Best mod-Sin dishes of 2015

Yup, Spago's take on local laksa officially beats Chatterbox's astronomically priced $32.80 chicken rice, but Wolfgang Puck and Joshua Brown's rendition rightly brings the recipe into modern times. The magic is in the broth: it's got a rich coconut and clam backbone, and a balance of Thai basil, Vietnamese coriander, and calamansi that enriches a fat fillet of Alaskan halibut and twirl of thick bee hoon.

Invented for his Celebratory Discovery Menu for SG50 back in August, chef Jason Tan mined his early food memories to create this luxe rendition of the oyster omelette. His take on the Hokkien staple features breaded Royale oysters, Kristal de Chine caviar and oyster leaves on sous vide egg. 

Antoinette's head chef Pang Kok Keong has built a reputation founded on exquisite French-style cakes and pastries, but he now taps on his local knowledge to infuse local flavours into his goodies. The Satay Swirl, introduced in Antoinette's Sofitel So stand this year, is a marvel, hiding a lemongrass-rich, aromatic satay sauce between flaky Danish pastry coils. 

After battling the heavy, opulent decor at Bacchanalia's old Masonic Club digs, chef Ivan Brehm's food finally gets its due respect when the restaurant moved to its intimate open kitchen space on HongKong Street this year.

Nothing quite gives us pangs for a return trip than his creamy risotto, built with aged carnaroli rice, coconut cream, shavings of dried copra, and herbs that blow up whiffs of tomyum. Our only beef is: why doesn't it come in a bigger bowl?  

On the set menus at Labyrinth's new Esplanade digs, chef LG Han turns his creativity and technique to the dishes that (re)imagine a day in the life of the hungry Singaporean.

For this dish, two slices of otoro – the first draped nigiri-style on rice and dusted with five-spice, chives and a ball of blackened batter; the other lightly torched and wearing a crisped pig's skin hat – taste just as meaty as their char siu and siu yoke inspirations, but with melt-in-your-mouth sensations. They mess with your mind, but in a damn good way.