Singapore fine dining: where to go and what to eat at the Lion City’s upmarket restaurants

When foodies think of Singapore, it’s usually the hawker centres that come to mind – and for good reason, because they offer delicious food at reasonable prices. But the Lion City also offers an amazing variety of more upmarket places, from French to barbecue to modern interpretations of classic Singaporean cuisine.

We started our tour of Singapore fine dining establishments with Odette. In March, the restaurant, by French chef Julien Royer, knocked Bangkok’s Gaggan from the number-one position it has held on the list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants for the past four years. Royer also recently opened Louise in Hong Kong, at the PMQ cultural hub in the city’s SoHo neighbourhood.

Royer writes in his welcome note on Odette’s menu that he was born into a family of farmers in Cantal, France, and that his grandmother, Odette, showed him that “remarkable dishes can come from the simplest ingredients”.

It’s doubtful that caviar and uni were on Royer’s grandmother’s table, but at Odette he serves them to remarkable effect – especially the latter, which is shown in one of the chef’s most beautiful, and delicious, signature starters of squid ink toast with uni, Australian finger lime and shiso flowers.

Succulent and enormous Mozambique langoustine tails with vin jaune sauce, stuffed morel mushrooms and wild asparagus are made all the more luxurious with a profusion of shaved truffles added tableside. Poached foie gras in bouillon paysan is perhaps a nod to Royer’s roots, but it’s doubtful that the chef’s grandmother served it with charred abalone and braised shiitake. Red mullet with obsiblue prawns, squid and mussels in a vivid saffron sauce is served with Niigata prefecture rice with botan ebi oil, sakura shrimp, chives, sudachi and kinome.