Restaurant in Singapore, Singapore
The only Michelin-starred Chilean restaurant on earth.
The world's only Michelin-starred Chilean restaurant (2024 star), Araya delivers a tasting menu that fuses South American ingredients with Japanese technique inside Singapore's Mondrian Duxton. At the $$$$ price point it justifies the spend for diners after something genuinely outside the European fine-dining default — but book four to six weeks out minimum, and factor the drinks pairing into your budget before you commit.
Araya earns your booking for one specific reason: it is the world's only Michelin-starred Chilean restaurant, and it earns that distinction through a genuinely coherent cuisine rather than novelty alone. Chefs Francisco Araya and Fernanda Guerrero have built a tasting-menu format around the collision of Chilean and Japanese produce — aji amarillo alongside kinki, merkén beside cod milt, French pigeon with caviar — and the result reads as considered rather than contrived. If you are planning a special-occasion dinner in Singapore and want something that sits outside the European fine-dining default, Araya is the clearest answer in the city. That said, at the $$$$ price point, this is a deliberate spend, and the format works leading for diners who come knowing what they are walking into.
Araya sits inside the Mondrian Singapore Duxton on Neil Road, a heritage shophouse corridor that has become one of the more interesting dining pockets in the city. The setting matters for a first visit: the Duxton Hill location places you in a compact, atmospheric stretch, and the restaurant occupies a ground-floor position within the hotel. Walk in expecting a room calibrated for fine dining , composed and considered rather than loud or theatrical. The visual register here is precise: plating that carries the South Pacific influence of the kitchen's thinking, with colour and technique doing the communicative work that more expository restaurants leave to tableside narration.
The menu is structured around the joint biography of Araya and Guerrero , both shaped by time in Spain and Japan before arriving in Singapore , but the cuisine that results is not a greatest-hits tour of those influences. Japanese technique governs the precision; Chilean ingredients (fermented and roasted cacao appearing even in sauces) supply the soul. For a first-timer, that means you are eating something that requires no prior knowledge of Chilean food to appreciate, but rewards it. The fermentation work in particular , the kitchen ferments and roasts its own cacao , signals how far the culinary argument extends beyond surface-level fusion.
The drinks program at Araya deserves more attention than it typically receives in coverage of the restaurant. At this price tier in Singapore, a tasting menu's value is significantly shaped by how the beverage pairing holds up against the food's complexity. Araya's Chilean-Japanese culinary grammar creates pairing challenges , the smokiness of merkén, the umami weight of Japanese seafood, the acidity of South American chiles , that a wine-only list struggles to resolve elegantly. The better approach on a first visit is to discuss the pairing with your server before committing, and to ask specifically whether there are non-wine or partial pairing options if the full beverage pairing feels excessive in cost. The restaurant's $$$$ positioning means the drinks bill can move the total significantly, and knowing that before you sit down is more useful than discovering it at the end of the evening.
Araya picked up its Michelin star in 2024 and was ranked 281st on the Opinionated About Dining Leading Restaurants in Asia list for 2025 , a credible double signal that the kitchen is operating consistently, not just peaking for inspectors. The Google rating sits at 4.5 from 101 reviews, which for a restaurant at this price point in Singapore is a reasonable baseline. The OAD placement is particularly useful context: it positions Araya within the broader Asia fine-dining tier without overstating its rank, and gives you a realistic comparison point against venues like Meta, Thevar, and Labyrinth in Singapore's own Michelin-starred cohort.
Booking is hard. For a first visit, plan at least four to six weeks out for a weekend table, and check midweek availability if your schedule allows , it is typically the more accessible entry point. The restaurant is accessed via Neil Road within the Mondrian Duxton hotel, which is easy to find but requires you to move through the shophouse layout on arrival. If you are coming from the CBD, it is a short taxi ride; Duxton Plain Park is the nearest orientation point if you are walking from Tanjong Pagar MRT.
For first-timers trying to calibrate expectations against Singapore's broader innovative fine-dining field: Araya is more conceptually coherent than Chaleur, which leans more heavily on French technique, and operates in a different register from Cloudstreet, which is more produce-forward and less structured around a single culinary identity. If the South American-Japanese fusion premise interests you at a regional level, MAZ in Tokyo and Vea in Hong Kong are the natural comparison points , though Araya's Chilean specificity is narrower and more personal than either. For innovative fine dining elsewhere in Asia, alla prima and Soigné in Seoul, Evett in Seoul, Fujiya 1935 and KAHALA in Osaka, and Shimmonzen Yonemura in Kyoto offer useful context for where Araya sits in the regional picture.
The bottom line for a first visit: come for the tasting menu, factor in the drinks pairing cost before you commit, book well ahead, and arrive with some curiosity about the Chilean ingredient vocabulary , merkén is a smoked chili spice, aji amarillo is a fruity Andean pepper , because understanding those two ingredients will make the menu's logic considerably clearer. This is not a restaurant where you need to prep extensively, but a small amount of context pays back well across the meal.
For more on dining in Singapore, see our full Singapore restaurants guide. For hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences in the city, see our guides to Singapore hotels, Singapore bars, Singapore wineries, and Singapore experiences.
Solo dining at Araya is workable but not the format's natural strength. The tasting menu is designed for the full experience regardless of party size, so you will get the same progression of courses alone. The $$$$ price point means the spend is identical per head. If solo fine dining is a priority, ask about counter seating when you book , it tends to make the solo experience more engaging. For comparison, Meta and Thevar also accommodate solo diners at the counter.
