The 50 best restaurants in Singapore you must try

This quaint eatery, tucked within the quiet Kensington Square, is quite the hidden find. It is helmed by chef Dillion Ng, the man behind the now-defunct GastroSmiths and The Humble Loaf. His latest venture is an environmentally conscious one: produce comes from sustainable sources, beef is used minimally, and vegetables are plentiful in the ever-changing menu that seeks to capture the best of the season.

Rishi Naleendra is a prodigy among chefs. He opened Cheek by Jowl in 2016, and a year later, he became the first Sri Lankan-born chef to earn a Michelin star for his restaurant. He opened Cloudstreet, a deeply personal space with pieces of him littered through the space: the food is influenced by his heritage, and the restaurant is decorated with his own artworks.

The road map of modern cuisine is often marked with unfamiliar sights and unexpected turns. But at Avenue 87, chefs Alex Phan and Glen Tay are driving things in a different direction – the friends take a trip down memory lane at their newly opened mod-Asian restaurant. Memories of growing up, coupled with familiar hawker finds around Hougang (where Alex and Glen both grew up in), are tapped onto as inspiration for the restaurant’s debut menu. Dinner ($76 for four courses, $98 for six courses) might feature a sambal octopus course, or belly-warming fish soup jazzed up with homemade anchovy buttermilk sauce.

Mott 32 has already made a name for itself – with its progressive Chinese plates and stunning, sexy interiors. And its Singapore outpost at Marina Bay Sands serves up the same dining experience that most would expect from this big-name restaurant. The space is opulently decorated by starchitect Joyce Wang, with green and botanical motifs that pay homage to our reputation as a garden city. Dishes from the kitchen capture the same dramatic flair, too. Plump siew mai ($9 for two) comes stuffed with Iberico pork and soft-boiled quail egg, and buns come stuffed with cubes of Peking duck ($10 for three). A must-order: Mott 32’s iconic applewood roasted duck ($108) that’s cured and marinated for over two days. 

Chef Damian D’Silva hopes to showcase traditional local recipes that might otherwise fade from view. And he is doing it from his at Kin, his new venture located at the lobby of Straits Clan. The menu is split into small plates, large plates, vegetable and rice, sambal and pickles, and finally dessert – and in true zi char tradition, it’s best if you order a bunch of dishes to share among your table. Try the Heritage Salsa ($15), a tart salad from the small plates selection, which combines local fruits and herbs like green mango, pineapple, winged bean and torch ginger; or sample the underrated Chap Chye Masak Rempah Titek ($30), a mildly spiced vegetable stew with an intense seafood broth base.

Dining at Salted and Hung feels like a new experience. For one, the restaurant has completely transformed; a sleek cement bar greets you as you first walk in, the Animal Farm murals have been replaced with tasteful works of art. The menu has also been refreshed and centres around chef Drew Nocente’s culinary philosophy of minimal waste. You see it in practice through dishes like the green lip abalone, a highlight on the restaurant's new seven ($128) and 10-course ($168) tasting menus.

In Preludio's first year, chef Fernando Arévalo challenged the team to dish out creations centred around the theme of Monochrome. Now, instead of speaking in terms of black and white, he's up to tackle Time. Fernando distils the idea in multiple ways: age, ancestry and anecdotes – and these make their way on Preludio's new menu for both lunch ($58/four-course, $118/seven-course) and dinner ($188/six-course, $238/eight-course). The ticking of the clock is best encapsulated in The Time Machine, an elaborate course of five tiny plates that take various durations to prepare. 

It's a hard task to create a menu that completely omits gluten. It's an even harder task to create a menu where you don't notice that it's gone. But The Butcher's Wife has been doing just that since 2018 – feeding both the gluten-free crowd and those looking for a good meal in a casual space at Tiong Bahru. For the restaurant's latest menu, head chef Mariana Campos D’Almeida taps into her Brazilian heritage and combines it with Asian flavours. Highlights include the crispy pig’s ears ($21), inspired by the Brazilian national dish of feijoada that’s brightened with red date sauce and pickled ginger flower.

