RFK Cuisine · Italian · Singapore
Best Italian Restaurants in Singapore 2026
Italian · Singapore · 6 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026
In a city that runs on hawker stalls and Cantonese banquets, the most quietly serious Italian cooking in Southeast Asia hides inside a colonial bungalow on Scotts Road, where Denis Lucchi shaves white truffle over tagliatelle he rolled that morning. Singapore's Italian scene is small but unusually high — three one-star kitchens, an Alain Ducasse Riviera room inside a restored grand hotel, and a pair of rooftops that trade a little kitchen ambition for a Marina Bay panorama. There is no red-sauce filler here; the rents are too high and the diners too well-travelled for it. These are the six Italian rooms worth a reservation, ranked on the cooking, the room and what the bill buys, with the dish to order at each.
1.Buona Terra
Singapore's most refined Italian; book Buona Terra for Denis Lucchi's white-truffle tagliatelle and a quiet, special-occasion room.
Lombardy-born chef Denis Lucchi cooks at Buona Terra, a one-Michelin-star northern Italian restaurant in a colonial bungalow at 29 Scotts Road near Newton, and it is the most disciplined Italian kitchen in the city. The signature is the house-made tagliatelle finished with intensely aromatic shaved white truffle in season, backed by a tasting menu that imports its product with real seriousness and a wine list deep in Italian labels. The room is small, calm and grown-up — the table for an anniversary or a deal closed over dinner rather than a scene. It has held its star for years on cooking alone. Book a week or more ahead, earlier in truffle season.
Reserve direct; the white-truffle tagliatelle and the full tasting menu.
2.Braci
A one-star wood-fire rooftop over the river; book Braci for a fire-driven Italian tasting with the best Boat Quay view.
Braci — the name means embers — is Beppe De Vito's one-Michelin-star restaurant on the top floors of a restored heritage shophouse at 52 Boat Quay, overlooking the Singapore River, with chef de cuisine Matteo Ponti running an open, wood-fired kitchen. Ponti's degustation draws on his native Piedmont and routes nearly everything through fire and smoke, served in an intimate room that opens onto a rooftop bar. Where Buona Terra is hushed and classic, Braci is modern and theatrical, the better choice when the view and the occasion matter as much as the plate. Book a week ahead and ask for an early seating to catch the light.
Reserve direct or on Chope; the signature degustation and a cocktail upstairs first.
3.Garibaldi
The city's long-running one-star classic; book Garibaldi on Purvis Street for regional Italian cooking that never chases fashion.
Garibaldi, the one-Michelin-star Italian restaurant on Purvis Street run by chef-patron Roberto Galetti, is the elder statesman of the city's Italian scene, open since 2003 and starred year after year on consistency rather than novelty. The cooking is classic and regional — handmade pasta, careful seafood, properly rendered meat — served in a polished, white-tablecloth room a short walk from the Raffles quarter. It is the safe, grown-up choice when you want recognizably great Italian food without a concept or a gimmick, and the kind of room that quietly hosts the same regulars for decades. Book a few days ahead through the restaurant; more for a weekend. See the wider scene in the Singapore dining guide.
Reserve direct; the handmade pasta and a regional main, with a bottle off the Italian list.
4.Osteria BBR by Alain Ducasse
Ducasse's Riviera-Italian inside Raffles; book Osteria BBR for market-driven pasta in the city's most storied hotel room.
Osteria BBR by Alain Ducasse occupies the former Bar & Billiard Room of the restored Raffles Hotel at 1 Beach Road, cooking the Italian Riviera rather than broad Mediterranean — Ligurian and northwestern dishes built on a market-driven pasta program. It carries a Michelin-selected listing rather than a star, but the cooking is precise and the setting is unmatched: high ceilings, colonial bones, the most famous address in Singapore. For a long lunch or a dinner that leans on atmosphere and a great negroni as much as the kitchen, it is hard to beat. Book a few days ahead and take a table in the main dining room.
Reserve direct or through Raffles; the pasta of the day and a Ligurian seafood plate.
5.Altro Zafferano
A 43rd-floor Italian rooftop over the bay; book Altro Zafferano for the Manzo beef and a sunset Marina view.
Altro Zafferano crowns the Ocean Financial Centre at 10 Collyer Quay, forty-three storeys above the central business district, with executive chef Andrea de Paola cooking a contemporary-meets-traditional southern-leaning Italian menu and an alfresco terrace lounge wrapped around the building. The Manzo — a beef course built for the carnivore — is the order, alongside the pasta and a long Italian wine list, but the real draw is the panorama across Marina Bay at dusk. This is the view-and-occasion room on the list, the table for a celebration where the skyline does half the work. Book ahead for a terrace table around sunset.
Reserve direct or on Chope; the Manzo, a plate of pasta, and a terrace table at golden hour.
6.Forlino
One Fullerton's harbour-facing Italian; book Forlino for a waterfront terrace dinner across from the Marina Bay skyline.