The kitchen's cuisine is built around specific ingredients , merkén, aji amarillo, Japanese seafood, fermented cacao , so significant dietary restrictions (severe shellfish allergies, strict vegetarian requirements) need to be flagged clearly at the time of booking, not on arrival. The fusion format gives the kitchen some flexibility, but the menu's identity depends on a narrow set of core produce. Contact the restaurant directly when reserving to confirm what can be accommodated. Do not assume adjustments are possible without prior confirmation.
Araya operates a tasting menu format, so ordering is not a la carte , the kitchen sets the progression. The culinary identity is built around Chilean ingredients (merkén, aji amarillo) applied through Japanese technique to Japanese produce like kinki and cod milt, alongside French pigeon and caviar. The house-fermented and roasted cacao appears in sauces. Understanding those core ingredients before you arrive sharpens the experience. The Michelin star (2024) and OAD Asia ranking (#281, 2025) confirm the kitchen is executing at a consistent level, so the menu as served is the recommendation.
At $$$$ in Singapore's fine-dining tier, Araya justifies the spend if the Chilean-Japanese premise is what you are there for. The Michelin star (2024) and OAD Leading Asia ranking provide external validation of the quality. Where you need to be careful is the drinks pairing: at this price point, the beverage addition can move the total bill significantly. If the cuisine concept resonates with you, yes , it delivers a level of specificity that most $$$$ restaurants in Singapore do not. If you want European fine dining at the same tier, Zén or Waku Ghin are the comparison.
The tasting menu is the only format Araya offers, and given the complexity of the cuisine , fermented cacao sauces, Chilean-Japanese produce combinations, technique drawn from Araya's time in Spain and Japan , the multi-course progression is the right vehicle for it. A single dish would not communicate the culinary argument. If you are committed to the experience, the answer is yes. If you are uncertain about the format or the price tier, consider whether Labyrinth or Thevar , both Michelin-starred and at a similar or lower price point , might be a more accessible first step into Singapore's tasting-menu tier.
Smart casual is the floor; smart is the better call. Araya sits inside the Mondrian Singapore Duxton, a design-forward hotel, and the dining room's register is formal enough that jeans and trainers will feel out of place even if the restaurant does not enforce a written code. At the $$$$ price point in Singapore's fine-dining segment, the general expectation across the category is tailored or polished casual. Arrive dressed for the spend and you will be fine.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Araya | Chef: Francisco Araya document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function() { var el = document.getElementById("Achievements_chefs"); if (el && el.parentNode) { el.parentNode.removeChild(el); } });; Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Asia Ranked #281 (2025); The world's first and only Michelin-starred Chilean restaurant, featuring the soulful South American heritage of Chefs Francisco Araya and Fernanda Guerrero, contemporised by fine global ingredients and Japanese techniques.; Chilean chefs Araya and Guerrero worked at the same restaurant in China. Their ingenious creations – deeply influenced by Araya's time in Spain and Japan – use an eclectic mix of Chilean and Japanese produce, with a South Pacific theme. Japanese favourites such as kinki and cod milt are jazzed up by aji amarillo and merkén from Chile, served alongside French pigeon and caviar. They even ferment and roast their own cacao to use in sauces.; Michelin 1 Star (2024) | $$$$ | — |
| Zén | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | $$$$ | — |
| Jaan by Kirk Westaway | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | $$$ | — |
| Iggy's | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | $$$ | — |
| Summer Pavilion | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | $$ | — |
| Waku Ghin | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | $$$$ | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Yes, and it may actually suit solo diners well. A Michelin-starred tasting menu format at Araya — where the kitchen drives the pace and each course tells a specific Chilean-Japanese story — gives a solo diner something to focus on without the awkwardness of a shared-order format. The counter or intimate room setting at the Mondrian Duxton shophouse property works better for one or two than for large groups.
check the venue's official channels before booking. Araya's menu is built around specific Chilean and Japanese produce — kinki, cod milt, aji amarillo, merkén, French pigeon, caviar — so some substitutions may compromise the menu's logic. At $$$$, it is reasonable to expect the kitchen will accommodate where possible, but this is not a venue where spontaneous dietary requests will land well.
Araya runs a tasting menu format, so ordering is not a choice you make at the table. The kitchen decides the progression. What you are signing up for is a Chilean-Japanese sequence that includes ingredients like kinki, aji amarillo, merkén, and house-fermented cacao used in sauces — a combination you will not find assembled this way anywhere else on earth.
At $$$$, Araya is justified by a genuinely singular proposition: it holds a Michelin star and an Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Asia ranking (#281, 2025) as the only Chilean fine-dining restaurant in the world operating at this level. If you are comparing it on price-per-course against Zén or Waku Ghin, those venues may offer more conventional fine-dining reassurance. Araya's case for the spend is specificity — you are paying for something that does not exist anywhere else.
Yes, if the Chilean-Japanese concept appeals to you on paper. Chefs Francisco Araya and Fernanda Guerrero built this menu around their overlapping time in China, Araya's training in Spain and Japan, and Chilean produce used in dialogue with Japanese technique. The result — Michelin-starred since 2024 — is not a novelty act. If you want a tasting menu with a clear authorial point of view, this one has one. If you prefer classical French or Japanese omakase, Jaan or Waku Ghin are more conventional picks.
Araya is a Michelin-starred restaurant inside the Mondrian Singapore Duxton, a design hotel in a heritage shophouse on Neil Road. That context points to smart dress — no shorts or sandals, and something closer to business casual or above would fit the room. The venue does not publish a dress code in available data, so if you are uncertain, err toward what you would wear to any other one-star restaurant in Singapore.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