The restaurant has long been a stalwart of Chinese cuisine in Singapore. And now, after some 38 years of operations, Min Jiang is ready for a new chapter. Change begins with a sourcing up of the dated interior. After refurbishments, the new sepia-hued Min Jiang boasts a sleeker, brighter space with soft textile panels and elegant white marble tabletops. Splashes of chinoiserie, including statement chandeliers made to resemble Asian fishing baskets, help retain an old-school charm. The food has been updated too, with fresh highlights of wonton noodles ($18) lavished with sweet Argentinian red prawns and deep-fried stuffed dough sticks with shredded abalone and enoki mushroom ($36). Regulars can also seek comfort in longtime favourites of Mongolian chicken with almond flakes ($48), along with the lunchtime dim sum pushcart service. 

Artichoke prides itself on serving the least authentic Middle Eastern food in town – a concept we can enthusiastically get behind because it’s still fricking delicious. The restaurant has been around for some nine years, which is quite an impressive feat in Singapore’s take-no-prisoners food and beverage scene. Start yourself off with a series of meze, best scooped up with warm triangles of toasted Turkish bread, or order the smoked black Angus rump cap ($45), which comes with two sauces: zhug, a spicy Middle Eastern parsley, and cilantro pesto, as well as toum, a Lebanese garlic sauce.  

Since its opening in 2013, Cicheti has been serving solid Italian-inspired creations and good vibes in equal measure. It marked the birth of the Cicheti brand, and saw the launch of Bar Cicheiti near Keong Saik and Caffe Cicheti, which has taken over Finn's breezy spot at South Beach Tower. With the success of the newer concepts, it's only right that the OG gets a refresh as well. Begin your meal with small plates like the Zuppa di Cozze e N’duja ($24) or grilled sea prawns (market price) fresh from Tekka Market. Cicheti's beloved Neapolitan-style pizzas ($18-$28) also remain on the menu, all nicely charred in its wood-fired oven imported from Italy. 

Ever wondered what it'd be like to dine in a luxurious condo owned by Bangkok's super-rich? Jam at Siri House gives you a taste of that experience – all without leaving Singapore. The 42-seat restaurant is an intimate space that houses an eclectic range of furniture from mid-century antiques and dazzling chandeliers to plush lounge sets dressed in bright handwoven Jim Thompson silks. Settle into one of its many velvet-draped seats and expect to be blown away by food that escapes narrow definition. The food at Jam at Siri House is playful, fun to eat and outrageously delicious. Try the pappardelle ($33), which utilises prawn and lobster heads to make an intoxicating bisque-like sauce that's tossed in freshly made pasta and finished with smoked mussels and a roasted tiger prawn.

Three years, one Michelin star and plenty of other accolades later, Cheek by Jowl has run its last service. Thankfully, its replacement doesn't fall too far from what chef Rishi Naleendra initially set out to achieve. We might even like Cheek Bistro more than the original. Its à la carte-only menu is unfussy and retains some Cheek by Jowl favourites so you can put down your pitchfork and breathe easy. Come Saturday and Sunday morning, the brunch menu is also worth making a trip down. The menu features affordably priced plates of shashuka ($18), mushrooms on toast ($18) mixed in with convivial service and a relaxed vibe.

Priced at $450 for dinner, Zén is one of the most expensive restaurants in Singapore. But look beyond the eye-watering price tag at chef Björn Frantzén first international outpost and you'll find that a meal here is well worth it. Your dinner starts out on the first floor of the three-storey shophouse along trendy Bukit Pasoh with snacks that have been perfected in the kitchen of Sweden’s first three-Michelin-starred restaurant. Before you proceed to dig into your mains on the second floor, you're presented with a table of ingredients that you'd be hard pressed to find in any other restaurant in the city – or the region. They go towards making stunning plates like beautifully cooked marron interjected with puffed Koshihikari rice, Yukimuro snow-aged wagyu covered with ramson, pickled baby pine cones flown in from Russia and the most incredibly balanced dessert of sea buckthorn sorbet served paired with oolong mousse and match meringue.

