ST Food team’s best food and drink of 2025

SINGAPORE – This turbulent year in the food and drink scene in Singapore has seen reliable brands, some built over decades, vanish overnight. Social media is filled with posts from restaurants, cafes, bars and other food businesses saying goodbye.

Michelin-starred restaurants such as

Alma by Juan Amador, Euphoria and Oshino have closed

. Heritage brand Ka Soh is no more, and chains such as Prive and The Manhattan Fish Market are gone. International brands such as Eggslut, Burger & Lobster and Fluffstack have also packed up and left.

There is more to come. By year-end, these other restaurants will have closed: Italian restaurant Amo, after eight years; Japanese restaurant Esora, also after eight years; and East Ocean Teochew Restaurant, after 33 years.

The eyes register these names on the screen or page. What goes unseen, and unfelt, by most: livelihoods lost, partnerships and friendships incinerated, legacies dismantled and aspirations shattered.

Statistics from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, which go up to October 2025, show that 3,450 food businesses started up this year, with 2,513 winding down. The final tally is still to come.

But to focus on closures would be to ignore the resilient people fighting the good fight against diner apathy, wanderlusting Singaporeans, and the strong Singapore dollar and passport.

Canny operators who know how to reel in even the most reluctant diners; owners who dare to make radical changes to their restaurants; chefs and kitchen teams who put out compelling food day after day; front-of-house staff who demonstrate what hospitality means – they all show why Singapore can and should be proud of its food scene.

Here is The Straits Times food team’s picks of the best newcomers in 2025. 

VENUES

Best New Restaurant: Encore by Rhubarb

Where: 3 Duxton Hill
Open: Noon to 2.30pm, 6.30 to 9.30pm (Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays to Saturdays), closed on Wednesdays and Sundays
Info:

www.encorebyrhubarb.sg

At some point in the last two years, this thought must surely have crossed the minds of chefs and restaurant owners: Which is more important, Michelin stars or bums on seats?

British chef Paul Longworth, 47, chose the latter. In June, his 11-year-old Rhubarb, which had kept its one Michelin star since 2016, was reborn as the casual Encore by Rhubarb.

He said goodbye to the star. Encore is now attracting diners who can eat there more often.

Chef Longworth says he is no longer “faffing around with flowers”. What he offers, instead, is a friendlier price point that keeps diners returning to the 32-seat restaurant. A three-course set lunch is priced at $48 a person and a four-course set dinner is $88 a person. Diners have a list of choices for each course. Wines by the glass are priced from $24 to $48.

There are touches of luxury still. Lescure French butter with the bread basket. Unabashedly rich – but also mind-bogglingly light – Robuchon-esque whipped potato served with the main courses.

The food is not cutting-edge. It is just plain good.

The finesse expected in a Michelin-starred restaurant does not just disappear. It shows in the House Ballontine made with chicken, duck, pork and ham. It shows in the main course options of hearty, slow-cooked Canadian pork belly served with a strip of puffed pork skin; and poached chicken leg coated with parsley and bread crumbs.

Pivoting has paid off for Encore. That begs the question: What is a Michelin star really worth? – Tan Hsueh Yun

Best High-End Restaurant: Loca Niru

Where: 02-01 House of Tan Yeok Nee, 101 Penang Road 
Open: 6 to 11pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays), closed on Sundays and Mondays
Info: Call 6592-5815 or go to

bit.ly/46Duh0j

 

Picking a worthy restaurant for this category felt like a repeat of 2024. 

As in 2024, there were slim pickings, with fine-dining debuts playing it safe. Would anyone make the cut in 2025, we wondered? 

Somma at New Bahru – 2024’s title-holder – opened in September that year. This time, we pushed it right to Nov 6, when Loca Niru launched at the restored House of Tan Yeok Nee in Penang Road. 

While it is billed as a modern Japanese-French restaurant, it is the South-east Asian influences in the food that make its Nagano-born Japanese chef Shusuke Kubota, 33, one to watch. 

And it is the thoughtful details in the eight-course tasting menu ($298++ a person) that impress and excite the palate.

It is the balance of smoked tofu puree with roselle and calamansi vinegar that make its tuna dish shine. 

It is the depth of mushroom flavours – seasonal mushrooms such as button mushrooms, dried porcini, black trumpet and shimeji for a consomme with yet more lion’s head and shimeji mushrooms – that elevate its chawanmushi course.

And it is the rich Nonya beurre blanc – infused with a rempah made from ginger flower, lemongrass, galangal, shallot, garlic, chilli, gula melaka, lime and calamansi – that makes the perfectly seared Japanese grunt fish dish unforgettable. 

