Much gratitude to establishments for your invites and gifts. Sorry, we reject 90% of tastings as we prefer to explore on our own. Sorry, PRs, if we have written a negative review and made it hard for you to answer to your boss. Sorry, we reject all presents and prefer them to be donated to charities. Please forgive our principles.

Thanks to my dear old friends, Chiobu, Huccalily, Ms Atas, BFF Paul, and The Ex, who have been eating with me for years through fat and thin. And welcome a new one, William, who hasn’t gotten his own tag yet. To quote Celine Dion, “I am everything I am because you love me.” Thank you for loving an unworthy and undeserving curmudgeon as me. I solemnly swear to be as surly as I am for 2015.

A note on this list: these are restaurants we tried this year; not all restaurants are opened this year. We ate at more than 350 eateries, so the nominees are already winners. 

Best Restaurants in Singapore 2014
(These 10 restaurants will not be repeated in the sub-categories below. They are already the best.)

#10. Labyrinth
Autodidactic 29 year-old Han Li Guang serves molecular mod sin cuisine, combining Western cooking methods with Singapore hawker food. The photo shows a Singapore chilli crab on a beach, with chilli crab ice cream and sands of mantou.

#9. Anti:Dote
A restobar. Catalan Chef Carlos Montobbio, 26, who has worked 3 years at one Michelin-starred Cinc Sentits (Barcelona) and half a year with the Roca brothers, comes up with Catalan tapas with Asian influence. Bartender Tom Hogen concocts wicked cocktails. 

#8. Gyoza Ya
The most affordable restaurant on this top 10 list. No big names helming the kitchen, just latest Japanese technology to make precise gyoza and jyajya men. We’ve already been back 3 times.

#7. Zott’s
So expensive you may want to wait till you strike that 6 million dollars toto. 29 year-old Austrian Chef Lorenz-Maria Griesser has a wealth of experience at Michelin-starred restaurants in Germany. Zott’s serves Alpine cuisine.  

#6. FOC
FOC (meaning “fire” in Catalan) is a collaboration between Michelin-starred Chef Nandu Jubany; Chef Jordi Noguera formerly from FoodBar Dada; and award-winning mixologist Dario Knox previously from Catalunya. Serves Catalan small plates. 

#5. Aoki
Oldie but goodie. There is a reason why the Japanese restaurant is packed daily.

#4. Nobuya
The ingredients are personally selected by Chef-owner Nobukawa Yoshiyuki to ensure best quality. Both Chef Nobukawa and sake sommelier-cum-manager Nobuhiko Sano worked at fine-dining Mikuni for 10 years before opening this izakaya.

#3. Saveur Art
Following the success of Saveur and Concetto by Saveur, the group has gone fine dining. Former sous chef of Jaan, Chef Tyler Lai now helms the kitchen, presenting innovative and affordable modern French food.

#2. Shisen Hanten
Culinary skills passed down for three generations of chefs cooking Szechuan food: the late Chen Kenmin, Iron Chef Chen Kenichi, and Chen Kentaro. I have never eaten spicy food like this before. The spiciness is just part of the complex and evolving tastes of the food.

#1. Tong Le Private Dining
Nowhere in Singapore can you find a restaurant quite like Tong Le. Some restaurants have a view, but mediocre food. Some restaurants have great food and service, but no ambience. Tong Le has everything.

Most Popular Entry Best Chicken Rice in Singapore

Best Dish of the Year
Braised Veal Cheeks Bao by Anti:dote 
Mapo Tofu by Shisen Hanten
Molecular Chilli Crab by Labyrinth
Onion Ring by Tippling Club – WINNER

Best Concept
Grub Noodle Bar – WINNER
Herbal Oasis
Kimchi Xpress
Malaysia Boleh

Best Budget Eats ($0-$20)
[Nameless Chicken Rice]
Century Village Fishhead Steamboat
Fat Cow Palace – WINNER
Truly Curry Rice

Best Mid-Range Asian Restaurant ($20-$50)
Char
Mrs Pho
Sek Tong Gai – WINNER
Sik Bao Sin

Best Mid-Range Western Restaurant ($20-$60)
Dancing Crab
The Naked Finn
Portico
Potato Head Folk – WINNER

Best Atas Restaurant (Above $60)
Buona Terra – WINNER
Grand Mandarin
Moosehead
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse

Best Newcomer of the Year
Afterglow
Appare – WINNER
Fat Cow Palace
L’Aiglon

Best Decor
Stuttgart Blackforest Boutique S-Cafe
Tian Kee & Co
Tippling Club – WINNER
Wolf

Most Romantic Restaurant
Lewin Terrace – WINNER
Match
Sear
UNA

Best Restaurant/Bar for Big Groups
Ginza Lion – WINNER
Min Jiang @ One North
Starker @ Zhongshan Park
Wolf

Best Service
&Sons – WINNER
Bloomsbury Bakers
Fat Cow Palace
Shinji by Kanesaka

Best Halal
Mad Poet
Ottoman Kebab & Grill – WINNER
Rouse
Song of India (Lunch Buffet)

Most Value For Money
Don Dae Bak
Fat Cow Palace
Ginza Lion
K Cook Korean BBQ Buffet – WINNER

Best Bar of the Year
Bitters & Love
L’Aiglon – WINNER
Starker @ Zhongshan Park
Tipling Club

Best Afternoon Tea/ High Tea/ Brunch
Croute
L’espresso
Lei Garden – WINNER
Wooloomooloo

Best Buffet
Cherry Garden
Don Dae Bak
K Cook Korean BBQ Buffet – WINNER
Rose Veranda

Best Vegetarian
Afterglow
Brownice
Concetto by Saveur
Zen Fut Sai Kai – WINNER

Best Dessert of the Year
Carpenter & Cook Jr – Cinnamon Roll
Hatter Street Cafe – Whoaffle
Henri Charpentier – That Damn Burning Dome that Didn’t Burn – WINNER
Ottoman Kebab & Grill – Kunefe

Best Cafe in Singapore 2014
The Lokal – WINNER
Souper Sarnies
Stirling Highway
Sunday Market

Best Event of the Year
At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy’s Student Graduation Project, SpiceOdyssey – WINNER
EAT DRINK BLOG Brisbane
Gate-Crashing a Stranger’s Homecooked Meal: Eat WithLocals
Private Screening of Served Hot 烧卖 & A Taste of History 寻味地图 at Swatow Seafood Restaurant

Best Staycation
Amoy Hotel
The Westin Singapore – WINNER

Best Overseas Eat
Hong Kong, China – Bibo
Margaret River, Perth, Australia – Margaret River Bakery
New York, USA – Le Bernardin – WINNER
Seoul, Korea – Byeokjae Galbi

Best Overseas Hotel
Citadines Jakarta – Indonesia
Haeinsa Temple Stay – South Korea
Padma Hotel Bandung – Indonesia
Sofitel Melbourne – Australia – WINNER

Best Vacation
Bandung, Jakarta
Melbourne, Australia
Perth, Australia – WINNER
South Korea

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.