New Ubin has found a new home, and this time, the famous zi char restaurant is returning to its humble roots of a casual eatery. Located in an open-air canteen in the remote area of Tampines Crescent, it counts furniture stores and three famous megastores as its neighbours. The location might be odd and inaccessible, but luckily, it has an exciting menu to encourage you to make a visit. Try the foie gras satay ($9) or the smoked pork collar ($12) prepared in an in-house smoker – modern plates that you’d expect from this forward-thinking zi char restaurant. But the spotlight for this casual concept is still on its wok-kissed signatures. In particular, the open-air setting allows for the return of the charcoal fish head steamboat ($28) with red snapper, enoki mushrooms, tofu, yam, and seaweed.

Following his departure from one-Michelin-starred Iggy’s at the Hilton Singapore, chef Aitor Jeronimo Orive has teamed up with powerhouse hotel and restaurant group Unlisted Collection to open Basque Kitchen. Inspired by the cuisine of Basque Country, where meats are grilled over hot coals and stews are rustic and hearty – he elevates these homey dishes with techniques he’s learned cooking at some of the top restaurants in the world. Lunch is priced from $88 while dinner starts from $208.

Esora is a treat for the senses. Chef-owner Shigeru Koizumi prepares Kappo-style cuisine with utmost precision, bringing together his experience cooking at three-Michelin-starred Nihonryori Ryugin in Tokyo and Singapore’s very own two-Michelin-starred Odette. The menu changes frequently, following the micro-seasonality of ingredients, so you never really know what you’re going to get. An eight-course dinner goes for $338, with sake, wine, and tea pairing options available. 

Chef-owner Ivan Brehm, an alumnus of The Fat Duck and former head chef of Bacchanalia, has us hooked on 'crossroads cooking' – a term he coined that celebrates the similarities between cuisines and cultures. Cooking philosophy aside, the food at Nouri speaks volumes on its own. Expect deftly prepared dishes that use uncommon ingredients like wild rice stem and kanzuri to create flavour combinations that are all at once familiar and novel.

With breathtaking views of the Singapore skyline, Jaan is an intimate 40-seat restaurant that takes you on a culinary journey to Britain. After three years helming the restaurant, chef Kirk Westaway has hit full stride with his latest Reinventing British menu. A series of snacks like a fish and chips tart and Britain’s national dish, chicken tikka masala served to the tune of Brit-pop and rock music to set the tone of the meal. Signature mains include the Alaskan langoustine served with courgette as well as aged roasted pigeon with blackberry, beetroot and foie gras.

To be the world's only Michelin-starred Peranakan chef is no easy feat, but through hard work, a passion for his heritage and unyielding dedication, chef Malcolm Lee managed to earn this badge of honour all before turning 35. Opt for Lee’s Taste of Candlenut menu ($58/lunch, $78/dinner) if you're new the cuisine and unsure of where to start. 

A mainstay on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurant's list, Burnt Ends is well worth the hype and the month-long (or sometimes longer) waiting list. There’s just something incredibly honest about a solid slab of meat coaxed over open flames. The steak topped with bone marrow and burnt onion is something you'll find on every table, but to leave without chowing down on Burnt End's legendary sanger burger would be a travesty.

No list of the best restaurants in Singapore would be complete without our only World's 50 Best entry, Odette. The two-Michelin-star holder is really pushing Singapore's culinary landscape forwards with its Essential Cuisine philosophy.  Described as honest food with a steep respect for ingredients cultivated from his farming family in France, chef Julien Royer’s cuisine prides itself on keeping up with the provenance of its produce, which results in magnificent plates that will blow any diner away.

