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Labyrinth, like the city it represents, is defined by growth and change. Chef-owner Han Li Guang's "new expression of Singapore cuisine" sees him moving away from reinterpretations of classic local dishes like chilli crab and mee pok. Instead, this truly local restaurant has turned locavore: 80% of its menu is made from ingredients sourced from the city's farms presented in a 16-course dinner that echoes Singapore's past, present and future.

When a restaurant still draws in daily queues despite charging $12.80 for a dish people typically pay $2 for, you know it's doing something right. The nasi lemak at The Coconut Club is a faultless example of the classic Malay dish. You get a fried egg, ikan bilis, peanuts, slices of Japanese cucumber, two juicy pieces of fried chicken, sambal and unlimited servings of rice flavoured with coconut milk from a single plantation in Sabak Bernam, Malaysia.

While Malcolm Lee's rendition of Peranakan food at Candlenut breaks away from tradition, Violet Oon serves the classics done right. The recipes have not been trifled with, so you get dishes like ayam buah keluak, beef rendang and babi pong tay excatly as they should be. That's not to say she doesn't play around every now and then – the dry laksa is a killer rendition of the familiar original that you'll be licking clean.

Western dishes get a Sichuan twist at Birds of a Feather. Inspired by the laid-back teahouses of Chengdu, the restaurant tastefully makes use of lush greenery and eclectic design pieces to create a space you won't mind unwinding at from morning 'til late. Try the roasted chicken and avocado salad with Sichuan pepper, oriental bolognaise and hot and sour chazuke, a light and mildly spicy broth that's poured over a bed of Niigata rice and charcoal-grilled barramundi.

No list of the best restaurants in Singapore would be complete without our only World's 50 Best entry, Odette. The two-Michelin-star holder is really pushing Singapore's culinary landscape forwards with its Essential Cuisine philosophy.  Described as honest food with a steep respect for ingredients cultivated from his farming family in France, chef Julien Royer’s cuisine prides itself on keeping up with the provenance of its produce, which results in magnificent plates that will blow any diner away.

A mainstay on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurant's list, Burnt Ends is well worth the hype and the month-long (or sometimes longer) waiting list. There’s just something incredibly honest about a solid slab of meat coaxed over open flames. The steak topped with bone marrow and burnt onion is something you'll find on every table, but to leave without chowing down on Burnt End's legendary sanger burger would be a travesty.

To be the world's only Michelin-starred Peranakan chef is no easy feat, but through hard work, a passion for his heritage and unyielding dedication, chef Malcolm Lee managed to earn this badge of honour all before turning 35. Opt for Lee’s ‘ahmakase’ menu ($65/lunch, $88/dinner) if you're new the cuisine and unsure of where to start. But the brave should not miss buah keluak ($22) of braised local chicken – it's an acquired taste but you haven't really had Peranakan food if you don't give it a try.

Modern Australian is the name of the game at Cheek by Jowl. It offers one of the most value-for-money Michelin-starred tasting menus in town, with a five-course dinner menu priced at $98 and a seven-course going for $118. Sri Lankan chef Rishi Naleendra sneaks some of is heritage into the menu so expect to find dishes like Sri Lankan mung beans, millet and sunflower seed alongside Australian staples of barramundi and kangaroo.

With breathtaking views of the Singapore skyline, Jaan is an intimate 40-seat restaurant that takes you on a culinary journey to Britain. After three years helming the restaurant, chef Kirk Westaway has hit full stride with his latest Reinventing British menu. A series of snacks like a fish and chips tart and Britain’s national dish, chicken tikka masala served to the tune of Brit-pop and rock music to set the tone of the meal. Signature mains include the Alaskan langoustine served with courgette as well as aged roasted pigeon with blackberry, beetroot and foie gras.

Chef-owner Ivan Brehm, an alumnus of The Fat Duck and former head chef of Bacchanalia, has us hooked on 'crossroads cooking' – a term he coined that celebrates the similarities between cuisines and cultures. Cooking philosophy aside, the food at Nouri speaks volumes on its own. Expect deftly prepared dishes that use uncommon ingredients like wild rice stem and kanzuri to create flavour combinations that are all at once familiar and novel.

