The 90 Mins: Fresh Kunafa, Hot Çay Power World Cup Late-Night Shift in Singapore

You had arrangements. Concrete plans. Sleep, perhaps. Early alarm.  No clear promise to be a useful person in the morning.

Then came the draw. Then they made the bracket. Then someone sent a voice note in the group chat at 10pm that just said “we watching?” and now here you are, sixteen people deep, trying to figure out where you can eat halal food in Singapore past midnight without ending up with something from a convenience store and the quiet despair that comes with it.

Midnight World Cup knockout football deserves more than that.

The fix is Anatolia Restaurant, 58 Arab Street, a true halal Turkish restaurant open till midnight every day, with fresh Kunafa hot from the pan, Turkish Çay brewed to order, and a World Cup discount that ensures you have no legitimate excuse to eat badly today. If you’ve been searching for halal food around Bugis after 10pm, or hunting for Arab Street halal cuisine that is genuinely open when the match starts, this is the answer.

What Makes Turkish Match Culture Different

In Turkey, watching football without having something to eat in front of you is a personality flaw. As kick-off approaches, cities like Gaziantep and Istanbul don’t get quiet – they get louder. Café owners pack tables alongside screens. Street food vendors know that the peak time is the 45 minute interval when the whole neighborhood flows out looking for something warm to eat before the second half.

Turkish food on match nights is made for long nights. It's warm, it's shareable and it's made for giving your hands something to do when VAR has been looking at a shoulder challenge for four minutes and you physically can't look at the screen any more.

That tradition is a tray of Kunafa between 4 people. It is not eating for the sake of hunger. It keeps the table occupied, gives you something to discuss when the match is not discussable and sits perfectly between the kick-off and the final whistle without making you feel like you ate incorrectly.

Local time from 10 p.m. will be available for several knockout matches in Singapore for the World Cup 2026. Anatolia is open until midnight. Especially anyone in the Bugis and Kampong Glam area looking for halal Turkish food that’s actually open when the match actually happens. Timing matters.

The Star of the Night: Anatolia's Kunafa

If you have spent any time searching for where to get authentic kunafe in Singapore, here is what Chef Sinan is working with. Three layers. Each one has a specific job.

The Outer Shell: Shredded Pastry 

Fine-stranded kadayıf pastry, worked with butter long before it gets anywhere near the heat. When done right this is what makes proper Kunafa stand apart from the version you had somewhere once and never thought to mention again. Edges become golden and crisp. The heat softens the centre a little. When you push a spoon through the top layer, there is a little bit of resistance that is nice before it breaks through. That sound means it was made well. If there was no resistance, somebody was in a hurry. Chef Sinan is not in any rush. 

The Core: Creamy Ice Cream 

In the heat of Singapore, the right call is creamy ice cream at the heart of the Kunafa, as in Anatolia. Hot, buttered, crisp on the outside, and cold, creamy at the same time. It’s a temperature differential that works at any time of day, but at midnight in the middle of extra time it tips over into the kind of thing you tell people about the next morning, although you’re too tired to form sentences properly. This is more indulgent and dessert like than the traditional cheese version - no ambiguity about what you are eating or what it wants to be. It wants to be a dessert. It does. 

The Finish: Sweet Syrup 

1:1 ratio of sugar to water, cooked clear, poured evenly and straight from the pan. If you get it right, the syrup will absorb into the pastry without cracking it. There is the crispness. The sweetness adds to the cold cream, but doesn’t drown it. Do it wrong and you get a wet sponge, an expensive one. Anatolia is not a wet sponge. At S$19.90 per serving, this is one of the better-value halal desserts in Singapore on any night. With the discount during the World Cup, it is genuinely hard to justify ordering anything else. 

The Pairing: Why Hot Turkish Çay Completes It 

Turkish Çay is pronounced "chai" but calling it "chai tea" in front of a Turkish person is a slight cultural mistake, as it is not the spiced, milky variety people sometimes think it is. It is strong, straight, black tea, made in a two-tier pot and drank down at the table to taste, served in tiny, tulip-shaped glasses, so tiny that you’ll order three rounds before you realize you’ve had three rounds. This is why it works especially with Kunafa. The dessert is sweet and rich and needs something to reset the palate between bites, not pile on top of it. One clean, slightly astringent sip and the next mouthful is full force again. In Türkiye, to finish a Kunafa without Çay is considered mildly incorrect behavior the two have been served together long enough that the pairing has its own logic regardless of geography. Anatolia on Arab Street serves hot properly brewed Çay. If you want to eat Turkish street food midnight snacks in Singapore the way these dishes are supposed to be eaten together, this is the place to start. 

The World Cup 2026 Offer: What You Get When You Book Ahead 

Anatolia is running a specific promotion for World Cup 2026 diners who plan ahead.

WhatsApp Book Online

Walk-ins are welcome at Anatolia any night. The 20% discount, the free Kunafa and the complimentary Çay apply to advance reservations only. One phrase when you book. That is genuinely all it takes.

Why Anatolia Works for a Match Night in Singapore 

A few practical things worth knowing before you plan. 

Open 7 days a week, until midnight. Most of the group stage and knockout matches in World Cup 2026 will start at 10PM or later Singapore time. Later round games take place even later. Anatolia is open until midnight every day, so you can arrive before kick-off, eat for the entire 90 minutes plus whatever extra time the referee and VAR decide the match deserves, and not watch extra time from a cleared table.

100% Halal ingredients, Halal. All of the ingredients used to prepare Anatolia's menu items are 100% halal. No separate menu, no caveats, no questions at the table. Families, groups and anyone needing confidence about halal standards can sit back and focus on football. If you are looking for Bugis halal food or halal food near Bugis that is actually open late Anatolia is a 7 minute walk from Bugis MRT Exit B and closes at midnight. 

Arab Street location, easy to locate. 58 Arab Street is in Kampong Glam, one of the most walkable and active late-night neighborhoods in Singapore. There's a certain energy to the place after 10 PM that feels more appropriate for a match night than most parts of the city. Easy to get to, easy to get around, and close enough to Haji Lane that you can make an evening of it before the match starts. 

Full kitchen open until closing. Kunafa and Çay is the dessert play, but Anatolia’s full Turkish menu is available for the entire evening – Testi Kebab at S$78.90 for two (sealed in a clay pot, broken open at the table, dramatic enough to distract from a sluggish first half), Adana Lamb, Anatolia Special Grill, Mezza Platter. Get there early, enjoy a full meal in the pre-match window and hit the dessert in the second half. That’s right. 

Book Your Table. Claim the Discount. 

Anatolia Restaurant is a halal Turkish and Lebanese restaurant at 58 Arab Street, Singapore, serving dine-in and delivery daily from 10 AM to midnight. Every dish is made with 100% halal ingredients.