21 Best Restaurants in Orchard Road

Behind a discreet glass frontage at Shaw Centre on Scott’s Road sits one of Singapore’s most famous and popular restaurants: Les Amis. Serving up an inviting blend of classic and innovative French dishes, the restaurant is also known for an impressive wine list, with an in-house cellar valued at around S$5 million.

Space is intimate with the main dining room seating only 30, but the restaurant also has a private dining room with a glass window that offers a direct view of the kitchen, perfect for a cosy dinner for 6 people. With great attention to detail in the food, wine and service, Les Amis restaurant is the perfect place to visit as a treat, and spending an evening there would be an ideal way to celebrate a special occasion.

One of the undisputed heavyweight champions of the international buffet scene in Singapore, The Line at the world’s first ever Shangri-La hotel presents an awe-inspiring array of food. Although a long-used cliché, to describe The Line as a ‘culinary adventure’ would be a completely justifiable term.

There are whole sections - 16 of them in fact - dedicated to local and international delights including Chinese dim sum, a meat carvery, Indian/Middle Eastern, fresh seafood bar, Japanese, Italian, salads, desserts and drinks. All ‘kitchen’ stations feature their own designated chefs, who prepare the food right in front of you too. Quite possibly Singapore’s best buffet, as well as the largest.

Din Tai Fung is an Orchard Road staple. Come dinnertime or the weekend, you’re likely to be welcomed with a queue at this Taiwanese stalwart. The xiao long bao (steamed pork dumplings) alone are worth the wait and other stellar dishes include fried rice with shrimps or pork chop, drunken chicken, braised beef noodles, and vegetable and pork wonton soup.

Alongside these steaming plates of deliciousness, order the jasmine tea which comes with as many free refills as you can handle. The restaurant in Hong Kong won a Michelin star, so folk have high expectations and the only thing that disappoints is the length of the queue. Our favourite branch has to be the original at Paragon Centre, where you can watch the team fold dim sum in the glass kitchen.

The Crystal Jade Group has garnered a reputation for quality Chinese cuisine. Its repertoire includes Teochew, Cantonese, Shanghainese and Hong Kong cuisine, and it is especially favoured for its dim sum. The chain restaurant has 5 branches along Orchard Road, with 2 at Ngee Ann City, and others at Paragon Shopping Centre, The Centrepoint, and Plaza Singapura.

Crystal Jade tends to get busy, and there will most likely be a queue if you go at peak times, so book ahead if you don’t want to wait. Every table has an order pad, so just pick a selection for the table to share. Choices include crispy chicken with mango sauce, asparagus with Chinese yam, Peking duck and fantastic dim sum, including famous versions of Xiao Long Bao and har gow steamed buns.

Akashi Japanese Restaurant has an original outlet on Tanglin (formerly at Tanglin Shopping Centre) and other outlets where you can similarly find great service and a comprehensive menu. Selections range from fresh sashimi and sushi, well-prepared side dishes (standouts include grilled mackerel, braised pork belly and sweet potato tempura) to soba and udon noodles, and bento sets.

The lunch sets at Akashi, in particular, offer good value for money, mostly at less than S$20. This makes the place really popular, but staff are friendly and know their stuff and the food comes quickly, so even if you are in a rush it’s worth checking out.

The 2 outlets of PS.Cafe on Orchard are situated away from the hustle and bustle; the branch at Palais, in particular, is a great refuge from the heat or the hordes. Go for a leisurely brunch or sinful afternoon tea – although the prices are a little high, portions are generous and quality ingredients are used.

The menu features comfort foods such as lasagna, soup and sandwiches as well as Asian-tinged dishes like the tandoori club and miso cod. Be sure to save room for dessert – there’s a wide selection of scrumptious cakes, pies, puddings and crumbles.

