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It used to be simple: A shiny star (or three), a glowing listicle, a photo of a foamy something on a pebble, and voila, full books until next quarter.
But 2025 has been a bracing reality check for Singapore’s dining scene. Many talked-about closures have swept through every tier – hawker tiles to white tablecloths – with an average 307 F&B outlets shutting each month in 2025, up from 254 a month in 2024.
And it’s not just the obscure, the under-capitalised or the badly lit. In the past year, eight one-Michelin-star restaurants exited, followed by two more high-profile closures in August – Restaurant Euphoria and Alma by Juan Amador – just weeks after the 2025 star ceremony. Most recently, Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant Esora announced it will shut its doors in December after eight years in business.
Meanwhile, 2024 chalked up more than 3,000 F&B closures – the highest since 2005 – even as familiar names kept debuting and disappearing (Eggslut, Manhattan Fish Market, Burger & Lobster among the casualties; even titan Haidilao trimmed outlets).
Even clearly talented and much-lauded chefs like Euphoria’s Jason Tan can’t vanquish systemic issues like the climbing costs of ingredients, he said. And, when it comes to manpower, “restaurants can’t operate well without minimum staffing”.
What’s more, the industry can’t go from strength to strength unless a mindset shift occurs so that people “feel the hospitality industry is as promising as other industries, if you work hard to excel”, he opined.
The adage “if you cook good food, people will come” now looks like trusting the Tooth Fairy for dental insurance, in light of the complex and multi-layered issues plaguing the F&B scene. What’s left to say that hasn’t been said about rising costs, hiring issues, profit-driven landlords and diners saving their money up to splurge on Bangkok restaurants instead?
As MasterChef Singapore judge and owner of restaurant Artichoke Bjorn Shen put it: “Singapore is the only country I know where you can have a full, busy restaurant and still be losing money.”
More at https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/dining/singapore-restaurants-closures-michelin-stars-472616
But 2025 has been a bracing reality check for Singapore’s dining scene. Many talked-about closures have swept through every tier – hawker tiles to white tablecloths – with an average 307 F&B outlets shutting each month in 2025, up from 254 a month in 2024.
And it’s not just the obscure, the under-capitalised or the badly lit. In the past year, eight one-Michelin-star restaurants exited, followed by two more high-profile closures in August – Restaurant Euphoria and Alma by Juan Amador – just weeks after the 2025 star ceremony. Most recently, Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant Esora announced it will shut its doors in December after eight years in business.
Meanwhile, 2024 chalked up more than 3,000 F&B closures – the highest since 2005 – even as familiar names kept debuting and disappearing (Eggslut, Manhattan Fish Market, Burger & Lobster among the casualties; even titan Haidilao trimmed outlets).
Even clearly talented and much-lauded chefs like Euphoria’s Jason Tan can’t vanquish systemic issues like the climbing costs of ingredients, he said. And, when it comes to manpower, “restaurants can’t operate well without minimum staffing”.
What’s more, the industry can’t go from strength to strength unless a mindset shift occurs so that people “feel the hospitality industry is as promising as other industries, if you work hard to excel”, he opined.
The adage “if you cook good food, people will come” now looks like trusting the Tooth Fairy for dental insurance, in light of the complex and multi-layered issues plaguing the F&B scene. What’s left to say that hasn’t been said about rising costs, hiring issues, profit-driven landlords and diners saving their money up to splurge on Bangkok restaurants instead?
As MasterChef Singapore judge and owner of restaurant Artichoke Bjorn Shen put it: “Singapore is the only country I know where you can have a full, busy restaurant and still be losing money.”
More at https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/dining/singapore-restaurants-closures-michelin-stars-472616
