At this neighbourhood French restaurant in a 1930s chapel in the verdant restaurant enclave of Dempsey Hill, executive chef Julien Mercier and chef de cuisine Loïc Portalier craft flawless renditions of classics from their homeland.

The restaurant is known for its signature dishes, notably bouillabaisse – the famed fish stew from Marseilles. Carabinero prawns are served alongside John Dory, mussels, scallops, razor clams and more. Croutons are soaked in a saffron-infused rouille to finish the dish.

We started with a simple salad of herring, potato and frisée (a chicory-like leaf) dressed in a punchy shallot and mustard vinaigrette. Then we enjoyed another classic, steak tartare – prepared tableside for culinary theatre – accompanied by possibly the best frites in Singapore.

Desserts proved a temptation too far, but you can expect exquisite pastries and the restaurant’s takes on favourites such as crème caramel, profiteroles and crêpes Suzette.

39C Harding Road, Singapore 249 541

2. Revolver

Revolver, a new Indian restaurant in Chinatown, is packing the diners in and booking up months ahead.

The restaurant’s executive chef, Saurabh Udinia, earned his stripes at Indian Accent, a lauded New Delhi restaurant with inventive takes on legendary dishes. Udinia brings the same approach to Revolver, where binchotan charcoal grills, a tandoor and smokers are used to produce fabulously charred flavours.

Its eight-course menu didn’t disappoint, starting with fresh paneer – Indian cottage cheese made from cow or buffalo milk – served atop light, saucy tomato foam.

Next, we enjoyed charred avocado under a spicy, tomato-based Bombay salsa. Add to this concoction some pine nuts and pops of caviar and you have a brilliant two-bite creation.

This was followed by golden pomfret marinated in a fragrant red spice paste called recheado, which is Portuguese for “stuffed” and comes from the country’s former colony in Goa in western India. Cooked on a cast iron tawa pan until soft, it was lifted to even greater heights by the decadent Goan risotto underneath.

Most memorable was the Kulchette – Revolver’s take on kulcha flatbread – which was stuffed with Gruyère and topped with slow-cooked duck. It has quickly become one of Singapore’s most sought-after dishes, and now comes as an optional menu extra topped with Amur caviar, Australian lobster or black truffle, and morel.

56 Tras Street, Singapore 078 995

3. Osteria Mozza

Osteria Mozza brings Californian-Italian cuisine to the recently refurbished Hilton Singapore Orchard hotel. The restaurant is headed by celebrated American chef Nancy Silverton, who is also responsible for Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles – a one-Michelin-star temple to handmade pastas and knockout pizzas.

Our visit to the Singapore branch was in its opening week, meaning a limited menu was on offer, but it still showed the finesse and execution of its American counterpart.

The buffalo mozzarella was impeccable, served with vibrant datterini tomatoes, basil and garlic-rubbed bread. Jerusalem artichokes were fried with garlic and thyme to crispy perfection, while roasted cauliflower was lifted by a roast lemon bagna cauda – a classic Piedmontese sauce of garlic and anchovy.

Maltagliati – a pasta from Italy’s produce heartland, Emilia-Romagna – was new to us. As ever, there’s a great backstory to the name, which translates as “badly cut”, referring to the leftover pieces of dough from cutting tagliatelle.

At Osteria Mozza, this dish, once considered cucina povera (“food for the poor”), was elevated with a rich, dark, sticky duck ragu. Incidentally, one special pasta on the menu features Dungeness crab and saffron, inspired by Silverton’s love of crab dishes in Singapore.

Hitlon Singapore Orchard, 333 Orchard Road, Level 5, Singapore 238 867

4. Nobu

It’s surprising that Singapore never had a restaurant by Japanese celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa until now. His first restaurant opened in Los Angeles in 1994, bankrolled in part by actor Robert De Niro, and the rest is history, with the brand now a global giant.

Nobu sits within the Four Seasons Singapore and is reached by walking through a scenic Japanese garden. The elegant dining room is overseen by executive chef Hideki Maeda, previously head chef at Nobu London.

The yellowtail is silky smooth, topped with wafer-thin slices of jalapeño and then steeped in a yuzu-ponzu sauce. Toro – fatty tuna belly – is chopped to a fine tartare and mixed with onion and garlic, before being topped with caviar and placed in a small lake of soy sauce with wasabi. It isn’t exactly the pinnacle of culinary innovation, but it is a great combination of perfect ingredients.

By far Nobu’s most imitated dish is the black cod miso. That heady marinade of mirin and white miso, sugar, and sake still works wonders and renders the fish sublimely salty-sweet. It seemed to be on every table in the dining room – which is already booked up six weeks ahead.

190 Orchard Boulevard, Level 3, Singapore 248 646

Whether you’re after a digestif or a full-on cocktail session, there are three new bars worth checking out in the Lion City.

5. Stay Gold Flamingo

Stay Gold Flamingo in Chinatown operates as a compact coffee shop during the day before morphing into a glam bar at night. Its Intro to Absinthe is just as dangerous as it sounds, with the infamous French liqueur paired with sparkling coconut water and Earl Grey – like a turbocharged highball.

69 Amoy Street, Singapore 069 888

6. The Tanglin Gin Jungle

The Tanglin Gin Jungle on Dempsey Hill is Singapore’s first gin distillery. Asian Apple Pie Moonshine and Black Powder – the latter at an eye-watering 58 per cent ABV – show that its gins mean business. It also crafts some cracking cocktails.

Dempsey Road, 26B, Singapore 247 693

7. Taylor Adam

1 Raffles Place, #01-03, Singapore 048 616