Michelin Guide is a ‘guide’, why bring Hong Kong-Singapore rivalry into it?

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Singaporean celebrity chef Justin Quek prepares a dish at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands resort. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:01pm, 5 Aug 2018Updated: 2:01pm, 5 Aug 2018

I refer to John Carney’s article on Hong Kong’s so-called 6-0 thrashing of Singapore in the three-Michelin star restaurant stakes (“Singapore 0 Hong Kong 6 in three-Michelin-star restaurants league”, July 26), as well as Bernice Chan’s take on the matter (“Michelin Guide Singapore 2018: no restaurants earn three Michelin stars”, July 26).

I never knew that the standard of a city’s cuisine goes a “long way” towards determining the esteem in which it is held internationally, especially with the benefit of my hindsight that the culinary scene in a great global city like London, for example, was once as quaint as fish and chips and bangers and mash.

Singapore dining not just about Michelin stars, tourism board says

Seasoned diners who trust their own palate will treat the Michelin Guide as no more than a handy reference map, just like the other “world’s best” lists out there.

Cities that appear to be confident of themselves and their place in the world, including their culinary heritage, can certainly do better than treat the subjective taste of some food inspectors as fodder for their farcical game of one-manship to compare and beat an arch-rival at just about everything.

John Chan, Singapore

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