The Michelin Guide, famed for awarding stars to restaurants as a mark of quality, has dropped the list of Bib Gourmand awardees with 17 new eateries this year. Bib Gourmand is a category that awards restaurants and hawkers that serve top-notch food at wallet-friendly prices and has remained one of the most anticipated reveals in Singapore’s food scene since the Guide’s launch here in 2016.
Totalling 50 different establishments, this edition of the Bib Gourmand list spotlights hawkers, with 15 of the first-time entrants being of that class. Most of these vendors are icons in their respective neighbourhoods, like Chai Chuan Tou Yang Rou Tang, a mutton broth seller in Bukit Merah View Hawker Centre that has ardent fans queuing around the dining compound to get a piping hot bowl every day.

Another popular newcomer is the Outram Park Fried Kway Teow in Hong Lim Market & Food Centre. People working in the Chinatown area will immediately recognise the name and bustling stall, which serves char kway teow charged with wok hei to hungry office hordes round the week.

Tai Wah Pork Noodle’s Hong Lim Market outlet has also received a place on the list, after two years of its Hill Street competitor taking centre stage with its one Michelin star.

While classic Singaporean street food favourites are extensively spotlighted, the fledgeling Bib Gourmand eateries also come from many other cuisines to reflect our local culinary diversity. The flagship Muthu’s Curry on Race Course Road is an iconic Indian restaurant that received a much-deserved nod, and over on Amoy Street, The Coconut Club, a modern nasi lemak diner, now owns a place in the Guide as well.

Loyalists to certain joints may not be too happy to find that their beloved haunts have fallen off the Bib Gourmand compendium (or celebrate, because this means fewer queues!). Some of these include 328 Katong Laksa, Hjh Maimunah, JB Ah Meng, Wedang, Peony Jade at Keppel Club, and Tsuta Ramen.
For the full list, see below (* marks the fresh entrees).
- A Noodle Story, Amoy Street Food Centre
- Alliance Seafood, Newton Food Centre
- Ah Er Soup, ABC Brickworks Food Centre
- Balestier Road Hoover Rojak, Whampoa Makan Place
- Bar-Roque Grill, Tanjong Pagar
- Bismillah Biryani, Dunlop Street
- Chai Chuan Tou Yang Rou Tang, Bukit Merah View Food Centre*
- Chey Sua Carrot Cake, Toa Payoh Lorong 1
- Chuan Kee Boneless Braised Duck, Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre*
- Depot Road Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa, Alexandra Village Food Centre
- Eminent Frog Porridge & Seafood, Geylang Road Lorong 19*
- Famous Sungei Road Trishaw Laksa, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre
- Fresh Taste Big Prawn Noodle, Zion Riverside Food Centre*
- Heng, Newton Food Centre*
- Hong Heng Fried Sotong Prawn Mee, Tiong Bahru Market
- Hong Kee Beef Noodle, Amoy Street Food Centre
- Hong Kong Yummy Soup, Alexandra Village Food Centre*
- Hoo Kee Bak Chang, Bukit Merah
- J2 Famous Crispy Curry Puff, Amoy Street Food Centre
- Ka-Soh, Outram Park
- Kok Sen Restaurant, Keong Saik Road
- Lagnaa, Little India
- Lao Fu Zi Fried Kway Teow, Old Airport Road Food Centre*
- Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice, Chinatown Complex*
- Liao Fan Hawker Chan, 78 Smith Street
- Man Man, Tanjong Pagar
- Muthu’s Curry, Little India
- Na Na Homemade Curry, Bukit Merah
- New Lucky Claypot Rice, Holland Drive Market & Food Centre
- New Ubin Seafood, Bukit Batok
- Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre*
- Rolina Traditional Hainanese Curry Puff, Tanjong Pagar Plaza Market & Food Centre*
- Shi Hui Yuan, Queenstown
- Shi Wei Da, Fengshan Market and Food Centre*
- Sik Bao Sin: Desmond’s Creation, Geylang Road*
- Sin Huat Eating House
- Sin Kee Famous Cantonese Chicken Rice, Holland Drive*
- Song Fa Bak Kut Teh, New Bridge Road
- Tai Wah Pork Noodle, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre*
- The Blue Ginger, Tanjong Pagar
- The Coconut Club, Amoy Street*
- Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, Maxwell Food Centre
- Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice, Tiong Bahru Food Centre*
- Tiong Bahru Yi Sheng Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee (ABC Brickworks Food Centre)
- Shirokane Tori-tama, Robertson Walk
- True Blue Cuisine, Armenian Street
- Whole Earth, Peck Seah Street
- Yhingthai Palace, Purvis Street
- Zaffron Kitchen, East Coast
- Zai Shun Curry Fish Head, Jurong East
The Michelin Guide 2018 Singapore will be announced 25 July.
(Featured image credit: Michelin Guide Singapore)