Singapore’s Top 20 Restaurants
After a one-year hiatus, our annual list returns with stalwart restaurants and new additions that reaffirm our country’s exciting culinary landscape
The past two years have been the most difficult period in the F&B industry. But if there is one thing we always commend our chefs and restaurateurs— they are resilient.
When we worked on the Tatler Dining Guide 2022, we were amazed by their creative menus and innovative dining concepts that continue to breathe new life into our culinary scene.
And, with the help of our expert reviewers who assessed these top tables based on four key points (food, setting, wine and service) and the newly-introduced voting panel (see sidebar; page 24), we have selected the dining places that make up our prestigious Top 20 Restaurants list this year.
In no particular order, here are the ones that have tantalised our taste buds.
After helming the now-shuttered Kimme for two years, South Korean chef Louis Han has made his grand comeback on the scene with modern Korean restaurant Nae:um (also the recipient of this year’s Best New Restaurant award; page 87). Here, he serves his own brand of “contemporary Seoul cuisine”, drawing influences from taste memories of his growing up years in Gangnam, Seoul, as well as his culinary experience working in various parts of the globe. Another new addition to the list is local chef Jason Tan’s Euphoria (page
71), where he continues to champion his “gastro-botanica” cuisine and whip up
signatures like My Favourite Vegetable—his ode to the Cevennes onion.
Travel has been off the cards for many during the Covid-19 pandemic, and we are grateful to the chefs who take our palates on gastronomic journeys across the globe. While it has been operating since 2011, Esquina (page 70) made its Top 20 debut this year, thanks to executive chef Carlos Montobbio and his team’s tireless efforts in dishing out beautifully crafted tapas and other Spanish signatures.
Re-joining the Top 20 this year are chefowner Andrew Walsh’s Cure (page 68); chef
restaurateur Beppe De Vito’s Braci (page 59); and chef-owner Tetsuya Wakuda’s
Waku Ghin (page 109). Walsh impressed gourmands with his Nua Irish cuisine, taking cues from his Irish heritage and dishes he grew up eating to create what we believe is his strongest menu to date. Under the direction of new chef de cuisine Matteo Ponti, Braci continues to please palates with its elevated Italian fare cooked over the Josper oven and Shichirin grill. As for Waku Ghin, it is back after almost two years of renovation to create an even better space that enhances the overall dining experience.
ENDURING FAVOURITES
Let us not forget the stellar restaurants that have consistently found a spot in our Top 20 list. When it comes to modern French cuisine, we have the multi-awarded Odette (page 89) by chef-owner Julien Royer; La Dame de Pic, Raffles Singapore (page
81), which is now under the direction of newly-installed chef de cuisine Francesco Di Marzio; Saint Pierre (page 98) by local celebrity chef Emmanuel Stroobant; and
Restaurant Jag (page 96) by chef-owner Jeremy Gillon.
Moving beyond the French borders,
Restaurant Zén (page 96) continues to surprise and delight diners with its Nordic
fare laced with Japanese accents. The same can be said about Jaan by Kirk Westaway (page 77), whose executive chef continues to craft sumptuous new dishes and flavours as part of his “Reinventing British” menu.
At Cloudstreet (page 65), chef-owner Rishi Naleendra offers his own take on progressive gastronomy that melds his Sri Lankan heritage and modern Australian training. Similarly, Nouri (page 88), the brainchild of cerebral chef Ivan Brehm, champions the concept of “crossroads cooking”. For Brehm, great food is not created in a silo, but is the result of intersecting cultures, which he and his team capture in their innovative menus.
Our cravings for excellent steaks will never be satiated. Burnt Ends (page 61) has survived these trying times by feeding us beautiful cuts of meat that are cooked to a juicy and smoky finish. The same goes for Cut by Wolfgang Puck (page 68) with its memorable meat-centric experience.
CLOSER TO HOME
We will never tire of Asian flavours, and these are well represented in the Top 20 list with Meta (page 85) and chef-owner Sun
Kim’s delicious reinterpretation of Korean classics, and Mott 32 (page 87), a renowned name in the culinary world for its modern Cantonese fare.
Our list won’t be complete without the nostalgic flavours we grew up with. Chef Han Liguang of Labyrinth (page 81) serves elevated renditions of local dishes using local produce, while chef Malcolm Lee of Candlenut (page 62) opens his doors so we can partake in his rich and hearty Peranakan dishes.