Restaurant in Singapore, Singapore
Singapore's only Michelin-starred Peranakan. Book ahead.
Candlenut is Singapore's most credentialed Peranakan restaurant — Michelin one-star, OAD #69 in Asia (2025), and a Black Pearl Diamond — at a $$ price point that makes it one of the city's clearest value cases for serious dining. Chef Malcolm Lee's tasting menu changes every two months and leans into Indonesian influences that set it apart from more conventional Straits-Chinese Peranakan cooking. Book in advance; this is not a walk-in restaurant.
Getting a table at Candlenut takes planning. This is not a walk-in restaurant, and it rewards the effort: Michelin one-star recognition since 2024, a #69 ranking on Opinionated About Dining's Leading Restaurants in Asia for 2025, and a Black Pearl 1 Diamond in the same year make it the most credentialed Peranakan restaurant in Singapore. If you want the definitive version of Peranakan cuisine in a setting that feels like a considered dining room rather than a heritage house or hawker spin-off, Candlenut is the booking to make. At $$, the price-to-credential ratio is exceptional relative to what comparable award-level restaurants charge elsewhere in the city.
Candlenut sits on Dempsey Road, the leafy former military barracks precinct that now houses some of Singapore's most relaxed serious dining. The room is airy — bamboo and rattan details keep the energy calm rather than formal, which matters if you are planning a long tasting menu lunch. The atmosphere skews convivial over hushed: this is not a whisper-quiet fine-dining room, but the noise level stays manageable enough for conversation throughout both services. For a room with Michelin credentials, it is notably unstuffy, which makes it work equally well for celebration dinners and long, exploratory weekend lunches.
Chef Malcolm Lee shapes the menu around Peranakan traditions he inherited from his mother and grandmother, with an Indonesian influence that distinguishes his cooking from the more Straits-Chinese-focused Peranakan restaurants you will find elsewhere in Singapore. The tasting menu runs to ten-plus courses and changes every two months, with a strong emphasis on one-bite dishes designed to highlight individual flavours and textures. À la carte dishes are served communal style, which makes Candlenut genuinely better with three or four people than with two.
If you are visiting Singapore more than once and want to get the full measure of what Candlenut offers, a two-visit strategy makes sense. On your first visit, book the tasting menu. The ten-plus course format is the clearest expression of what Malcolm Lee is doing with the cuisine: the bimonthly menu rotation means you are eating dishes that reflect where the kitchen is right now, not a static greatest-hits selection. The one-bite courses in particular reward attention, and the Indonesian inflections become more legible course by course. This visit establishes your baseline.
On a second visit, shift to à la carte and go communal. Order across the menu with three or four people and treat it as a comparison exercise: the tasting menu disciplines how dishes are sequenced, while à la carte reveals how the kitchen handles the traditional Peranakan canon on its own terms. The two experiences are meaningfully different rather than redundant. Given the two-month menu rotation, a return visit six months later will also yield a substantially different tasting menu, which makes Candlenut worth revisiting in a way that more static menus do not.
If you are comparing Peranakan dining more broadly across a Singapore trip, Candlenut sits at one end of the spectrum: award-level, tasting-menu-anchored, with à la carte as a secondary option. For a different angle on the cuisine, Pangium, Chilli Padi (Joo Chiat), and Indocafé offer less formal takes on the same culinary tradition, while Straits Chinese (Cecil Street) and 328 Katong Laksa round out the Singapore Peranakan picture at the hawker end. For Peranakan dining in George Town, Penang, the landscape is distinct: Auntie Gaik Lean's Old School Eatery, Bibik's Kitchen, Ceki, Flower Mulan, Ivy's Nyonya Cuisine, Jawi House, Kebaya Dining Room, and Richard Rivalee each offer a different Nyonya register. Candlenut is not trying to replicate what any of them do.
Candlenut is open seven days a week for both lunch (12 PM–3 PM) and dinner (6 PM–10 PM). The dual-service format gives you more flexibility than many Michelin restaurants in Singapore, but demand is high enough that you should book as far in advance as your plans allow — treat this as a hard booking rather than a casual restaurant you can revisit if you miss it. Lunch at Dempsey Road works particularly well: the outdoor-adjacent setting and airy room make the midday light an asset, and a long tasting lunch on a Saturday fits the neighbourhood's unhurried tempo. Dinner is the more conventional choice for special occasions. Given the Dempsey Road location, you will need a taxi or ride-hail to get there from most central Singapore hotels; it is not walkable from Orchard or the CBD.
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Book in advance and plan for the tasting menu on your first visit. Candlenut's ten-plus course format is the most direct introduction to what Malcolm Lee is doing with Peranakan cuisine, and the bimonthly rotation means you are eating a current menu rather than a fixed set. At $$ pricing for a Michelin one-star in Singapore, the value case is clear. The Dempsey Road location requires a taxi or ride-hail from central Singapore, so factor travel time into your planning. Dress comfortably rather than formally; the room is airy and relaxed despite its credentials.
Yes, for most diners who want to understand the cuisine. The ten-plus courses change every two months and include a number of one-bite dishes with specific flavour and texture focuses , this is not a tasting menu that simply serves larger portions of the regular menu. The Indonesian influence on the cooking becomes most legible across a full sequence of courses. At $$ pricing against a Michelin one-star benchmark, it is well-positioned relative to Singapore's tasting menu market, where comparable Michelin-starred formats typically run to $$$ or $$$$.
