Now that the Michelin Guide has come to Malaysia, I was wondering if fellow foodies have any good recommendations for my wife and I to try? We might be thinking of squeezing in a trip to Malaysia to visit some relatives after we return to Singapore from Sydney in November.

There are no Michelin-starred restaurants in Sydney, the closest thing to one they have is the "hats" award system, and we particularly like one, called Tetsuya's, in Sydney CBD. They actually have a branch in Singapore, called Waku Ghin (2 Michelin stars).



The above is Tetsuya's signature ocean trout - a mainstay of the restaurant and the primary reason (in addition to its unbelievably fresh oysters) that we keep going back.

In Singapore, we've done all the 3 starred ones - Les Amis, Odette & Zen.



Les Amis was the granddaddy of them all, and we've been fans of that since even before Michelin came to Singapore. We watched it grow from good, to 2-star good, to finally 3-star expensive good. The last we went was in April last year, when I took my family members from UK & Australia who were visiting after the COVID restrictions were lifted. We're due to head back again next week.



Odette was a relatively new place we tried out - we were attracted to it because it ranked 6th best restaurant in the whole of Asia, and walked away with nothing but superb impressions of the service, the attention to detail and of course, the food, especially their signature rosemary onsen egg. We will definitely be back for seconds. I found it funny that they would print the bill with the date represented the American way... but, it's their restaurant, so it's their rules...



And finally, Zen - it was ranked amongst the top 50 restaurants in Asia, and since we'd already done 2 out of the 3 Michelin 3-starred joints, we thought, why the hell not. So, last week, we tried Zen. I have to say, it was different. Whilst Les Amis and Odette was French/Japanese fusion, Zen was more Scandinavian and I guess our palates preferred the former presentation (which, incidentally, was also Tetsuya's motif). It's still an excellent, excellent experience spread over 3 levels of dining, but it may be a while again before we think we would revisit.

I like the way the bill is presented though, haha...



So, if any of you have any good suggestions for Malaysian Michelin starred fine dining restaurants, we'd be grateful to hear about your experiences.

Thanks in advance!

This post has been edited by hksgmy: Jun 17 2024, 09:02 PM

Please dun come to over-rated Penang.

The list is exclusively for tourist tongues particular ang moh's & places for locals to avoid.

Malaysia's top 10 favourite, Nasi lemak & nasi Kandar not on the list, too spicy for Ang Moh?

Every BKT kaki knows the bestest bak kut teh is in Klang.
You see their BKT list

Hahaha.. I appreciate the honest and candid assessment! I'm local (still a Malaysian) and my palate is obviously very Malaysian, so I was hoping that Michelin would have taken that into consideration when they awarded their stars, but judging from your comment, the guide may have just been another shiok sendiri gegosok bebird moment for the Ang Mohs.... Have you tried any of their Michelin starred places yet?

Not out of Pg.
Eaten at most places before they were mentioned/awarded.
Now it is list of places to avoid.

Goodness gracious! Penang was exactly where we were thinking of flying up to!

Ok, places to skip

When we hear a lots positive reviews, the more disappointment when we eat.
normal nasi lemak even better than these overated restaurants, especially tourism places..

This post has been edited by wong_86: Jul 27 2023, 08:32 AM

Yeah, some folks seem to think that getting the Star is license to raise prices or franchise. But quality drops when they scale up production.

Ok, thank you for all your candid views.

What about restaurants in Malaysia that you’ve eaten that you felt was deserving of their awards?

Over rated, need a tyre company to tell you what to eat? . . .. owai

The story behind Michelin is quite interesting, and well, it’s just a thing to try if I’m in Malaysia. Pity the view of the majority here is that it’s not worth the trouble.

haven't been to les amis in ages, happy to hear they are still up to par, but with the current exchange and the bill you posted, I don't think the missus will allow me to makan there hahahahaha

Nope. I've been to all the rated ones in KV.

None of them is really worth it. If have to, I'd probably recommend Dewakan and Nadodi at best from those.

If you go and try Helena Darroze or CORE, then can see why they are 3 stars. Even that I still felt it could be better.

The bill was for my family of 7 or 8. Wifey and I will be going next week before our overseas trip so I’ll post an update then…

Oh, are these the ones in the UK? I’ve only been to Moor Hall, a 2 starred item in Lancashire - but to be honest, I wasn’t particularly overwhelmed by the offerings there - I would say it was similar to my experience at Zen.

No good foods in any part of MY. Every good stuffs you can find in SG already. Please don't come to MY

I remember those days I paid 600 sgd for 3 person for lunch with champagne

This post has been edited by rx330: Jul 27 2023, 11:23 AM

Yep. Helena Darroze I think just got its 3 star last year. Its very typical french though, I'm still salivating over their simple things like butter.

CORE is by Clarye Smith (?), and its a more modern take on British food.

For MY, you can try Dewakan, Nadodi, Akar and Entier. Wouldn't say its a 3 star experience, but okay enough to be a 1 star lo.

Meh most of the michelin food is pay for atmosphere, ambience and presentation only.

how much is akar per pax?