Throw in the genius creation of a buah keluak bread roll to mop up all the sauce. And it is clear that chef Kubota – formerly of Omakase @ Stevens – has upped his game. 

He is also behind the desserts showcasing Asian elements, such as kedondong jelly and granita, chocolate ice cream made with 68 per cent dark chocolate from Malaysia, and gula melaka sabayon. 

Loca Niru is the feather in the cap for food and beverage company Gaia Lifestyle Group in 2025, which rolled out two hit openings in November. The other is Tokyo noodle specialist Udon Shin at Takashimaya Shopping Centre, which has been drawing queues since debuting on Nov 13. – Eunice Quek  

Best Mid-Priced Restaurant: Revolution Wine Bistro

Where: 01-05, 211 Henderson Road
Open: 11am to 3pm, 6pm to midnight (Wednesdays to Saturdays), 11am to 4pm (Sundays), closed on Mondays and Tuesdays
Info:

www.r-evolution.sg

There is no shortage of restaurants in Singapore serving pasta, and a handful that serve it with well-curated wines. But pasta and well-curated wines with Fritz Hansen tables, chairs and lamps? There is only one: Revolution Wine Bistro, in an industrial building in Henderson Road, next to the luxury Danish furniture brand’s showroom.

The 40-seater opened in July. Running it are wine trade veterans Alvin Gho, 44, and Ian Lim, 41. In the kitchen is chef Sunny Leong, 35, who trained and worked in fine-dining kitchens.

At dinner, he serves a $98-a-person tasting menu showcasing his talent and finesse. Those attributes are also on display at lunch, which offers terrific bang for your buck. And it is the pasta offerings that shine.

Three in particular stand out. The first is Black Pepper Wagyu Mini Skirt Steak Bucatini ($22.80), with perfectly seared steak. Skirt is a cut loaded with flavour, and Leong’s black pepper sauce complements the meat, allowing the diner to enjoy the minerality of the beef.

Chicken Rendang Home-made Ravioli ($19.80) is topped with spicy, crunchy crumbs; and Hua Diao Clams Linguine ($19.80) boasts fat clams in Chinese yellow rice wine. This dish makes a compelling case for using hua diao in place of white wine for vongole.

Order the housemade Chicken Nuggets ($20) with tomato sriracha. It is nonpareil.

Leave Mr Gho and Mr Lim to pair your choices with wines – you are in good hands. They have some delicious labels, including Shofang from China.

All that, and I get to sit on Grand Prix chairs, designed in 1957 by Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen. It is the closest I’ll ever get to anything Fritz Hansen. – Tan Hsueh Yun 

Best Cafe: The Weirdoughs

Where: 01-10, 211 Serangoon Avenue 4
Open: 10am to 7.30pm (Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays), 8am to 3pm (weekends), closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Info:

@theweirdoughs.sg

on Instagram 

The Weirdoughs, a new cafe in Serangoon, is an anomaly, but not in the way its quirky name suggests. Nothing weird, after all, about its display case of croissants, focaccia, tartines and sandos – all standard staples one might find in any self-respecting cafe. 

It is when you bite into the bread that you notice the difference. No Nutella-smothered croissants or burnt sourdough here. Just golden pillows with the right amount of crunch, thoughtfully layered, served fresh and warm. 

The cafe was opened in July by Singaporean baker Au Hui Her, 30, and Taiwan-born pastry chef Liu Yi Wen, 35, who met in 2022 when they were working at pastry shop Tarte by Cheryl Koh. 

The two run a tight, jaunty ship. Instead of overloading customers with trend-chasing bloat, they focus on what they do best: bread. It can be purchased in loaf form, as a sandwich or from a respectable selection of viennoiserie. 

From this last category, the kurobuta ham and gruyere croissant ($8) is a highlight – quality ingredients encased in a flaky, buttery crust. Look out for their seasonal flavours, which strike occasional gold. The mushroom tartine (from $10) was a lovely autumn addition, brimming with umami and woodsy warmth. 

Another rarity: You will not find matcha on the drinks menu. Instead, enjoy your meal with a cup of chamomile oolong tea (from $4) or earl grey latte (from $6). – Cherie Lok 

Best Food Stall: Ten Ten Otoko

Where: Stall 7, Kimly Coffeeshop, 06-48A Lucky Plaza, 304 Orchard Road
Open: 11am to 8.30pm daily
Tel: 9862-7740

Ten Ten Otoko earns the Best Food Stall nod for serving restaurant-quality Japanese food starting at $9.90.