Iggy’s is well known for its tasty modern food using the best seasonal ingredients, but with lunch starting at around S$100 it’s definitely the place for a treat rather than a quick snack. The food is hard to put into a category: there’s definitely a hint of Asia to the flavours, but it also has dishes that could be described as European and some that fall under the banner of fusion.

The restaurant is inside the Hilton Hotel and frequently appears in Asia’s best restaurant lists. The signature dish is Cappellini pasta with shellfish oil and sakura prawns. The restaurant décor is a little plain, but service is pleasant and there’s plenty happening on the plate to keep you entertained.

Ippudo is the place where Japanese ramen lovers can rejoice. This famous outfit from Japan opened its doors at the Mandarin Gallery on Orchard Road. Among the many other branches are at Shaw Centre and Marina Bay Sands.

Particularly popular with the after-work crowd, most come for the hearty ramen in tonkatsu broth – choose from three original recipes and add a variety of toppings such as egg, char siu pork, spring onion, nori and red pickled ginger. Desserts like the cherry blossom ice-cream and frozen sake sherbet are also worth trying.

Taste Paradise at the ION Orchard mall on Orchard Road features exquisitely prepared creations with a touch of sophistication. Some of these creations include crisp-fried tofu dipped in black truffle sauce and pan-seared foie gras with Peking Duck reduction.

Some of the special offerings at Taste Paradise feature the innovations of traditional Cantonese cuisine infused with modern twists. Last but not least, there's Taste Paradise’s famous XO carrot cake which has won top praise from a good number of food reviews.

Yoshi Restaurant, formerly Kaiseki Yoshiyuki, offers incredible Japanese banquets. Open for lunch and dinner, the ambience envelopes you as you walk into this quaint little spot inside Forum The Shopping Mall on Orchard Road. We love the seats right up next to the chef as you can see him creating your food before your very eyes, which always gives you something to talk about.

The term Kaiseki in its former name means ‘up to the chef’, so there’s no a la carte menu here. Lunch costs around S$120 while dinner costs around S$300, depending on the seasonal ingredients used that day. You will be treated to 6 to 8 courses of impeccably prepared sashimi dishes, with delicate bits of artistry done to elevate the taste and texture of every bite.

The 400-seater Mezza9 restaurant at Singapore’s Grand Hyatt Hotel offers one of the smartest Sunday buffets in town. Whilst this trendy spot, just off Orchard Road, is open every day for lunch and dinner (a la carte only), it’s their boozy Sunday Brunch that makes our list of the 5 best buffets in Singapore.

There are various food stations throughout Mezza9, which become showcases of culinary showmanship. Watch the chefs all grill, steam, stir fry, and delicately prepare a range of quality ingredients from around the world. The aptly named restaurant is at the mezzanine level of the Grand Hyatt Singapore.

For freshly made soba, head to Shimbashi Soba, inside the Paragon shopping mall on Orchard Road. This is a fine Japanese restaurant where the chefs prepare the fragrant organic buckwheat noodles by hand, daily. Their soba is prepared using Tasmanian buckwheat flour that has a rich fragrance. Shimbashi mills only a certain amount as needed for the day, ensuring that the soba is always served fresh.

Chef’s recommendations include the Curry Nanban or warm noodles with beef, soft boiled egg, and vegetables in Japanese curry. The lunch and afternoon tea sets at Shimbashi Soba are also good value for money – look out for monthly soba promotions available only at the Orchard branch.

ThaiExpress is a restaurant chain that serves a delicious range of Thai favourites in Singapore. You can also expect friendly service and menu items sold at reasonable prices. Come as a group and you can share appetisers such as fish cakes and mango salad, before tucking into delightful selections such as Thai laksa, soup noodles, green curry chicken or yellow ginger chicken rice. 

ThaiExpress has a range of good vegetarian options as well, such as tofu curry and a popular vegetarian pad thai or stir-fried rice noodles. Besides the branch at Plaza Singapura, you can also find others at Raffles City Shopping Centre and at Jewel Changi Airport.