Western dishes get a Sichuan twist at Birds of a Feather. Inspired by the laid-back teahouses of Chengdu, the restaurant tastefully makes use of lush greenery and eclectic design pieces to create a space you won't mind unwinding at from morning 'til late. Try the roasted chicken and avocado salad with Sichuan pepper, oriental bolognaise and hot and sour chazuke, a light and mildly spicy broth that's poured over a bed of Niigata rice and charcoal-grilled barramundi. 

Whether you’re a tourist on the hunt for local cuisine or a Singaporean craving for Peranakan comfort food when you touch down, Violet Oon Singapore is sure to hit the spot. Sample Violet's signatures like the beef rendang ($25), dry laksa ($26) and ngoh hiang ($18).

When a restaurant still draws in daily queues despite charging $14.80 for a dish people typically pay $2 for, you know it's doing something right. The nasi lemak at The Coconut Club is a faultless example of the classic Malay dish. You get a fried egg, ikan bilis, peanuts, slices of Japanese cucumber, two juicy pieces of fried chicken, sambal and unlimited servings of rice flavoured with coconut milk from a single plantation in Sabak Bernam, Malaysia.

Labyrinth, like the city it represents, is defined by growth and change. Chef-owner Han Li Guang's "new expression of Singapore cuisine" sees him moving away from reinterpretations of classic local dishes like chilli crab and mee pok. Instead, this truly local restaurant has turned locavore: 80% of its menu is made from ingredients sourced from the city's farms presented in a 16-course dinner that echoes Singapore's past, present and future.

This under-the-radar restaurant on buzzy Ann Siang Road whips up seasonal Mediterranean dishes in its open kitchen. Grab a seat by the bar and order its signature sea urchin pudding – trust us, it’s that good, you'll be licking the plate clean. The hand-torn pasta dish with black trumpet mushrooms and duck leg confit ragout is absolutely divine.

This tiny shophouse along Boat Quay might only be able to squeeze 20 people into its space, but this exclusive casual-luxe restaurant and rooftop bar doesn't pull any punches. Tasting menus at this one-Michelin-starred joint start at a resonable $138 and features classics like foie gras semifreddo with kumquats and fig vincotto and grass fed beef tenderloin with chanterelles and truffles.

With experience in Michelin-decorated kitchens like El Celler de Can Roca and Zuberoa in Spain, chef Carlos Montobbio has brought Esquina to new heights since he took the reins. The tapas-style menu is made for sharing. Start your meal with smoked mackerel delicately placed on a thin corn tuile before moving on to stunning plates of grilled Spanish octopus dressed with corn sauce, chimichurri, chorizo oil and uni and lobster paella with saffron allioli and sugar snap peas.

Before Singapore became a hotspot for celebrity chef openings, there was Les Amis. The locally and internationally lauded French fine dining establishment has seen the likes of Justin Quek, Ignatius ‘Iggy’ Chan and Janice Wong pass through its kitchen and is now helmed by chef Sebastien Lepinoy. The French chef sources almost everything from his country of origin. His pride and joy: handcrafted Le Ponclet butter, which is so rare, it's only served in less than 20 restaurants in the world.

You go to Cut for one reason: the steaks. Grilled over hard wood and charcoal, the hunks of beef come from a menagerie of sources. You've got USDA Prime from Illinois, Angus and wagyu from Australia, Red Poll from Suffolk, wagyu from Idaho, and even more wagyu from different prefectures in Japan. Each type is further broken down into different cuts, ranging from rib-eyes to New York strips to bone-in filet mignons. 

Slang for ‘party’ in Peru, Tono is characterised by lively salsa music and a maracas-wielding fish mascot. As you's expect, there’s nothing dull about the food either. Everything that hits the table is fresh, punchy and delicious – from its signature ceviche to the more traditional Peruvian dishes with names we can barely pronounce like the escabeche causas, a Peruvian take on a chicken potato salad. Don't skip out on a plate of alfajores for dessert, either.

