Food Opera at ION Orchard B4 reopened on 28 September 2026 after three months of renovation. Food Republic replaced about 90 percent of the stalls. The hall now holds 24 counters, 18 of them new, in 20,000 square feet with seats for 600. The shopfronts are dressed as 1970s Orchard trades: barber, bookstore, photo studio, cinema, TCM hall. Seth Lui walked the floor on opening week and found almost no empty tables.
This is still a mall food court. You collect a tray, you queue, you sit under the air-con. The difference is who is cooking. Several brands had never run a food-hall stall before. Others are hawker names that spent decades in wet markets or hotel kitchens and now sit one floor below Prada.
Heritage stalls that had never done a food hall
Ming Chung White Lor Mee dates to 1933. The fourth generation now runs it. The signature is Henghua-style white lor mee, a wok-cooked braised noodle in a pale gravy, priced at $8.80 on Eatbook's opening report. Wah Eng Beef Noodles started as a pushcart in 1948, later cooked in hotels including Shangri-La. The ION stall is its first food-court counter. Seth Lui paid $15.90 for the signature bowl with slices, brisket, tendon, honeycomb tripe and beef balls.
Hillman Restaurant has cooked Cantonese claypot dishes and paper-wrapped chicken since 1963, first on Cantonment Road, then Kitchener Road. First Street Fried Prawn Noodles, from the family behind First Street Teochew Fish Soup, has fried Hokkien mee in a six-hour prawn broth since 1988. Hakka Bond Express is new to food halls. Seth Lui's prices: Herbal 25-Grain Thunder Tea Rice at $8.90, Hairy Fig Chicken 25-Grain Rice Set at $12.50.
Ye Lai Xiang Curry & Mixed Rice is a spin-off from the Bukit Merah Teochew porridge supper spot. Set A, curry chicken with cabbage, fried egg and rice, is $7.40. Set C, deep-fried pork cutlet with the same sides, is $7.90. Fried Shou Yi Fritters has been making you tiao and butterfly buns since 1920. Swee Choon Handmade Tim Sum sits behind a TCM-shop front. Parkson Klang Bak Kut Teh pours both Klang herbal and Teochew white-pepper broths. Apa Rojak, 52 years old, tosses Malaysian-style rojak in house sauce.
MasterChef, Michelin names, and live cooking
Berempah Bros is the first food-hall stall from Derek Cheong, who won MasterChef Singapore Season 2. The Beauty World shop is still open. At ION he plates Signature Ayam Berempah at $10, Unagi Berempah at $14.50, and Duck Confit Berempah at $18. Ah Er Herbal Soup, Michelin-recognised, double-boils stock for four hours. Ginseng Herbal Black Chicken Soup is $9. Gingko Nuts Pig's Stomach Pepper Soup is $7.50. MP Thai holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Steam Grouper with Thai Sour Chilli is $16.90. Fried Tang Hoon with Crab Meat is $13.90.
LiXin Teochew Fishball Noodles dates to a 1968 pushcart. Eddie Lim still makes fishballs from yellowtail, chilled, never frozen, with homemade chilli and fried lard. Time Out flagged live sessions here: you can watch fishballs and dumplings being hand-formed at selected times through the day. Chef Lup Roasted, known for queues at Golden Mile, brings herbal roast duck and char siew. Wang Hah Ha Prawn Mee Laksa, formerly Original Beo Crescent Market Big Prawn Noodle, simmers pork ribs, prawn heads and clams for seven to eight hours. Today Hainanese Chicken Rice traces to Sergeant Chicken Rice, which opened in 2005. Royal Haylam Western Cuisine does Hainanese-style sweet and sour with Western grills. Padang Padang slow-cooks beef rendang for six hours.
Claypot rice, Toast Box roasting, and a take-home corner
Ai Shan Claypot Rice is a Hong Kong-Hunan concept with 11 sha bao fan. Tender Chicken with Shiitake Mushroom is $14.80. Stir-Fried Pork with Chilli Peppers is $16.80. Braised Eggplant with Minced Pork is $13.80. Spend a dollar more for takeaway and you can walk out with the claypot, according to Seth Lui's visit.
Toast Box's first live-roasting outlet is here. The ION-only Nanyang Supremo blend mixes Colombian Supremo Arabica and Robusta, slow-roasted with butter and sugar. Signature Iced Kopi C, large, is $3.90. Hot Kopi, medium, is $3.20. The Supremo add-on is $0.30 hot or $0.50 cold. Treasure Bakery is a new British-Nanyang counter. Opening-week prices: Black Sesame Cornet $2.50, Curry Chicken Turnover $4.50, Madame K's Strawberry Rouland $5.50, carrot cake $6.90. The five hero bakes Food Republic named are beef shepherd's pie, Earl Grey cranberry roll, sapphire blueberry tart, strawberry Kugelhopf, and that strawberry rouland. Chow Zan Oriental Dessert has been blending traditional tong shui with newer plates since 2021. Sunny Island Bar does kopi, tea, mocktails and slushies.
Orchid Gallery is a retail strip inside the hall. Homegrown names include Thye Moh Chan, Irvins, Tiap Tiap, Shun Dat and I Love SG. Tiap Tiap's Ondeh Ondeh in A Jar is $10.80. From 15 October 2026, spend $30 on food or $80 at the retail counters and you can redeem a tingkat while stocks last. Eatbook notes the food court is not halal-certified. Din Tai Fung's new ION restaurant is also on B4 if you want xiao long bao after lor mee.
Practical Details
- Opened: 28 September 2026, ongoing
- Hours: Sunday to Thursday and public holidays 10am-10pm. Friday, Saturday and eve of public holiday 10am-11pm, per Food Republic's outlet listing. Selected stalls open earlier.
- Venue: Food Opera, 2 Orchard Turn, ION Orchard #B4-03/04, Singapore 238801
- Nearest MRT: Orchard, North-South and Thomson-East Coast lines
- Phone: 6509 9198
- Prices: From about $2.50 for a bakery cornet to $18 for duck confit berempah. Heritage bowls cluster around $8 to $16.
- Website: Food Opera at ION Orchard
