RFK Cuisine · Chinese · Singapore
Best Chinese Restaurants in Singapore 2026
Chinese · Singapore · 7 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026
The most famous Chinese meal in Singapore costs about the price of a coffee: a plate of soya-sauce chicken rice from a Chinatown stall that won a Michelin star and became the cheapest starred meal on earth. That tells you most of what you need to know about Chinese dining here, a city built largely by southern Chinese immigrants, where the food runs from a few dollars at a hawker stall to a few hundred in a hotel banquet room, and the quality holds at both ends. This list covers the serious end: one-star Cantonese at Summer Palace, the only Japanese-Sichuan kitchen in the city at Shisen Hanten, one-star Teochew at Imperial Treasure, and the great hotel Cantonese rooms, plus the hawker legend that started the whole conversation. Seven, ranked on the cooking, the room and the value.
1.Summer Palace
The Regent's one-star Cantonese room and the city's most polished hotel Chinese kitchen; book it for a refined banquet or weekend yum cha.
Summer Palace, inside the Regent Singapore on Cuscaden Road near Orchard, is a one-Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant with one of the longest pedigrees in the city, listed again in the 2025 guide. The kitchen turns out classical Cantonese at a high level: double-boiled soups, premium seafood, barbecued meats and a refined dim sum service at lunch, all in a calm, traditional room dressed for an occasion. Expect around SGD 90 to SGD 150 a head for an a la carte dinner, less for weekend yum cha. It is the choice for a grown-up Cantonese banquet or a special-occasion family lunch where the cooking and the service both need to be impeccable. Book a few days ahead, more for weekend dim sum.
Reserve direct; the double-boiled soups, the barbecued meats, the weekend dim sum.
2.Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew Cuisine
The city's one-star Teochew champion; book it for chilled crab, braised goose and the most refined Teochew cooking in town.
Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew Cuisine, in ION Orchard, is the one-Michelin-starred flagship of the Imperial Treasure group's Teochew kitchen, holding its star in the 2025 guide. Teochew cooking from eastern Guangdong prizes clean, precise flavours, and this is its best expression in Singapore: chilled marinated crab, braised goose with vinegar, oyster omelette and delicate steamed fish, served in a smart mall-level dining room. It runs around SGD 90 to SGD 150 a head. It is the choice for a diner who wants the lighter, seafood-forward Teochew tradition rather than richer Cantonese cooking, done at star level. Book a few days ahead and order the cold crab and the braised goose.
Reserve direct; the chilled marinated crab, the braised goose, the steamed fish.
3.Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro
The only Japanese-Sichuan kitchen in the city under Chen Kentaro; book Level 35 for mapo tofu from a dynasty of chefs.
Shisen Hanten, on Level 35 of the Hilton Singapore Orchard on Orchard Road, is Chen Kentaro's one-Michelin-starred restaurant and the only specialist in Chuka Szechwan, Japanese-style Sichuan, cooking in Singapore. Chen is the third generation of a chef dynasty founded by his grandfather Chen Kenmin, the man credited with bringing Sichuan food to Japan, and the kitchen marries Sichuan heat with Japanese precision, led by a benchmark mapo tofu. The room held two stars from 2019 to 2022 and one from 2023, and sits high above Orchard with a view. Expect around SGD 100 to SGD 160 a head. It is the choice for serious Sichuan cooking with a Japanese accent. Book a few days ahead and start with the mapo tofu.
Reserve direct; the signature mapo tofu, the chilli prawns, the weekend dim sum brunch.
4.Peach Blossoms
Edward Chong's design-led contemporary Chinese room; book it for artful, modern cooking and the city's most photogenic dim sum.