Owner-chef David Wong, 39, who opened the stall on July 7, applies meticulous technique to every bowl. His Kimchi Gyu Don uses USDA beef shortplate, chosen for its balance of fat and membrane. The meat is blanched to strip it of impurities, then simmered in a house blend of dashi, soya sauce, mirin, sake and sugar. It rests overnight so the flavours penetrate.

His kimchi is made weekly with napa cabbage, Korean chilli powder, fermented shrimp, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, sugar and spring onion – a bright counterpoint to the rich beef.

Regulars vouch for the Salmon Avocado Don ($11.90), which pairs salmon sashimi with avocado and housemade potato salad. Fatty slices of salmon are served on a bed of vinegar-seasoned rice.

Every order of donburi comes with a bowl of hearty pork and vegetable miso soup. – Hedy Khoo 

Best Food Hall: Basement at Tangs at Tang Plaza

Where: Tangs at Tang Plaza, 310 Orchard Road 
Open: 7.30am to 10pm daily, operating hours vary by store 
Info: For a full list of outlets and opening hours, go to

str.sg/e9PD

Several food halls and foodcourts underwent major revamps in 2025, but none made a splash quite like Basement at Tangs at Tang Plaza. 

Since its reopening on Aug 18, crowds have thronged the over-30,000 sq ft space, which houses more than 50 brands. It gives a prominent showcase to the first town outlet of home-grown brands such as Percolate Coffee & Goods, Origin Teahouse, The Fish & Chips Shop and pie store Andy’s Pie by local bakery Home’s Favourite. 

There are also notable names such as South Korean bakery Tous Les Jours; Mrs Banana, which sells Thai fried banana snacks; and the ever-popular Plain Vanilla bakery. 

Here, I can also finally buy my favourite kimchi at Wanting Kimchi’s first permanent physical store. It started out as an online business in 2019 and has run several pop-ups islandwide. 

And, when hawker food cravings hit, the 264-seat Hawkers’ Street includes seven stalls with other branches recognised on the Michelin Guide. These include Tai Wah Pork Noodle and halal-certified Springleaf Prata Place. 

For a quick, affordable bite in town, this is the place. – Eunice Quek

FOOD AND DRINK

Best Dish: Chye Ber

Where: Choon Hoy Parlor, 01-84A The Arcade, Capitol Singapore, 15 Stamford Road
Open: 11.30am to 3pm, 5.30 to 9.30pm (last order) daily
Info:

www.choonhoyparlor.sg

In a city filled with chefs putting out intricate, technically flawless and complex dishes, the best dish of 2025 is the humble Chye Ber ($16.90) at Choon Hoy Parlor.

Chef Dylan Ong, 38, named the restaurant after his mother, and relocated it from Beach Road to Capitol Singapore in June 2025. One of the new dishes on the menu is this homey dish, the Hokkien name of which means “vegetable ends” – almost always mustard greens.

He calls it a forgotten dish in Singapore, although it is popular in Malaysia as a way to use leftover meat and vegetables. At the restaurant, the dish might have chunks of bone-in poached chicken, roast pork and other chunks of meat.

Sure, this sounds like a dish simply thrown together with odds and ends. The skill lies in looking at the selection of meats available for that day and figuring out how much tang they will need from tamarind and tomato, and how much chilli to put in to pep it up.

Everything hinges on that balancing act. A flavourful broth is crucial because the fleshy mustard greens suck it up. A languorous pile of them atop broth-soaked rice makes a satisfying, comforting meal. When you are tired of culinary fireworks, chye ber is the answer. – Tan Hsueh Yun

Best Pasta: Creamy Green Harissa Prawn Spag

Where: Artichoke, 01-02 New Bahru, 46 Kim Yam Road 
Open: 5 to 10pm (Tuesdays), 11am to 10pm (Wednesdays to Sundays), closed on Mondays
Info: WhatsApp 9650-2290 or go to

www.artichoke.com.sg

 

Home-grown chef Bjorn Shen, 43, has transformed his 15-year-old establishment into a New School Pizza Parlour dishing out delicious stuffed slabs of carby goodness. 

But it is his Creamy Green Harissa Prawn Spag ($34) that steals the show. Between bites of pizza, my dining companions and I mop our plates clean. 

The showstopper is a nod to Artichoke’s green harissa prawn dish from before, still starring an unapologetically spicy and herbaceous sauce of green chilli, coriander, spring onion, garlic and cream. 

It proves that everything on the compact menu – pizza or not – is there for a reason.

