Where to eat in Singapore when you're here for Asia’s 50 Best 2015

I am often asked by foodie friends and visiting journalists where they should dine when visiting Singapore. These questions are coming in fast and furious now that the Asia’s 50 Best 2015 (6^th to 9^thMarch) events are just around the corner.

To save myself the repetitive task of typing the same recommendations multiple times, I thought I should consolidate my dining picks by putting together a roundup of “Where to eat in Singapore”. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it gives time-starved travelers a concise guide to what's hot.

Singapore became Asia’s culinary capital overnight when a deluge of big-name chefs debuted in the Integrated Resorts. But these fancy schmancy restaurants by Michelin stars-decorated chefs are by no means your only ticket to fine dining experiences in the lion city.

For upscale dining with fine wines and prices to match, Singapore’s top entries on Asia’s 50 Best 2014 are an excellent navigator. If you have time for just 1 indulgence, pick from one of the following three tasting menu-only fine dining outlets.

Restaurant Andre’s(41 Bukit Pasoh Road; 65-6534 8880) thoughtful Octaphilosophy-guided tasting menu provides a poetic insight into the world of chef Andre Chiang and his signature "memory" dish of warm foie gras jelly with black truffle coulis is guaranteed to make an indelible mark in your foodie memory.

For a solid French meal with some of the best artisan ingredients that money can buy, Jaan (Level 70, Swissotel The Stamford; 65-6837 3322) comes to the fore with chef Julien Royer’s exquisitely crafted masterpieces like avocado cannelloni stuffed with chorizo-flecked obsiblue prawn tartare

Vanguard-style cuisine that defies boundaries at Tippling Club

If you like it inventive, make a date with TipplingClub  (38 Tanong Pagar Road; 65-6475 2217) where chef Ryan Clift promises to blow you away with his vanguard-style cuisine that defies boundaries, think liquefied and restructured omelette blanketed with smoked eel and crispy shallots.

Singapore’s dining scene has been expanding at a breakneck pace although, admittedly, the growth has slowed to a simmer in the recent past months. While many new restaurants have opened, a sizeable number has also shuttered.

If you’re a returning regular to Singapore and want to try something new, my “Best New Restaurants” guide in 2013 (on CNN Travel) and 2014 (on this site) will provide a more-than-adequate roadmap. Suffice it to say that Corner House (1 Cluny Road, Singapore Botanic Gardens; 6469 1000) by chef Jason Tan, which opened last year at the Botanic Gardens, is a standout amongst many standouts if you're looking for high-brow fare. But if your have a relatively modest budget but insist on dining well, make a reservation at Sorrel (21 Boon Tat Street; 6221 1911), a recently-opened  "bistronomy" by 24-year-old chef, Johnston Teo, where fine dining meets affordability. Just so that you know, Sorrel is so new that you would not have read about it on any "best" list.

But here are a few caveats.

Fratini La Trattoria (10 Greenwood Avenue; 6468 2868), an affordable tasting menu-only Italian eatery by Gabriel Fratini, slipped through the cracks as it opened after I submitted the 2013 write-up to CNN Travel but it remains one of few Italians I love in Singapore.

You will also not see Wild Rocket (10A Upper Wilkie Road; 6339 9448) in the write-ups as it is not brand new but re-opened after a major facelift; if you do visit, don’t miss chef Willin Low’s modern take on Singapore cuisine, best presented via the recently-introduced omakase.

If you ever tire of the chain of seafood restaurants that line East Coast Parade and want to try something a little off the beaten track, the newly minted The Catch Seafood Restaurant and Bar (27 Cosford Road; 6546 2155) at far-flung Changi serves up equally delicious chilli crabs and pepper crabs with a bucolic ambience to boot.

Of course, we have many more great restaurants - Italian, Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese and Indian - than those listed here although you'd have to peruse this site at your leisure to see what jumps out. Alternatively, take a look at my restaurant recommendations on Telegraph's Singapore City Break Guide (admittedly, this is in the process of being refreshed and will only be fully updated by end February 2015).

Cocktail Bars

Singapore's beverage of the moment: cocktails

Singapore became one of the world's hottest cocktail cities last year when a bumper crop ofindie and hotel-based bars brandishing swizzles mixed by local and imported bar talents hit the streets in unrelenting waves. A trip to Singapore is, therefore, incomplete without paying homage to the straight-laced city's formerly nonexistent nightlife. As for where to drink, you'll get a fairly good idea by referring to my write-ups on CNN Travel, Destin Asian magazine and Telegraph Travel (this should be fully updated by Chinese New Year).

My top 3 boutique cocktail establishments are Operation Dagger (7 Ann Siang Hill, #B1-01), Anti:dote (Level 1 Fairmont Singapore; 6431 5313) and Jigger & Pony (101 Amoy Street; 6223 9101). But if you rather go grand, swanky and glamorous, Manhattan Bar (Level 2 Regent Singapore; 6725 3377) is your ticket.
 
Hawker

Singapore’s restaurants are famously expensive. But our food-loving nation first gained fame as a street food paradise where wallet-friendly hawker fare is available at every turn. Admittedly hawker prices have climbed northwards to keep pace with inflation but it is still completely possible to eat ridiculously well for between S$5 - $S10 a head, or even less, if you know where to look.

My personal recommendations:

Chicken rice (come for early lunch to beat the heavy lunchtime crowd)

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice

No. 10 & 11 Maxwell Food Centre

Char Kway Teow (come at breakfast, say 8am, when there is completely no crowd) 

Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee

#02-17 Hong Lim Food Centre

Kaya Toast (best for breakfast, order soft boiled eggs and kopi to go with it)

Qi Xiang Cha Sha

#01-62 Hong Lim Food Centre

Bak Chor Mee (best to come for breakfast at 8am to beat the crowd)      

Tai Wah Pork Noodles

#02-16 Hong Lim Food Centre

Laksa (come for early lunch, crowded on weekends)                     

Sungei Road Laksa

Blk 27 Jalan Berseh #01-00

Roti Prata (Singapore's crispiest prata matched with somewhat diluted curries; come for breakfast)                

Mr & Mrs Mogan Super Crispy Roti Prata

Char Siew Siew Yoke Rice (early lunch, say 11.30am)      

Lau Phua Chay Authentic Roasted Delicacies

738 North Bridge Rd, Kampong Glam Conservation Area


© Evelyn Chen 2013