A Truly Great Restaurant!

To stand out has never been tougher in our competitive dining scene and increasingly connected world

- Sim Ee Waun

There are lots of good restaurants around. In fact, there are lots of excellent restaurants around. But few truly stand out. Not because they are lacking, but because as diners, we are terribly spoilt for choice with the plethora of high quality restaurants within easy reach. How often have we gone out for a meal, hailed it as excellent, only to forget what we ate there a few days later? Or have trouble recalling its name a month down the road?

To truly stand out has never been tougher in this increasingly connected world. Competition at the top is no longer local, and audiences and the judgments and comparisons they make play out on a global arena. In the major capital cities of the world where the best restaurants tend to cluster, diners are incredibly informed, sophisticated and—to make things harder for restaurateurs and chefs—not easily impressed.

To distinguish themselves, restaurants have to push the envelope further than before… but that’s where things can go wrong. Remember the molecular restaurant with golden wheelchairs for seats out in Clarke Quay? In its misguided quest for excellence, it was a flash in the pan, remembered for all the wrong reasons.

In this day and age where we are addicted to lists of ‘bests’ in the world or the region and such like, the question of what truly makes a great restaurant begs to be considered. And we’re talking about establishments that are heads and shoulders above the rest. More than just good, more than excellent, but truly outstanding…and I mean out-in-orbit outstanding.

Many factors are involved and have to work together perfectly time and time again.