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10 Best Fish Head Curry in Singapore

Ten spots for the best fish head curry in Singapore, from South Indian banana-leaf houses in Little India to Nyonya and Teochew claypot curry fish head.

By: Amir Wahab
Edited by: Amir Wahab
Published: 26 Sep 2026
Reading time: 5 min read

A claypot of red Singapore fish head curry with okra and eggplant

Fish head curry in Singapore is one of the city's great hybrid dishes, born when South Indian cooks simmered a prized fish head in a spice-rich, tamarind-tinged gravy and Chinese and Nyonya kitchens answered with their own assam-style claypot versions. This guide gathers ten restaurants and eating houses known for the dish, each checked against its own website or official listing. Treat it as a shortlist to explore rather than a strict ranking.

1. Muthu's Curry

Muthu's Curry is a Little India fixture on Race Course Road whose own site traces its fish head curry to 1969, when the founder brought a Chettinad-style recipe from Tamil Nadu. The South Indian version is a fish head simmered in a bold, tamarind-tinged gravy with okra, tomatoes and eggplant, eaten with rice off a banana leaf. It also runs outlets at Suntec City and Dempsey.

Little India
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2. The Banana Leaf Apolo

The Banana Leaf Apolo is a long-running South Indian restaurant on Race Course Road that says it has served fish head curry since 1974 using a closely held family recipe. Its version is known for a distinctive touch of pineapple against the spice, and it is served the traditional way on a banana leaf with rice and vegetable sides. The dining room is busy and canteen-style rather than a quiet sit-down.

Little India
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3. Samy's Curry

Samy's Curry occupies an airy, open-sided building at Dempsey and describes itself as a family-run restaurant serving authentic Indian food on a banana leaf in the South Indian tradition, with beginnings as a 1960s roadside stall. Fish head curry is among its signature dishes, and the kitchen is known for cooking it with red snapper. Its garden setting feels worlds away from the Little India shophouses.

Dempsey
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4. Karu's Indian Banana Leaf Restaurant

Karu's Indian Banana Leaf Restaurant has been on Upper Bukit Timah Road since 1993, and its own page calls fish head curry its signature dish, cooked in a traditional style with spices it says are sourced from India. It is an Indian banana-leaf restaurant a little out of the way in the west, which many regulars treat as a destination in itself. Alongside the fish head curry it serves a broad Indian menu spanning tandoori, biryani and vegetarian dishes.

Upper Bukit Timah
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5. Anjappar

Anjappar traces its roots to Chennai in 1964 and opened in Singapore in 2005, building its name on Chettinad cooking from Tamil Nadu. Fish head curry sits among its signature dishes, and the restaurant suggests pairing the rich, peppery gravy with freshly made garlic naan as well as rice. It is a Chettinad chain with several outlets in Singapore, including one on Race Course Road in Little India.

Little India
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6. Gayatri Restaurant

Gayatri is a South Indian restaurant on Race Course Road that has operated in Little India since 1996. Its menu presents fish head curry as a house classic: a red snapper head slowly simmered in a South Indian curry with tamarind, curry leaves, okra, tomatoes and eggplant, and served hot for sharing. It is a smaller, more low-key room than some of the better-known names on the same street.

Little India
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7. Ocean Curry Fish Head

Ocean Curry Fish Head is a coffeeshop stall that its own site says has served its signature curry fish head since 1983, cooked in a Peranakan-inspired style. The curry leans Nyonya rather than Indian, with generous vegetables and large, fresh fish heads served in a claypot, tangier and more coconut-rounded than the banana-leaf versions. It has outlets in Toa Payoh and at Telok Ayer in the city.

Toa Payoh
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8. Zai Shun Curry Fish Head

Zai Shun Curry Fish Head is a Teochew-style eating house in Jurong East that grew from a 1981 hawker stall and still serves much of its original fare. Its namesake dish is a tangy, tamarind-tinged assam-style curry fish head made with wild-caught red snapper, alongside Teochew porridge and steamed fish. It keeps daytime hours and is very much a no-frills kopitiam rather than a restaurant.

Jurong East
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9. Kian Seng Seafood

Kian Seng Seafood is a Teochew zi char restaurant now at Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 1, and its own site dates the business to the 1960s. It lists a Nonya fish head, which it also calls curry fish head, made with a house blend of chilli so the gravy comes across both spicy and sour, typically with red snapper, okra and tomatoes. The kitchen sits between a zi char stall and a full restaurant, also turning out Teochew classics like steamed fish and braised duck.

Ang Mo Kio
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10. Yu Cun Curry Fish Head

Yu Cun Curry Fish Head is a Chinese-style specialist on Upper Paya Lebar Road built around claypot curry fish head, a bubbling, share-friendly pot suited to family gatherings. The curry is the Chinese-Nyonya style rather than the Indian banana-leaf version, and the fish head is the clear centrepiece of the order. It has since added a second outlet at Sultan Gate near Bugis.

Paya Lebar
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How to choose

Decide which tradition you want first. Indian-style fish head curry, the specialty of Little India's banana-leaf restaurants, is spice-forward and eaten with rice off a leaf, while Chinese and Nyonya versions are usually tangier and more coconut-rounded, served in a claypot with vegetables. They are quite different meals, so pick the style before the venue.
Ask what fish is used and how it is priced. Many kitchens favour red snapper for its tender flesh, and fish head curry is often sold by size (small, medium or large) rather than a single fixed price, so check the sizing and how many people a portion is meant to feed before you order.
Order it as a sharing dish. Fish head curry is built around one large head and a generous pot of gravy, so it works best with rice and a few sides for a group; one or two diners may do better with the smallest size or by rounding out the table with other dishes.
Mind the timing and setting. Some of the best-known spots are daytime hawker stalls or eating houses with limited hours and queues, while others are full restaurants that take reservations, so confirm opening times and whether you can book, especially on weekends.
Judge the whole spread, not just the head. A good meal usually comes with rice, papadum and vegetable sides on the Indian side, or zi char dishes on the Chinese side, so weigh the sambal, vegetables, gravy and rice as much as the fish head itself.

Update history

Published 26 Sep 2026. No changes recorded since.

About the author

Amir Wahab

Founder and Editor

Amir Wahab is the founder and editor of LocalRank, an independent Singapore rankings and local guides publication.

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