We're not sure why it took so long, but Singapore finally has a contemporary Indian restaurant to call its own. Inspired by his travels around South Asia, his Penang heritage and his time working in Singapore, chef Murugan Thevar has come up with creative yet satisfyingly delicious plates at Thevar. The grilled octopus ($36) served on a bed of smooth masala lentil puree is topped with a tomato chutney for a burst of acidity. The star of the show is the pork ribs glazed with medjool dates ($35) best served with a plate of berry pulao ($12).

Rhubard Le Restaurant proves that bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. With just seven tables, this charming shophouse space along Duxton Hill guarantees an intimate and personalised experience. The contemporary French restaurant offers a three-course lunch at $52 but splash out on its $138 dinner tasting menu that features classics like lamb redefined.

Morsels left its home in Little India for greener pastures at Dempsey and we think it's all the better for it. Its new rustic barnyard-style digs features an open kitchen at the back, allowing you to see chef-owner Petrina Loh and her team whip up creative fusion dishes rooted in local ingredients like her signature steamed venus clams in fig broth and Firecracker Duroc Pulled Pork, a dish that’ll keep you coming back for more.

JB Ah Meng is another Bib Gourmand awardee, and it has the support of top local and international chefs besides. Regulars include chef Andrew Walsh (CURE) and chef Jason Tan (Corner House). Like them, the crowds keep coming back for its unbeatable zi char dishes like the san lou bee hoon. It appears simple enough, but the pancake-resembling seafood noodle dish is the joint’s star. Charred and crisp on the outside but soft on the inside, each strand of bee hoon is coated with a smoky wok hei. JB Ah Meng also does a killer rendition of white pepper crab (from $24) – the dish is only mildly spicy and lets the natural sweetness of the crustacean shine. 

There's a sense of hushed reverence that befalls anyone stepping into Shinji by Kanesake – you're about to worship at the altar of one of Singapore's best sushi bars, after all. Even if you're intimidated at first, give it a few minutes and you'll start to feel at home when the friendly itamae enquires about your preferences. Lunch starts from $75 for nine pieces and includes stellar slices of chutoro, otoro and anago over lightly vinegared rice with a firm bite. And dinner begins at $220 for 15 nigiri pieces, a maki roll and soup.

Sophisticated yet casual, Amò makes the best pies in town. The sourdough pizzas are tossed through the air before it’s baked in a wood-fired oven that’s made in Italy, of course. The result is a light and chewy base with a crisp and slightly charred exterior. But if you’re looking for variety, you’re not going to find it here. There are only eight pizzas on the menu including a creamy stracciatella buffalo cheese, prosciutto, rocket, and fig vincotto that's our fave.

This laid-back Spanish eatery focuses on serving the freshest seasonal produce. An open kitchen concept, Ola’s philosophy is to source ingredients in a sustainable way while bringing simple and tasty dishes to life. Seafood takes centre-stage, sustainably sourced and very often, put through a baptism of fire in the Josper oven. Try the pulpo, meaty and perfectly tender octopus kissed with smoky aroma. Instead of the usual potatoes, the Galician tentacle rests (chopped) on a bed of silky hummus.

Kappo Shunsui is of the few restaurants in Singapore that serves Kappo-style cuisine – an intricate balance of five primary food preparation techniques: grilling, steaming, frying, simmering and serving food raw. Expect seasonally-driven menus priced at either $150 or $250 (there's also a sake flight of six different rice wines priced at $69) that features dishes such as owan, a clear kombu and dried bonito broth served with a homemade fishcake that's stuffed two types of clams and five types of fish meat.

