Thevar
Mano Thevar’s two-star modern Indian tasting menu, now in a terracotta-walled shophouse on Mohamed Sultan Road. Book it for the occasion; ask for the chef’s table if you’re two or three.
- Where: River Valley
- Price: S$60 and above
Michelin-starred restaurants
The starred tables, and which occasion each one is actually for.
Meta
Two-star Korean cooking from a former builder, on Mohamed Sultan Road. Book it for an occasion and ask about the Jeju abalone with rice porridge, on the menu since opening day.
- Where: River Valley
- Price: S$60 and above
Summer Pavilion
The Ritz-Carlton’s Cantonese room for the parents, the milestone or the client. Order the sea whelk soup in a whole coconut, a signature since the first Michelin star in 2016.
- Where: Marina Bay
- Price: S$60 and above
Labyrinth
LG Han's Michelin-starred tasting menu now digs into Singapore recipes the city has half forgotten. Seafood-led, about three hours at dinner, and strict about diets.
- Where: Marina Bay
- Price: S$60 and above
Candlenut
The world's first Michelin-starred Peranakan restaurant, at Dempsey, where the Ah-Ma-Kase menu lets grandma decide. Bring a table big enough to share properly.
- Where: Dempsey
- Price: S$60 and above
Odette
Singapore's three-star French room closed for three months at ten and came back warmer and more Asian, chilli crab in a mantou included. Book it for the occasion, and confirm the price first.
- Where: Civic District
- Price: S$60 and above
The best bak chor mee in Singapore, and the vinegar debate
Queue once at Tai Hwa on Crawford Lane for the Michelin-starred benchmark, then find your everyday bowl: Ru Ji for meatballs, Eunos for lard, Jin Xi Lai for liver. The vinegar decides everything.
- Where: Across Singapore
Dinner worth planning around: six tables built on memory
Odette for an anniversary, Claudine for a long lunch, Candlenut for three generations, Kotuwa for a group, Artichoke when nobody wants courses. Read Labyrinth’s dietary rules first.
- Where: Across Singapore
Dempsey: old army barracks, three very good lunches
Candlenut for visitors or a Peranakan-minded family, Claudine for an anniversary, Dempsey Cookhouse for a mixed group. Book the table first; the rest of the hill is optional.
- Where: Across Singapore
Singapore on a plate, from pushcart to tasting menu
Teochew bak kut teh with a 1969 pushcart start, a kitchen built on coconut, a grandmother's Peranakan recipes with a star and a tasting menu of dishes fading from memory. One city, four registers.
- Where: Across Singapore
More restaurants collections
Restaurants worth planning around
Meals worth putting in the calendar, from Peranakan cooking to French dining and Singapore-led tasting menus. Settle the occasion first; the right table follows from it.
- 6 picks
Food centres
The answer when nobody agrees on lunch. Everyone browses, everyone orders their own, everyone meets back at one table; keep a second choice in case your stall is shut.
- 4 picks
Singapore flavours
Singapore food in three registers: a hawker meal, a heritage-led restaurant or a tasting menu. If you only do one, start at the hawker centre; the others are riffing on it.
- 5 picks
Eating in Dempsey
Dempsey is best done as one booked meal with time either side. Peranakan, French or an open kitchen, chosen for the company; don't rush the wander around it.
- 3 picks
Eating at New Bahru
New Bahru works best if you decide what you're eating before you arrive: breakfast, Sri Lankan cooking or pizza. Book the table, then wander afterwards.
- 3 picks
Tiong Bahru cafés and market
The small plan suits Tiong Bahru best: lunch at the market or a bakery stop, then a slow wander. Check which bakery branch you mean before you set off.
- 3 picks