Many Michelin-starred, world-famous chefs have opened restaurants on our shores this year but they didn’t make the cut. One of the trends spotted in this year’s Best Food in Singapore 2019 list is that there are no trends although most restaurants focus on quality ingredients done in innovative methods.

In alphabetical order, these are the Best 10 Restaurants 2019:

Paidakia, Lamb Chops ($32.90)

Probably the best Greek restaurant in Singapore. Recommended: Lamb Chops ($32.90), grilled octopus ($32.90), Moussaka ($25.90).

Full review here.

Triple roast platter ($28)

Although Empress by the Prive Group, which serves modern Chinese/Cantonese cuisine, is not a newish restaurant, word-of-mouth recommendations have reached us.

Get the triple roast platter ($28) consisting of char siew, siew yok, and sticky-sweet pork ribs, 4 pieces each. They are probably one of the best Cantonese roasts in Singapore.

The egg white fried rice, soaked in this egg white, seafoody, dried scallop sauce, topped with salty Sakura ebi and pungent salmon skin, is fantastic.

Full review here.

Lobster and vermicelli with black truffle har mi XO ($88, 3-4 pax)

The restaurant serves Cantonese cuisine (including dim sum in the afternoon) by Demon Chef Alvin Leung. Leung is most famous for taking Chinese cuisine to the extreme at the three-Michelin-starred Bo Innovation in Hong Kong, where he serves edible condoms. But here, although there are some innovations, Forbidden Duck isn’t as audacious.

Recommendations include signature slow roasted duck ($88), lobster and vermicelli with black truffle har mi XO ($88, 3-4 pax), seafood rice in aromatic duck soup ($34, 3-4 pax).

Full review here.

Cuts of Wagyu

The Gyu Bar is helmed by Executive Head Chef Yamasaki Kenichiro with 20 years of experience in French, Italian and Japanese cuisines. The restaurant specialises in wagyu yakiniku, serving premium Wa-OH beef imported chilled (not frozen) from Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu island.

Just like their sister restaurant, Sushi Kimura, The Gyu Bar introduces an omakase menu; patrons can choose between 6-course lunch menu for $68++ or 10-course dinner for $138++.

Full review here.

Chicken Biryani ($18)

Kitchen Kumars at Duxton Hill started as a home bakery in 2018. Within a year, they manage to open a restaurant, thus named because it is started by Manoj Kumar, Dilip Kumar and Rishi Kumar.

They focus on Indian food with western twists and cocktails with Indian twists.

Recommended: chicken biryani ($18), lamb shank ($28), Kumar’s Love for Lassi ($14, Titos vodka, strawberry puree, fresh lime juice, homemade elderflower syrup and yoghurt).

Full review here.

chips, french onion dip, caviar ($35)

The natural wines are curated by head sommelier Josée Yeomans, and the kitchen is helmed by chef-owner Keirin Buck who used to be at Burnt Ends. They serve modern European food.

Recommended: foie gras toast (2 pieces, $18), whole heritage chicken ($68), mussels and rutabaga broth ($28)

Full review here.

Wara Smoked Bonito

Started in January 2017, Pixy is helmed by Japanese chefs who have mastered French cuisine with Japanese ingredients. Chef Tomine Nobuaki (aka Nobu) joined the restaurant early this year. Seasonal five-course omakase is priced at $100, seven-course at $120.

Full review here.

72 hours beef short rib

One year on, the inaugural Asia’s MasterChef, lawyer-turned-chef Woo Wai Leong’s restaurant, Restaurant Ibid at Boat Quay is going from strength to strength. The cuisine is modern Chinese or contemporary Chinese. The restaurant’s name, “Ibid,” which means “from the same source” is fitting as the ingredients come from the same Chinese source and he transforms them in unexpected ways.

For dinner, patrons are given the option of a 6-course ($98++) or 9-course meal ($138++).

Full review here.

Peruvian pan con chicharron ($22)

Tonito is managed by the same people at Ola Cocina and Tono Cevicheria, which are both reviewed highly by us. Peruvian Chef Daniel Chavez, protege of 3 Michelin-starred deceased Santi Santamaria, overlooks the restaurant but when we were there, chef Kelvin Khok held the fort.

Different from the atas Ola and Tono, the food here is affordable and casual, with a selection from Mexican “Tacos and Quesadillas”, Peruvian “Anticuchos” (skewers), Latin American sandwiches like Argentinian “Choripanes” and Venezuelan ” Pepitos.”

Full review here.

Steamed Red Grouper with Green Peppercorns ($48.80++)

Yun Nans, having opened over 150 outlets, is in an entirely different league. Compared to Cantonese cuisine, the Yunnanese flavours are spicier, more robust, and ultimately wholesome and invigorating.

Second outlet is opened at Westgate.

Full review here.

To recap, in alphabetical order, these are the 10 best restaurants in Singapore 2019:

–Bakalaki Greek Taverna (Greek, Tiong Bahru)

–Empress by Prive (Modern Cantonese, Asian Civilisations Museum, Boat Quay)

–Forbidden Duck (Modern Cantonese, MBFC, Marina Bay Link Mall)

–The Gyu Bar (Japanese BBQ, Stevens Road)

–Kitchen Kumars (Modern Indian, Duxton)

–Le Bon Funk (Modern European, Club Street)

–Pixy Restaurant & Bar (French-Japanese, Mohamed Sultan)

–Restaurant Ibid (Nanyang cuisine, Boat Quay)

–Tonito Latin American Kitchen (South American cuisine, Jewel Changi)

–Yun Nans (Yunnanese, Jewel Changi and Westgate Jurong)

Written by Dr. A. Nathanael Ho. Additional reporting by Vanessa Khong, Paul Ng, and Cheang Shwu Peng.