After all these years, Summer Pavilion is still one of the best Chinese eateries in town. Chef Cheung Siu Kong has been honing his craft in the same kitchen since 2003 and earning the restaurant its first Michelin star in 2016. Cheung’s signature dishes include barbecued Iberico pork with honey sauce and marinated South African abalone with roasted sesame dressing.

Regardless of what some Malaysian minister might say, chilli crab will always be the ultimate Singaporean dish in our hearts. Jumbo’s been serving chilli crabs at its birthplace, East Coast Park, since 1987 and has long been a favourite of many. The reason for its popularity has to be its choice of crabs – they’re all extremely meaty, with extra-large pincers. Its sauce is pretty unique, too, deploying ground peanuts for an added crunch.

This Travis Masiero-owned joint is your traditional American chophouse: it specialises in lots of meat and some stellar seafood. If you’re in the mood for the former, try the bone-in tenderloin au poivre, served with peppercorn crust and mustard cognac jus or the blue label burger. But make sure you start with a tray of Luke’s oysters, sourced from chef Masiero’s hometown of Boston.

Alati is a Greek restaurant along Amoy Street that specialises in sustainable seafood caught off the Mediterranean coast. The flavours are kept clean, showcasing the freshness of dishes like the grilled Greek octopus that's served with vinegared onions and confit tomatoes, and shrimp saganaki. Not to be missed is the wide selection of whole fish – from European seabass to Gilt-Head seabream – that's served either grilled on in a salt-baked crust.

Save yourself from the two-hour flight to Bangkok when cravings strike – they're just as easily satisfied at Sawadee Thai. It gets a shipment of fresh Thai produce daily and offers an array of dishes in a relaxed setting. You’ll definitely find the standard tom yum soup and mango sticky rice on the menu, but why not try something different? Meat lovers will like the pan-seared black Angus beef rib-eye that's served with a homemade green curry sauce and the mao shan wang durian sticky rice dessert is a must.

The scent of burning charcoal and chefs killing, gutting and grilling freshwater eels behind the glass panel should clue you in on the fact that this is no regular unagi shop. Order the hitsumabushi, an unagi don that can be enjoyed in three different ways. First, try it plain; second, sprinkle over some spring onions, seaweed and freshly grated wasabi; and third, pour dashi over the rice and eel to have it as a comforting bowl of porridge.

For a taste of Tokyo-Italian cuisine in Singapore, turn to Terra by chef-owner Seita Nakahara. Not to be confused with fusion food – what's on the menu here is an appreciation of Japanese food culture (shokubunka) in Italian cuisine and culinary traditions. Chef Seita regularly travels to Japan to source for new ingredients, establishing close relationships with his suppliers to get the best quality of ingredients which he uses in omakase sets that change seasonally. 

It’s been three years since Woo Wai Leong won the first MasterChef Asia and he's finally opened his own restaurant. Restaurant Ibid’s story first starts with its name. It’s meant to highlight Leong’s roots as a Singaporean Chinese man and his Nanyang identity – a phrase borrowed from the realm of art where Singaporean painters like Liu Kang and Georgette Chen blended Western and Eastern painting traditions. Priced at $118 for five courses and $168 for eight, the dinner highlights playful twists on childhood favourites with touches influenced by traditional Chinese medicine.

It might not live by the sea, but this beach shack along Bukit Pasoh Road is all about the goodness of the ocean. Slurp down fresh oysters – there are always at least three types available and if you come from 5pm to 8pm they're only $3 a pop – or tuck into plates of prawns, salmon, clams, scallops, octopus, lobster... the list goes on. There are plenty of greens to go around too.

Perched on the 70th floor of the Swissotel the Stamford, Skai overlooks the civic district down from the Padang to Marina Bay. Start your meal with a series of sharing plates. The crab cake ($34) and cured hamachi ($24) are safe favourites. Executive chef Paul Hallett is also an expert butcher and self-professed lover of steak, so it’s no surprise to see 10 types of rare beef like the Saga Wagyu tenderloin ($155) on offer.