Forlino sits on the waterfront at One Fullerton, 1 Fullerton Road, its terrace facing directly across the bay to the Marina Bay Sands and the nightly light show. The kitchen cooks a contemporary Italian menu — house-made pasta, seafood, a serious wine list — but the reason to book is the seat: few rooms in Singapore put you this close to the water with this view. It is the most romantic of the city's Italian rooms, better suited to a proposal or an anniversary than a serious gastronomic night. Book a terrace table around dusk and time dinner to the 8 pm Spectra show. Plan the rest of the evening with the Singapore dining guide.
Reserve direct; a pasta and a seafood main at a terrace table before the light show.
How Singapore eats Italian
Italian is Singapore's default special-occasion European cuisine, and the scene reflects the city's priorities: high product, polished service, and very often a view. The serious cooking happens at the one-star rooms — Buona Terra and Braci above all — where chefs import truffle and seafood at real cost and roll pasta in house. A second tier trades a little kitchen ambition for a setting: the rooftops at Altro Zafferano and the waterfront at Forlino sell the Marina Bay skyline as much as the menu, and there is nothing wrong with that when the occasion calls for it. What you will not find here is cheap, sloppy red-sauce Italian; the city's rents and its well-travelled diners have priced it out.
Geography sorts the list. The Raffles and Bras Basah quarter holds Osteria BBR and Garibaldi within a short walk; the central business district stacks Altro Zafferano on Collyer Quay and Forlino at the water's edge; Braci sits over Boat Quay; and Buona Terra keeps its colonial bungalow up on Scotts Road near Orchard. Tables tighten during the Formula 1 night race in September and over major holidays, so book ahead. For everything beyond Italian, the Singapore dining guide maps the city by neighborhood and occasion.
Where not to look for it
Skip these for serious Italian in Singapore
The mall-chain "Italian" food courts. Singapore's malls are full of high-volume pasta-and-pizza chains trading on convenience, not a kitchen. They are fine for a quick lunch and have no business on a serious Italian itinerary; book any room on this list instead.
Altro Zafferano or Forlino for a gastronomic night. Both are excellent for a view and an occasion, but if the cooking is the point rather than the panorama, point yourself at Buona Terra on Scotts Road or Braci over Boat Quay, where the kitchen, not the skyline, is the headline.
Frequently asked
What is the best Italian restaurant in Singapore?
Buona Terra, chef Denis Lucchi's one-Michelin-star northern Italian room in a colonial bungalow on Scotts Road, is the city's benchmark, with house-made tagliatelle under shaved white truffle as the signature. Braci, Beppe De Vito's one-star rooftop over Boat Quay, is the other apex table, built around a wood-fired kitchen. Choose Buona Terra for refined Lombard cooking and Braci for a modern, fire-driven tasting menu with a view.
Which Italian restaurants in Singapore have a Michelin star?
In the 2025 MICHELIN Guide Singapore, the one-star Italian restaurants include Buona Terra, Braci and Garibaldi, alongside Osteria Mozza, il Cielo and Fiamma. Buona Terra and Braci are the two on this ranking with the deepest track record. Osteria BBR by Alain Ducasse at Raffles is Michelin-selected rather than starred, while Altro Zafferano and Forlino are recommended view-and-occasion rooms rather than star kitchens.
Where do you find the best pasta in Singapore?
Buona Terra rolls the city's most refined fresh pasta, with the white-truffle tagliatelle as the order in season. Garibaldi on Purvis Street and Osteria BBR at Raffles both run serious house-made pasta programs, the former classic and regional, the latter routed through the Italian Riviera. For pasta with a view, Braci's tasting menu and Altro Zafferano's rooftop both deliver. Book Buona Terra and Braci a week or more ahead.
How far ahead should I book Italian restaurants in Singapore?
Book the one-star rooms — Buona Terra, Braci and Garibaldi — a week or more ahead, and earlier for a weekend or a Grand Prix week in September, when the city fills. Osteria BBR and Altro Zafferano usually take a few days' notice, more for a window or terrace table. Forlino's waterfront terrace fills around sunset, so request that time specifically. Most of these rooms book through their own sites or Chope.
Is Italian fine dining in Singapore worth the price?
Singapore's top Italian rooms run at international fine-dining prices, but the best of them earn it. Buona Terra imports its produce and white truffle with real rigor, Braci builds a complete wood-fired tasting menu, and Garibaldi has held its star for years on consistency. For the view and the occasion rather than the cooking alone, Altro Zafferano and Forlino trade some kitchen ambition for a Marina Bay panorama — fair value if the setting is the point.
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More from RFK
Browse the full Singapore dining guide, compare the global picks in the best Italian restaurants worldwide, plan a Marina Bay anniversary dinner at Forlino, find an impress-the-client table at Buona Terra, or open the full RFK cuisine index.
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