Peach Blossoms, on Level 5 of the Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay, is executive Chinese chef Edward Chong's contemporary Chinese restaurant, recognised on Tatler's Best 100 Restaurants in Asia-Pacific for 2025. The cooking modernises Cantonese and broader Chinese traditions with playful, story-driven plating, from sculptural dim sum to refined seafood, set in a striking dining room dressed in blossom motifs. The chef's tasting menus, such as the recent "Same Story, New Journey," show the kitchen's ambition. Expect around SGD 90 to SGD 160 a head. It is the choice for a diner who wants modern, design-forward Chinese cooking rather than a classical banquet hall, and a room built for a celebration. Book a few days ahead and consider the tasting menu.
Reserve direct; the chef's tasting menu, the signature dim sum, the seasonal seafood.
5.Li Bai
A grand-tradition Cantonese room named for a Tang poet; book the dim sum omakase for the city's most theatrical yum cha.
Li Bai, in the Sheraton Towers near Newton, is a long-running Cantonese restaurant named after the Tang-dynasty poet, set in an opulent room of jade, silver and fine bone china. The kitchen cooks classical Cantonese in the grand hotel tradition, roast meats, double-boiled soups and refined dim sum, and in 2025 it launched a first-of-its-kind dim sum omakase, a lunch-only counter sequence of made-to-order dumplings. Expect around SGD 90 to SGD 150 a head, more for the omakase. It is the choice for a diner who wants formal, old-world Cantonese luxury and a dim sum experience with some show to it. Book a few days ahead and ask about the dim sum omakase at lunch.
Reserve direct; the dim sum omakase, the roast meats, the double-boiled soup.
6.Jade
Cantonese dining in the Fullerton's grand old post office; book it for refined dim sum in one of the city's landmark rooms.
Jade, inside The Fullerton Hotel on Fullerton Square, sets refined Cantonese cooking inside Singapore's landmark former General Post Office, a grand neoclassical building on the river. The kitchen runs a classical Cantonese menu of barbecued meats, seafood and an extensive dim sum service, served beneath the heritage architecture with views toward the bay. It is as much an occasion of place as of food, and the dim sum lunch is the strongest draw. Expect around SGD 80 to SGD 140 a head. It is the choice for a diner who wants good Cantonese food married to one of the most beautiful and historic rooms in the city, handy for a Marina Bay walk. Book ahead for weekend dim sum.
Reserve direct; the weekend dim sum, the barbecued meats, a table near the windows.
7.Hawker Chan
The chicken-rice stall that won the world's cheapest Michelin star; go to Chinatown for a legendary plate that costs a few dollars.
Hawker Chan, in the Chinatown Complex hawker centre on Smith Street, is Chan Hon Meng's soya-sauce chicken rice and noodle stall, which won a Michelin star in 2016 and became famous worldwide as the cheapest starred meal ever recognised. The chicken is poached and lacquered in a dark, sweet-savoury soya sauce, served over rice or with noodles for the price of a coffee, and the stall held its star through 2021 before the guide moved it to the wider selection. The queue is part of the experience. It is the choice for a diner who wants to eat one of Singapore's most storied plates for a few dollars, and to see the hawker tradition that underpins the whole scene. Go off-peak to skip the longest lines.
Walk in off-peak; the soya-sauce chicken rice, the chicken noodle, the char siu.
How Singapore eats Chinese
Chinese food is the foundation of how Singapore eats, brought by southern Chinese immigrants and split across dialect-group traditions that still shape the menus. Cantonese dominates the hotel fine-dining scene, with Summer Palace, Li Bai and Jade carrying the banquet-and-dim-sum tradition; Teochew has a one-star champion in Imperial Treasure; Sichuan reaches its peak at Shisen Hanten's Japanese-Sichuan cooking; and Peach Blossoms pushes the contemporary edge. Beneath the restaurants sits the hawker culture, Hainanese chicken rice, char kway teow, bak kut teh and more, where Hawker Chan proved a few-dollar plate could win a star. For the global picture, see the best Chinese restaurants worldwide and the city's best fine dining.