Esora is a treat for the senses. Chef-owner Shigeru Koizumi prepares Kappo-style cuisine with utmost precision, bringing together his experience cooking at three-Michelin-starred Nihonryori Ryugin in Tokyo and Singapore’s very own two-Michelin-starred Odette. The menu changes almost every week, following the micro-seasonality of ingredients, so you never really know what you’re going to get. The only choice you get to make is if you want the seven-course ($198), nine-course ($258) or the more premium and customisable chef’s menu ($308) and if you’d like to pair your meal with alcohol ($78/$108) or house-blended teas ($38/$48)

At Candlenut, Singaporean chef Malcolm Lee taps into his Peranakan heritage and culinary training to deliver modern renditions of Straits Chinese dishes. Many are based on family recipes, such as the "yeye" (grandfather's) curry, which is served as an appetizer of fried pastry cups (kueh pie tee shells) filled with crab meat, pickled shallots, and laksa leaves. Try the bakwan kepiting, a comforting chicken broth swimming with crab and pork balls and sliced bamboo shoots, and the buah keluak (an earthy black nut) curry with local chicken. And be sure to save room for dessert.

Folklore chef Damian D'Silva is widely regarded as a champion of heritage Peranakan and Eurasian food, and his staunchly old-school dishes such as hati babi bungkus (pig's hearts wrapped in minced pork and caul) and singgang (shredded wolf herring cooked in spices) aren't found elsewhere in Singapore. D'Silva continues to make these specialties the old-fashioned way; that is, braising stocks for bases, hand-picking wolf herring flesh off the bones, and pounding ingredients for spice mixes using a mortar and pestle.

Folklore chef Damian D'Silva is widely regarded as a champion of heritage Peranakan and Eurasian food, and his staunchly old-school dishes such as hati babi bungkus (pig's hearts wrapped in minced pork and caul) and singgang (shredded wolf herring cooked in spices) aren't found elsewhere in Singapore. D'Silva continues to make these specialties the old-fashioned way; that is, braising stocks for bases, hand-picking wolf herring flesh off the bones, and pounding ingredients for spice mixes using a mortar and pestle.

As the name Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck Restaurant suggests, the Peking duck—sliced tableside, of course—is the star of the show here, and it's widely regarded as one of the best in town. Its beautifully lacquered, paper-thin skin is served first with a saucer of sugar for dipping. Luscious slices of duck breast arrive next. The rest goes back to the kitchen to be prepared in one of several ways: fried with noodles or vegetables, or made into a rich broth. Tip: Book in advance.

At Hajah Maimunah, a glass-and-metal counter contains trays of at least 30 different dishes that straddle the flavors of Malaysia and Indonesia. Among them are spoon-tender beef rendang (beef braised in a blend of chiles, onions, lemongrass, and coconut milk), sayur lodeh (cabbage, carrots, and green beans stewed in a spicy coconut gravy), and grilled spicy chicken. Point to the dishes that interest you and the friendly women behind the counter will dish them onto a plate of rice.

Penang Seafood offers excellent, full-bodied Malaysian-style Chinese food that was made for sharing. The kitchen doesn't hold back on the pork lard, which flavors just about everything, including the ever-popular Lala Hokkien Mee (wheat noodles bathed in a thick seafood-based stock and studded with clams). Must-tries here include the hot and spicy garoupa, the baby spinach soup, and the fermented pork belly.

Despite its rather fervent-sounding name, Wild Rocket is a tranquil restaurant designed to resemble a Japanese teahouse, with blond-wood furnishings and filigreed slats. Drawing inspiration from his childhood in Singapore in the '70s and '80s, chef Wilin Low gives classic Singaporean dishes like Hokkien mee (noodles) and beef rendang a modern spin. For instance, his creative pineapple dessert recalls a time when pineapple cordials were sold by street peddlers on bicycles

Chef Sun Kim cut his teeth under Japanese chef Tetsuya Wakuda at Wakuda's eponymous restaurant in Sydney and at his Singapore outpost Waku Ghin. So it’s not surprising that his style of modern European cooking at Meta is similarly light and elegant, and inflected with pronounced Korean accents. You'll find dishes like a beef tartare that riffs on Korean beef bulgogi, a list of pricey wines by the glass, and a service style that's efficient and professional. Make sure to sit at the bar fronting the open kitchen for a chance to chat with the chefs.

Taking influences from his experience working under British chefs like Jason Atherton, Irish chef Andrew Walsh dishes out his creative brand of modern European food at Cure, the first place of his own. Walsh's heritage comes through in his signature snack: sourdough served with whisky-brined preserved cabbage and bacon butter, an ode to traditional Irish cabbage and bacon. Other standouts include foie gras mousse torched to resemble creme brûlée, a cold and garlicky almond soup drizzled over fat cubes of cured salmon, and beef tartare spiked with oysters and oyster leaves.