Where to eat in Singapore in October

The roundup

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   1. Árō

   River Valley

   The month's big night out. Johanne Siy, Asia's Best Female Chef 2023, now has 26 seats in the old Esora shophouse and a 12-course menu that lists only ingredients, so the card tells you very little and the plates tell you the rest. Expect Philippine produce such as pili nuts and aligue crab fat, and reworked versions of a couple of Lolla favourites if you ate there. Book one of the ten counter seats rather than a table: with a menu this personal, watching the kitchen is half the evening. Check the current price when you book.

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   Illustration

   2. Ao

   Orchard

   The easier way into a starred chef's cooking, and the one to bring the family to. Takeshi Araki has traded Esora's kappo formality for a sharing-plates room off Orchard Road, where the menu runs to chicken wings stuffed with black truffle mochi rice and a sea bream ramen. You walk in through a bakery counter, which sets the tone: relaxed, no ceremony, no need to dress up. Order the wings for the table and the ramen for yourself. Sharing plates keep the bill well below a tasting menu; check the current prices before you go.

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   3. Tanica

   Orchard

   Worth a weekday lunch before it's worth a dinner. Fysh has gone from The Singapore EDITION, and Tanica, a spice-forward, live-fire Asian kitchen, has moved into the greenhouse-like dining hall. The menu has an asam pedas seafood risotto and a 72-hour wagyu short rib in sweet soy. If you only order one, make it the risotto: asam pedas in an Italian rice dish is the braver idea of the two, and the reason to choose this over another hotel grill. The weekday set lunch is the low-commitment way in; check the current price with the hotel before you book.

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   4. Petra

   Opens 24 October 2026 · Dempsey

   The opening to plan around, if you can wait until 24 October. It's a 119-seat Mediterranean restaurant on Dempsey Hill with a seafood counter, a bread oven and an Ottolenghi-inspired salad spread, and the kitchen line-up is the reason to go early: Antonio Miscellaneo of La Bottega and Casa Vostra, Anas Shami from Aniba and Dawid Nowosadzki, a former Ottolenghi head chef. That is three kitchens' worth of experience under one roof. Book for the last week of October and bring a group big enough to work through the salads and the seafood counter.

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   5. Fico at Tanjong Beach Club

   Sentosa

   The beach-day lunch of the month. The East Coast Park Italian, which earned a Bib Gourmand in 2024, now has a 130-seat sibling at Tanjong Beach Club on Sentosa, built around a two-metre charcoal barbecue dome. Order the focaccina with mortadella, stracciatella and pistachio: it is only served on Sentosa, which makes it the reason to cross the bridge rather than eat at the East Coast original. Book a late lunch and let it drift into aperitivo hour with the sea in front of you, and plan on a taxi home rather than a sprint for the last train.

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   6. Maison Yoshoku

   Civic District

   Go for the gimmick and be honest about it. Surrey Hills Group has replaced MoVida at Raffles City with a yoshoku dining room, and the draw is a floating dessert omakase: the sweets are suspended by magnetic levitation. That is either the most fun you will have with a pudding this year or a very elaborate physics lesson, depending on who you bring. Children and first dates are the right audience; a serious dessert person may want something that stays on the plate. Check the restaurant for current prices and session times before you go.

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   7. Food Opera, ION Orchard

   Orchard

   The most useful opening on this list, if not the most glamorous. ION Orchard's basement food court has reopened after a renovation with 600 seats and a new line-up of stalls, which on Orchard Road at lunchtime is no small thing. Start with Ming Chung's Henghua-style white lor mee, add Hillman's claypots if there are two of you, or go for Berempah Bros fried chicken from a MasterChef Singapore winner. It's the place to send anyone who has been shopping since ten and is about to make a bad decision. Go before the office lunch rush for an easy seat.

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   8. Yamamoto's Hamburg, Lau Pa Sat

   CBD

   A Tokyo hamburg-steak specialist in a Victorian hawker hall, which is about as Singapore as lunch gets. Yamahan, born in Ebisu in 2005, opened inside Lau Pa Sat on 5 October with beef-and-pork hamburg steaks under more than ten sauces, from gorgonzola to kimchi cheese. Pick a sauce you wouldn't make at home; the plain ones can wait for a second visit. It's a CBD weekday lunch rather than a destination, so go when you're already in the area, and check the stall's current prices at the counter before you order.

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   9. Hairy crab season

   From 12 October; runs vary to 30 November

   Shanghai's autumn obsession, and the only sign of autumn Singapore gets. Hairy crab sets have been on Chinese menus since 12 October: Min Jiang at Goodwood Park and TungLok Signatures run theirs to 30 November, Jia Wei at Grand Mercure Roxy goes from 20 October, and Cassia at Capella saves its crab-powder xiao long bao for 1 to 18 November. Choose Cassia if you want the crab without the shell work, and one of the others if you want the full messy ritual. Confirm dates with each restaurant before booking, and wear something washable.

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    10. Ingleside: Embers

    Until December 2026 · Tanjong Pagar

    For returning regulars more than first-timers. The wood-fire restaurant on Tras Street has a new seasonal tasting menu, Embers, running until December, and it reads like a kitchen enjoying itself: flambadou greenlip abalone, a barley koji taco with smoked pork belly, and duck dry-aged for 14 days. If you liked the truffle toast before, the miso in its brioche is now aged for 16 weeks, which tells you exactly who this menu is for. Book before December, when Embers comes off, and go with someone who remembers the old menu.

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    11. Torimitsu at Tanuki Raw

    From 28 October 2026, for three months · Orchard

    The pop-up to book early. Takuhei Yamada of a 13-seat yakitori counter in Kagurazaka, Tokyo, is grilling for 15 guests at a time on Tanuki Raw's balcony at Orchard Central from 28 October, for three months. The format is a compulsory set of eight daily skewers, chicken ramen and dessert, so there is no ordering to do and nothing to argue about. Fifteen seats a sitting over three months is not many, so book for the first week and check the set price when you do. Go hungry; the ramen comes after the skewers.

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    12. Tembusu

    Botanic Gardens

    The reward for an early walk in the Botanic Gardens. The old Halia site in the Ginger Garden now serves borderless Straits cooking, with a separate dining area for guests who bring a dog, which makes it the obvious stop if your morning walk has four legs. Do the walk first while it is still cool, then sit down to eat once the heat has made the decision for you. Ask for the dog-friendly area when you reserve if you're bringing one, and keep it for a weekend breakfast-into-lunch rather than a quick bite.

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    13. Your Mother's House

    Tanjong Pagar

    For after dinner on Keong Saik Road. Two Employees Only alumni have taken over the old No Sleep Club unit with a short list of cocktails and an upsized Indomie goreng to share, which is the correct thing to eat beside a cocktail late at night. It's homely and bright rather than dark and sceney, so it works as the last stop after one of the Tanjong Pagar dinners above, Ingleside included. Go with two or three friends, share the noodles and check the menu for drink prices before you settle in.

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    14. Tom's Palette (last chance)

    Closes 16 October 2026 · Bugis

    Ended. Not a current recommendation; see its page for the latest.

    The goodbye. After 21 years of flavours nobody else would attempt, the homegrown gelato shop says Friday 16 October is its last day. Its farewell Encore Collection brings back the scoops regulars asked for most, so this is the moment to settle a long-running argument about which odd flavour was the best one. Go early in the day; a closing shop with a loyal following is not one to leave until the evening. If you are reading this after 16 October, we're sorry, and the next homegrown scoop you love deserves an earlier visit.