Practically, the starred and hotel rooms want a booking, especially for weekend dim sum, which fills fast: reserve Summer Palace, Imperial Treasure, Shisen Hanten, Peach Blossoms, Li Bai and Jade a few days ahead, more for a private room or a festive set menu. Lunch yum cha is both cheaper and a highlight at the Cantonese rooms. Most are inside hotels around Orchard, Marina Bay and the river, easy to reach by taxi or MRT, while Hawker Chan sits in the Chinatown Complex, where cashless and cash both work and seating is communal. For everything beyond Chinese cooking, from the tasting rooms to the hawker centres, the Singapore dining guide maps the city by neighbourhood and occasion.
Where not to look for it
Skip these for a real Chinese meal
The mall-court "Chinese" chains on autopilot. Singapore's food courts have plenty of generic stir-fry counters that trade on convenience. For cooking with real dialect-group identity, book a room from this list or seek out a specialist hawker stall instead.
Hawker Chan expecting a fine-dining experience. This is a hawker-centre stall with a queue and communal seating, not a restaurant, and the magic is the plate, not the setting. If you want a sit-down Cantonese dinner with service and a room, book Summer Palace or Li Bai and treat Hawker Chan as a separate, essential pilgrimage.
Frequently asked
What is the best Chinese restaurant in Singapore?
For refined Cantonese, Summer Palace at the Regent is the pick, a one-Michelin-starred hotel room with a long pedigree. For something different, Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro serves the only Chuka Szechwan, Japanese-Sichuan, cooking in the city, and Imperial Treasure flies the flag for one-star Teochew. The most fun ticket is Hawker Chan, the soya-sauce chicken rice stall that became the world's cheapest Michelin meal. Choose by style: Cantonese, Sichuan, Teochew, contemporary or hawker.
How much does a Chinese meal cost in Singapore?
It runs from a few dollars to a few hundred. The hotel rooms, Summer Palace, Imperial Treasure, Shisen Hanten, Peach Blossoms, Li Bai and Jade, sit around SGD 80 to SGD 150 a head for an a la carte dinner, more for a set menu or the dim sum omakase, and offer cheaper yum cha lunches. At the other end, a plate of soya-sauce chicken rice at Hawker Chan costs just a few dollars, which is why it became the cheapest Michelin-recognised meal in the world.
Where is the best dim sum in Singapore?
The strongest yum cha is at the Cantonese hotel rooms. Summer Palace, Li Bai and Jade all serve refined dim sum at lunch, and Li Bai launched a dim sum omakase concept in 2025. Imperial Treasure is a reliable favourite for both Cantonese and Teochew dim sum across its outlets. Book a weekend lunch ahead, as the hotel dim sum services fill quickly, and order the har gow, siu mai and a roast-meat plate.
Does Singapore have Michelin-starred Chinese restaurants?
Yes. The MICHELIN Guide Singapore 2025 lists several one-star Chinese rooms, including Summer Palace, Summer Pavilion, Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew Cuisine and Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro, alongside Cantonese restaurants in the selected and Bib Gourmand tiers. Hawker Chan held a star from 2016 to 2021 as the famous budget soya-sauce chicken stall. Singapore's Chinese dining runs from these starred hotel rooms down to some of the best hawker food in the world.
What kinds of Chinese food can you eat in Singapore?
Almost all of them. Cantonese dominates the hotel fine-dining scene at Summer Palace, Li Bai and Jade; Teochew has a one-star champion in Imperial Treasure; Sichuan is represented at the highest level by Shisen Hanten's Japanese-Sichuan cooking; and contemporary Chinese is led by Peach Blossoms. Below the restaurants sits the hawker tradition, Hainanese chicken rice, char kway teow, bak kut teh and more, much of it descended from southern Chinese immigrants. Few cities offer this range in one place.
More Chinese dining and fine dining
More from RFK
Browse the full Singapore dining guide, compare the global picks in the best Chinese restaurants worldwide and the best fine dining worldwide, see the city's best fine dining and best Japanese restaurants, plan a client dinner at Summer Palace, or open the full RFK cuisine index.
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