The ultimate guide to Marine Parade and East Coast Park

Looking for waterfront views, Italian comfort food and a dessert cart worth saving room for? Head to Fico for a taste of Puglia at East Coast Park. The semi-casual restaurant draws on chef Mirko Febbrile’s childhood in the Italian countryside, serving uncomplicated fare that lets good ingredients do the talking. 

Start with its signature focaccina topped with San Marzano tomatoes ($23), followed by seasonal small plates and freshly made pasta from the live pasta bar, with options starting from around $24. For something heartier, there are showstopping cuts like the grass-fed bone-in ribeye costada, from $65, before finishing with the dessert cart, where two desserts go for $15 and might include the iconic cannoli and luscious burrata gelato.

PS.Cafe will have you dreaming of your next tropical holiday with its spacious, airy, and naturally-lit outlet, complete with the sounds of gentle waves crashing and the calls of distant seagulls spilling from its speakers. And with its waterfront location comes an exclusive seafood-focused menu: chargrilled octopus ($21), where pork is swapped for the tender octopus in a char siew-inspired dish; lemongrass mussel and clam spaghetti ($29.50); Singapore chilli crab and prawns ($32) served with mantou and fried rice; and the hearty, spicy chorizo and calamari stew ($30) served with bread to mop up all the sauce. There’s also a Junior Menu for families to grab a bite after a day out at the beach.

East Coast Commune is a homely café tucked in the heart of East Coast Park, with a bright, breezy interior inspired by its seaside surroundings. Its family-friendly space features rattan chairs, wood accents, potted greenery and marine-inspired artwork, alongside a dedicated play area and changing room for little ones. 

The menu spans hearty sourdough sandwiches, pasta and sides, but the real draw is its selection of sourdough waffles, with the classic version served with maple syrup, butter and icing sugar for $10.80. Pair your meal with coffee, tea or a bottle of kombucha for a refreshing post-park pitstop.

Few dishes are as synonymous with Singapore as chilli crab, and Roland Restaurant has been part of that story since 1956. Founded by Lim Choon Ngee and Cher Yam Tian along the Kallang River, the restaurant credits Cher with creating the iconic dish, which has since become its signature. While the chilli crab is an obvious order, don’t stop there: the black sauce prawns start from $24, while the crispy baby squids are $22 – both worth adding to the table for a proper seafood spread. Roland’s chilli crab also took home Class 95’s Foodie’s Choice for Best Chilli Crab in Singapore in 2019, so consider that another nudge to come hungry.

Nothing beats dining by the beach. After a dip in the sea and sand, show off your brand new tan at the East Coast Lagoon Food Village for some piping hot street nosh. The food centre is big on barbecued seafood and local fare such as barbecued sambal stingray, chili crab, satay, mee goreng, and popiah, but there are plenty of stalls serving up specialty dishes – hawker style – if you're looking for alternatives. Keep an eye on your food – you don't want them swept off the table by the strong evening winds.

If you're expecting a Mexican and North Indian cuisine crossover at Patro's à la tikka tacos – as implied by its signboard – we hate to burst your bubble. The bar and restaurant, instead, has separate kitchens serving both cuisines independently. But if it's the drinks menu you're after, you're in for a treat. Just as diverse as its food menu, its cellar is stocked with over 50 wines from around the world. There's also a wide selection of classic cocktails (from $14.50), tequila shots (from $10), and frozen margaritas (from $14.50).

Two Sisters’ Smoothie is a homegrown smoothie brand that has gone from blending drinks out of a Kembangan home to setting up a cosy neighbourhood spot just outside Marine Terrace MRT. Founded by two sisters in 2024, the brand gained a following for its colourful, fruit-forward blends and playful local twists, inspired partly by the viral smoothie trend on TikTok. Its compact new space keeps things casual, with the iconic camping chairs from its home-based days still lined up outside for customers to hang out. The menu now features more than 20 smoothies across flavours like coconut, citrus, strawberry, mango and acai, with crowd-pleasers including the tropical Green Flag, Strawberry Glaze and indulgent Biscoff Baddie. Our personal picks? The PB&J and Acai smoothies. Prices start from $6.90 for a medium cup and $7.90 for a large cup.

A stone’s throw from the coast, Parkway Parade is one of Marine Parade’s longstanding shopping staples, packed with more than just your usual retail therapy. The sprawling mall has been a neighbourhood fixture since opening in 1983, With a mix of shops like Marks & Spencer, Harvey Norman and Uniqlo, supermarkets like FairPrice Xtra, dining spots including Food Republic and Din Tai Fung, plus everyday services such as Watsons, Guardian and more spread across its many floors.

Beyond the shopping, it’s also become something of a community hub, with plenty of reasons to pop by even when you’re not looking to spend: catch a movie, grab a bite, browse the latest finds or simply escape the East Coast heat with some air-conditioning.