Yes. The airy Dempsey Road room, credible awards profile, and unhurried dual-service format make it a reliable choice for birthdays, anniversaries, or any occasion where the dining itself is the event. The atmosphere is relaxed rather than formal, which suits celebratory lunches as well as dinners. If you want maximum ceremony and formality, Zén or Waku Ghin provide a higher-ceremony room at higher price points, but Candlenut is the better call if you want a memorable Peranakan meal rather than a generically luxurious experience.
Peranakan cuisine frequently uses shellfish, fish pastes, and pork, which are central to the culinary tradition. If you have significant dietary restrictions, contact Candlenut directly before booking, particularly for the tasting menu where courses are pre-set. Phone number and email details are not listed in our current data, so confirm contact information via the restaurant's own booking platform when you reserve.
It works, but the communal à la carte format is designed for groups of three or more. Solo diners are better served by booking the tasting menu, which gives full access to the kitchen's range without requiring you to navigate a shared-dishes structure alone. Singapore has a strong solo dining culture, and the Candlenut room is comfortable enough for a solo tasting menu lunch. For solo Peranakan dining at a lower price point, the hawker-adjacent options across the city are more naturally suited to the format.
Lunch has a practical edge at Dempsey Road. The natural light, the relaxed neighbourhood tempo, and the fact that Saturday and Sunday lunch allows you to extend into the afternoon without a curfew all favour the midday service. Dinner is the standard choice for special occasions and works well, but if your schedule allows flexibility, a weekend lunch is the better experience. Both services run the same menu format, so the decision is primarily about atmosphere and pacing rather than what you eat.
For Peranakan cuisine at a less formal register, Pangium and Chilli Padi (Joo Chiat) are the most relevant comparisons in Singapore. For the heritage-house Peranakan experience with an Indonesian focus, Indocafé is worth considering. If you want Michelin-starred dining in Singapore at a higher price tier, Jaan by Kirk Westaway ($$$) and Iggy's ($$$) offer European contemporary formats, while Waku Ghin ($$$$) is the top-tier Japanese contemporary option. None of those are direct substitutes if the specific interest is Peranakan cuisine.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candlenut | Peranakan | $$ | Hard |
| Zén | European Contemporary | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Jaan by Kirk Westaway | British Contemporary | $$$ | Unknown |
| Iggy's | Modern European, European Contemporary | $$$ | Unknown |
| Summer Pavilion | Cantonese | $$ | Unknown |
| Waku Ghin | Creative Japanese, Japanese Contemporary | $$$$ | Unknown |
What to weigh when choosing between Candlenut and alternatives.
Walk-ins are unlikely to work — book in advance. Candlenut holds a Michelin star (2024) and ranks #69 in OAD's Top Restaurants in Asia (2025), so demand is real. Chef Malcolm Lee cooks traditional Peranakan dishes with an Indonesian influence, served communal-style à la carte or as a 10-plus course tasting menu. The Dempsey Road setting is relaxed rather than formal, which makes the food the main event without the stiff atmosphere that sometimes accompanies starred dining.
Yes, if you want to cover the full range of Malcolm Lee's cooking in one sitting. The menu runs 10-plus courses, changes every two months, and includes single-bite dishes designed around contrasting flavours and textures — that format rewards attention in a way the à la carte does not. At $$, it is priced accessibly for a Michelin-starred tasting menu by Singapore standards. If you are time-limited or prefer sharing plates at your own pace, the à la carte communal format is a reasonable alternative.
Yes, and the price point makes it an easier call than most Michelin occasions. At $$ and with a tasting menu option that changes bimonthly, it has the credentials and the considered cooking to mark a celebration without the $$$-plus outlay of a Zén or Waku Ghin. The airy room with bamboo and rattan details is composed without being stiff, which suits occasions where you want the meal to feel significant but the evening to stay comfortable.
The venue data does not include a stated dietary policy, so check the venue's official channels before booking, especially for the tasting menu. Peranakan cuisine traditionally uses shellfish, pork, and aromatics heavily, so restrictions in those areas are worth flagging at reservation stage rather than on arrival.
Manageable, but the communal à la carte format is designed for sharing, which means solo diners either commit to the tasting menu — the more natural solo format — or accept that à la carte coverage will be narrower. The tasting menu at $$ is a reasonable solo spend for a Michelin-starred meal. The relaxed Dempsey Road setting means solo dining does not feel awkward the way it might at a more ceremonial room.
Lunch at Candlenut is worth prioritising if your schedule allows: the hours mirror dinner (12 PM–3 PM versus 6 PM–10 PM), the menu access is the same, and the Dempsey Road setting reads well in daylight. Dinner suits a longer, more deliberate pace if you are doing the tasting menu. Neither service is a lesser version of the other, so the decision is mostly about your day's rhythm rather than a meaningful quality difference.
For Peranakan specifically, there is no direct Michelin-starred alternative in Singapore — Candlenut is in its own category. If what you want is serious tasting-menu dining at a higher price tier, Zén (three Michelin stars) and Waku Ghin are the relevant comparisons. For something closer in register and price but in French-influenced territory, Jaan by Kirk Westaway offers a Michelin-starred experience without the premium of the city's top tables. Summer Pavilion is the comparison for those drawn to precision cooking in a hotel setting, though the cuisine and atmosphere differ significantly.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
