It’s been a long time coming, but Joo Chiat has finally been named Singapore’s coolest street — and one of the coolest streets in the world for 2025. This colourful stretch in the Katong neighbourhood has always been buzzing with indie shops and heritage eats, but this year, a wave of pop-ups and fresh openings has pulled us back to rediscover it all over again.
This verdict comes from our annual Time Out Index, put together by our team of local writers and editors, along with more than 27,000 city-dwellers worldwide. Earlier in September, this same index crowned Bencoolen as one of the world's coolest neighbourhoods – but this time, we drilled down to single out the one street in Singapore that best captures the city right now.
Joo Chiat is just that: an irresistible mix of old school eateries, hip cafés, lifestyle stores, laidback galleries, pet boutiques, with quirky brands you won't find anywhere else in Singapore. This is the kind of street you can stroll down and discover something new every time. This year, we checked out fresh arrivals like Heartware Store and Gallery, a second-floor shophouse space with rotating exhibitions by the likes of Daisuke Kondo and We Are Out of Office; Don't Runaway, a fast-casual sandwich shop; Bastille Bakery, a French pastry heaven turning out everything from buttery croissants to airy choquettes; and Marlow's Deli, joining existing deli favourites like The Cheese Shop and Baggie's Butcher and Deli.
Most will be drawn to Joo Chiat's thriving new-school side. Pick up silky-smooth bedding and homegoods at Sojao, browse thoughtfully crafted furniture inside the gorgeous Art Deco building housing Grafunkt, or skim through slow fashion finds at rye. If you're all about café-hopping, then the options are frankly dizzying, with well-loved cafés like 174Bingo, Humble Origins, and Common Man Coffee Roasters, which transforms into natural wine bar Drunken Farmer by sundown (though, by the way, Wine Mouth is just a short walk down the street). Regular pop-up markets and events at spaces like Crane are always keeping things fresh, too.
But if you're in the mood for a little nostalgia, Joo Chiat delivers in spades. Admire the Late-style shophouses from the 1920s and 1930s that give the street its character, and keep an eye out for the constantly evolving palette of vibrant murals painting the walls. Heritage businesses still hold court here: dig into famously crispy prata at Mr and Mrs Mohgan Super Crispy Roti Prata, warm up with bak kut teh at Sin Heng Claypot Bak Koot Teh, or grab freshly rolled popiah from Kway Guan Huat, a Joo Chiat icon since the 1930s. Teong Teng still crafts old-school rattan and bamboo furniture, while A Vintage Tale, RetroCrates, and Cherry Lane Records are some shops with vintage and analogue gems.
Honestly, we've barely scratched the surface of all you can see and do on Joo Chiat Road. The best part is that this stretch is just one part of the wider Katong district – an equally vibrant maze of malls, side streets, and alleyways that are perfect for wandering off on a side quest. It'll be hard to top this vibrant stretch next year, but for now, see you on Joo Chiat Road, undeniably this year's coolest street.
Top 15 coolest streets in the world for 2025, according to Time Out:
- Rio de Janeiro: Rua do Senado
- Osaka: Orange Street
- Porto: Rua do Bonjardim
- Chengdu: Fanghua Street
- Montreal: Sherbrooke Street West
- Brisbane: Montague Road
- Berlin: Maybachufer
- Thessaloniki: Olympou Street
- New York City: Orchard Street
- Ho Chi Minh: Vinh Khanh Street (District 4)
- Brussels: Rue de Flandre
- Tokyo: Nishihara Shotengai
- Paris: Rue des Gravilliers
- Singapore: Joo Chiat
- Mexico City: Avendia Alvaro Obregon
Get Time Out's full list of the world's coolest streets in 2025 here.
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