2024 marks the eighth year that the Michelin Guide has awarded stars in Singapore, yet the city state is still without a three-Michelin star Asian restaurant. Michelin defines three-star restaurants as those “worth a special journey”.

Existing three-Michelin star restaurants Les Amis and Odette both specialise in French dishes, while Zén offers a European contemporary menu.

“Michelin has done a very good job at recognising good Asian restaurants outside of Singapore, but not [here]. Are the inspectors all French? Do they really understand Asian cuisine?” asked Evelyn Chen, a Singapore-based food writer and food consultant who has written for the Post.

It was a good day for Meta, a restaurant that serves innovative takes on classic Korean dishes. Still, Chen said: “Meta’s upgrade has been a long time coming, given how long head chef and owner Sun Kim has been serving up excellent food.”

It was not such a good day for contemporary Japanese restaurant Waku Ghin, which lost one of its two stars. That left six restaurants with two Michelin stars – denoting places “worth a detour” to eat at – the same as in the 2023 guide.

“Michelin should consider honing their 2-star category. It takes too long for them to award [second stars to] restaurants that deserve it, and there aren’t enough restaurants awarded [two stars],” Chen said.

The awarding of a first star to four restaurants takes the total with that status in Singapore to 42. Michelin deems a one-star restaurant to be one that serves food of “high quality” and is “worth a stop”.

The four places awarded their first star are Araya, which serves Chilean-Japanese fusion food; Chaleur, known for its 10-course dinner French and Japanese menu; Matera, which serves Asian-influenced Italian classics; and Pangium, the first Peranakan restaurant to receive this accolade.

Chen said: “Pangium should be more recognised. The inspectors totally missed it last year, but their venue and food is on another level.”

Chen said hawker stalls, a core aspect of the Singaporean dining scene, are not being given enough recognition.

“Even though Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle has one Michelin star, they are not peerless and there are many other excellent bak chor mee (Singaporean minced pork noodles) around if the inspectors know where to look.

“Hawker stalls run a very different type of business that should not be rated on the same platform as fine-dining restaurants. They belong to the Bib Gourmand category only.”

A total of 51 restaurants have stars in the Michelin Guide Singapore 2024, down from 56 in the 2023 edition.

Seth Lai, chef of Ce Soir, a Michelin Selected restaurant, received this year’s Michelin Guide Young Chef Award.

“I am extremely humbled to be chosen as the young chef of the year. I wasn’t expecting it but can only be thankful for the recognition from the Michelin Guide,” Lai said.

“Moving forward, our goal is to innovate and we will not stop to work harder to achieve greater heights together as a restaurant and together with my team.”

Lai added: “Shout out to chef Tadateru Tokudaiji from Maison Sun restaurant NYC and chef Jake Lee from Iggy’s, who influenced me and got me to where I am today.”

Fiz, a modern Southeast Asian restaurant, was awarded Singapore’s second Michelin Green star, which acknowledges a restaurant’s sustainability efforts.

“We are incredibly honoured and grateful to receive [a] Michelin Green Star in Singapore. Fiz was founded to highlight the rich tapestry of Southeast Asian cuisine in a contemporary setting, and being recognised among Singapore’s finest restaurants is immensely gratifying,” said Hafizzul Hashim, chef and owner of Fiz.

“This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our entire restaurant team, vendors and, of course, our guests.”

Ce Soir is one of 151 Michelin Selected restaurants in the 2024 guide – places recognised for serving good food but not yet awarded a star or Bib Gourmand. Chen contends that Michelin’s selection criteria are vague and that some deserving restaurants are missing from the guide.

“Lolla is an amazing restaurant that combines Mediterranean flavours with Asian touches. Johanne Siy, the head chef there has really elevated the cuisine there.

“I’m not even sure what the selection criteria is – are we recognising both the venue’s interior design and food quality or just the food quality? While Lolla’s casual setting may not [make it] seem like a fine-dining place, its food certainly is of fine-dining quality. It’s a shame that they are not given due recognition,” she said.

Chen said the guide had also overlooked hard-to-book Mustard Seed, as well as Peach Blossom, which serves Chinese food with Southeast Asian flavours.

The full list of Michelin-star restaurants in Singapore

An asterisk (*) denotes a new entry.

Three Michelin stars

Les Amis

Odette

Zén

Two Michelin stars

Meta*

Cloudstreet

Jaan by Kirk Westaway

Saint Pierre

Shoukouwa

Thevar

One Michelin star

Alma

Araya*

Art di Daniele Sperindio

Born

Buona Terra

Burnt Ends

Candlenut

Chaleur*

Chef Kang’s

CUT

Esora

Euphoria

Hamamoto

Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle

Iggy’s

Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew Cuisine (Orchard)

Jag

Labyrinth

Lei Garden

Lerouy

Ma Cuisine

Marguerite

Matera*

Nae:um

Nouri

Oshino

Pangium*

Poise

Rhubarb

Seroja

Shinji (Bras Basah Road)

Shisen Hanten

Sommer

Summer Palace

Summer Pavilion

Sushi Ichi

Sushi Kimura

Sushi Sakuta

Terra

Waku Ghin

Whitegrass

Willow