Artichoke’s addictive beef lasagna nuggets ($16) – deep-fried till golden-brown and served with marinara sauce – was also in the running for this category. - Eunice Quek

Best Coffee: Iced Salted Coffee

Where: Bee Hoe Coffee, 55 Joo Chiat Place
Open: 8.30am to 3pm (weekdays), 8.30am to 4pm (weekends)
Info:

@beehoecoffee

on Instagram

About 15 minutes before the end of my workout is when it hits me. I start to feel thirsty. I think about, and so desperately want, the sensation of cold, milky coffee on my tongue. Pavlov’s dog would know this feeling.

As soon as I can, I head across the street and down the back alley of a row of shophouses to Bee Hoe Coffee and order its Iced Salted Coffee ($6). The first sip is always the best. Strong coffee not overwhelmed by milk. But so far, so latte, right?

What sets this drink apart is the salt in it. There is just enough salt to tickle the tongue, to replenish the electrolytes, to trigger an obsession.

Balance and consistency are everything. Bee Hoe nails it every time. - Tan Hsueh Yun

Best Tea: Roselle Tangerine Peel Zest

Where: Luli Singapore, 02-184/185 Marina Square, 6 Raffles Boulevard
Open: 10am to 10pm daily
Info:

luli.sg

Luli Singapore’s Roselle Tangerine Peel Zest ($5.90 for 500ml, $6.90 for 700ml) is 2025’s standout brew. The red-hued drink is built on a tangy-sweet base of aged tangerine peel, plum, roselle, licorice root and hawthorn. In traditional Chinese medicine, these ingredients are said to aid digestion, support spleen health and soothe the throat. 

The Marina Square outlet, which opened on Aug 10, is the first local franchised outpost of Chinese brand Luli. On Dec 1, another franchised outlet, a kiosk, opened at Keppel South Central. Originating from Nanjing in 2023, the brand has some 500 outlets in China and offers modern beverages rooted in traditional Chinese ingredients.

Perfume lemons, imported from Guangdong, furnish a strong, distinctive fragrance to its drinks. Supply remains challenging as the fruit is seasonal, with peak supply in March and April. The brand continues to fine-tune its recipes to maintain consistency throughout the year. – Hedy Khoo

Best Frozen Dessert: Mondo

Where: 92A Amoy Street
Open: 11.30am to 10pm (Mondays to Thursdays), 11.30am to midnight (Fridays and Saturdays), closed on Sundays
Info:

@mondo.gram

on Instagram

Singapore’s best new ice-cream shop is located in Telok Ayer, starts with an “M” and prides itself on its use of premium, artisanal ingredients. No, we do not mean the Australian chain in Club Street.

Despite the global connotations of its name, Mondo, which means “world” in Italian, is home-grown. It is not shrouded in the same perpetual hype as its more famous neighbour, Gelato Messina, but you will not have to queue half as long for a scoop here. 

Service moves fast, despite the variety of flavours on offer. Choice can seem paralysing at first. Should you bite the bullet and go with something more adventurous, like Blue Cheese & Candied Pear? Or heed your more conservative impulses and stick with Roasted Pistachio or Honey Lavender? Hang on, what about Marsala Poached Figs or Banana Salted Caramel – do they not sound just as delectable? 

The good news: Though ambitious, most of Mondo’s flavours (priced at $7 for a single scoop, $10 for a double and $14 for a triple) hit the mark. It is, at its core, deeply satisfying ice cream: smooth as silk, sweet but not overly so and just sinful enough to make each scoop worth it.

Owner En Chew, 30, does not simply dump in bold funk for shock value, but integrates these accents wisely and in balanced amounts. – Cherie Lok

Best SG60 Food: Milo Dinosaur Shio Pan  

Where: Tiong Bahru Bakery outlets  
Info: For a full list of outlets and opening hours, go to

tiongbahrubakery.com

Chilli crab may have been the dominant flavour presiding over the SG60 celebrations, but the one thing I have kept returning for is Tiong Bahru Bakery’s Milo Dinosaur Shio Pan ($4.50). 

Since it launched on Aug 1 as part of the bakery chain’s SG60 collection, its popularity has planted it on the menu permanently. 

It rides on the current shio pan (Japanese salted butter roll) trend, but with a twist – rich Milo cream packed into each bite, with powder dusted on top – reminiscent of spooning the chocolate malt powder straight from the tin. 

A touch of salt balances out the sweetness of the cream, making it the best tea-time treat – paired with a mug of Milo, of course. – Eunice Quek 

Best Snack: Calbee Yuzu Kosho chips 

Where: FairPrice supermarkets

From a sea of tempeh chips, exotic flavours of Pocky and Pretz, and kunafa- and pistachio-flavoured everything, there has emerged one snack to rule them all.

