’s easy to see why. Having so many meat-free kitchens in one spot means you can wander, compare and choose rather than settling for whatever’s closest. Some people come for one dependable favourite and never stray. Others treat the building like a tasting trail, trying somewhere new each visit.
Even if you’re not vegetarian, it’s worth paying attention. There’s something satisfying about a building that has quietly built its identity around one kind of food for so long. It gives Fortune Centre a sense of character you don’t always find in shinier, newer malls, where the tenant list can feel interchangeable from one to the next.
If you want a fuller picture of what to eat while you’re here, our guide to the best food to try at Fortune Centre is a handy companion for planning your next visit.
Here’s where things get interesting. In recent years, Fortune Centre has picked up a fresh layer of tenants alongside its long-standing vegetarian spots. Japanese izakayas, indie bakeries and cafes have settled in among the older shops, and the mix has given the building a second personality.
What we like most is how naturally these newer places sit next to the old ones. There’s no glossy food hall or rebranded wing. Instead, a café might share a corridor with a business that’s been there for years, and a bakery might sit a few doors down from a shop you’d walk past without a second glance. The result feels less like a curated destination and more like a neighbourhood that has grown organically.
That’s also why a quick pass-through doesn’t do it justice. Many of these spots are small, low-key and easy to miss if you’re moving at shopping-mall speed. You might only notice one because of a warm, buttery smell in the air, or a handful of people sitting with coffees in a corner you assumed was empty.
A few things to look out for as you explore:
That last category is where we come in.
Part of this newer wave lives on the fourth floor. Craft Beer by Ki-setsu sits at #04-19, and a few doors along you’ll find its sister spot, Soup Curry by Ki-setsu, at #04-13. Both are part of the more recent tenant mix that’s been reshaping how people think about Fortune Centre.
If you’re searching for a craft beer bar worth visiting without heading into a busy nightlife strip, this is a pleasingly unexpected option. You come up the stairs or out of the lift, wander past shops that have nothing to do with beer, and then find yourself somewhere with taps, small plates and the easy rhythm of an izakaya.
We’ll admit a bias here, but we think that contrast is the best part. There’s something about finding a good pint in a building better known for vegetarian lunches that makes it taste a little better. It feels like a discovery rather than a reservation.
As for what’s in the glass, we’d steer you towards variety. On a warm Singapore evening, you might start with a pale lager: pale gold, a soft bready note like the inside of a fresh roll, and a dry finish that disappears quickly. Later on, you might fancy something with more going on, perhaps a hazy pour with mango and orange peel on the nose, or a darker beer that tastes of cocoa and toasted grain. The team is always happy to point you in a direction if you tell them what you usually enjoy.
Soup Curry by Ki-setsu, meanwhile, gives you another reason to linger on the fourth floor. Having two Ki-setsu spots so close together makes it easy to build an evening around the floor, whether you’re starting with food, finishing with a drink or doing both.
The best advice we can give for Fortune Centre is the simplest: don’t overplan it. A directory board will tell you unit numbers, but it won’t tell you which corridor smells of fresh bread, which café has a quiet corner you’ll want to come back to, or which shop has a queue for a reason.
So take the long way. Start at the bottom and work your way up, or begin at the top and drift down. Walk each floor properly, including the bits that look like they’re all offices and services. Peer into doorways. Follow your nose. Some of the most rewarding spots here are the ones you’d never find by searching for them.
You’ll probably end up with a mental list of places to try next time, which is exactly how Fortune Centre gets under your skin.
Next time you’re in the building, give yourself an extra half hour. Wander a couple of floors before heading up to level four, and make a note of anything that catches your eye along the way.
Then drop into Ki-setsu’s craft beer bar at #04-19. Order something light and dry to start, ask the team what’s pouring that night and tell them what you found on your walk. Pay attention to how different the building feels once you’ve slowed down. If you’re still hungry afterwards, Soup Curry by Ki-setsu at #04-13 is just a few steps away.