Calbee’s Yuzu Kosho ($5.20 for a 170g bag) potato chips, part of its limited-edition Asian Flavours range, hits all the right notes. The crunch is a given, but it is the nuance that makes this worth the calories. It is flavoured with yuzu kosho, the fermented Japanese condiment made with yuzu zest and chillies.

The aromatic, citrusy burst. The clean, sharp heat of the chillies. My hand keeps reaching into the bag for more. – Tan Hsueh Yun 

OTHER HONOURS

Best Food Merch: Milo 

Merchandise marked 2025 – and food-related goods took things to a new level with blind boxes, plushies and exclusive collaboration items like clothes and keychains. 

But what ignited the frenzy was the Milo mania for its adorable plushies, with social media videos showing fans raiding supermarket shelves and carting away cartons and bags of Milo products. 

Launched in April, in line with Milo Singapore’s 75th-anniversary celebrations and SG60, it continued to drive the hype with two more collectible drops in August and November in partnership with fast-food chain Burger King.  

The chocolate malt drink maker also launched an apparel collaboration with Adidas Singapore in July and August, proving that it was not just strategic in the plushie department. 

Its collection, called Fuelling Goodness, included three exclusive T-shirt designs ($59 each) sporting Singlish phrases and cute motifs. 

In October, Milo Singapore’s Milo Cup Clips made a return in blind boxes available exclusively at Kopitiam Kopi Kiosks.

There is no better viral marketing than fans sporting your clothes as part of their fit checks, complete with a plushie flex. It eventually drove every other food and beverage establishment in town to roll out their own merch, fuelling hopes of the same virality.

Well played, Milo. – Eunice Quek

Most Epic Queue: Scarpetta

Where: 47 Amoy Street
Open: 11.30am to 2.30pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays), 6 to 10.30pm (Tuesdays and Wednesdays), 6 to 11pm (Thursdays), 6 to 11.30pm (Fridays and Saturdays), closed on Sundays and Mondays
Info:

@scarpetta.sg

on Instagram

It would not be a Singaporean list without a queue category. 

In a year of lukewarm diners, few eateries have managed to secure a full house each night, let alone a spillover queue of eager customers outside their door. Such devotion is usually reserved for international brands like Australian froyo chain Yo-Chi or the endlessly buzzy Gelato Messina, also from Down Under. 

But one Singaporean restaurant has kept pace with these cult favourites. Walk past Scarpetta on any weekday evening and you are likely to see a line of 30-plus hopefuls vying for a place in the 28-seat pasta bar.

Even now, 10 months after it opened in February, a wait for a dinner spot on the weekends can take up to two hours. 

In an increasingly rare act of dining democracy, the restaurant does not accept reservations. Owner Aaron Yeunh, 32, told The Straits Times in June that the move is to maintain the high table turnover rate that helps his team cap prices at $28. 

But if you are keen to guzzle down solid plates of pasta at wallet-friendly prices – the delightfully chewy cacio e pepe with crispy guanciale ($22) and fiery all’assassina ($19) are standouts – then it might just be worth the wait. – Cherie Lok

Best Food TV: Bon Appetit, Your Majesty (Netflix)

K Foodie Meets J Foodie, Next Gen Chef, Chef’s Table: Legends, Somebody Feed Phil 8 – there was a lot of reality food television to watch in 2025.

No show was more compelling, however, than the time travel-fantasy K-drama, Bon Appetit, Your Majesty. Reader alert: spoilers follow.

In it, South Korean chef Yeon Ji-young (played by Lim Yoon-a), flying home after winning a cooking competition in France, is somehow transported to the Joseon era. Crucially, the little pat of airplane butter she pockets on the flight goes along with her.

Major suspension of disbelief ensues. She meets King Yi Heon (Lee Chae-min), a tyrannical and cruel historical figure given a massive glow-up in the series. Under threat of death, she is made to cook for him.

She browns the butter and uses it to add a new dimension to bibimbap, thrilling the gourmand king to no end. She wraps beef in kelp and paper she waxes herself, and cooks it in a jerry-rigged sous vide set-up. She makes macarons. There is even the tantalising idea that a 21st century-chef had introduced Korea to gochugaru, the chilli flakes so central to its cooking but which comes from a fruit Joseon thought to be poisonous.

The King – and viewers – lap up doenjang pasta, snowflake schnitzel and more. In real life, Shin Jong-cheol, executive chef at the Ambassador Seoul Pullman, trained the actress and developed the recipes, incorporating myriad Korean ingredients to show the breadth, depth and versatility of the cuisine.

It pays off. The king falls in love with her. Palace intrigue separates them. He travels through time to find her. They live happily ever after. 

Ah, if only real life were as delicious. – Tan Hsueh Yun