Tanjong Pagar & Chinatown

Tanjong Pagar, Keong Saik, Duxton Hill and the Telok Ayer and Club Street lanes form Singapore's busiest Italian dining district. Restored shophouses here hold everything from Michelin-listed kitchens to buzzing pasta bars, and you can walk between a dozen Italian restaurants in fifteen minutes.

Solo Ristorante on Amoy Street, Buko Nero on Tanjong Pagar Road and L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele on Club Street are all in the Michelin Guide. Otto Ristorante on Maxwell Road is the area's most formal room, while Griglia cooks over open fire on Craig Road and Cenzo puts an Australian spin on Italian cooking. For pasta, try Pasta Bar on Keong Saik, Pasta Brava on Tras Street or Chicco Trattoria on Telok Ayer. Fortuna, Thirty9, Casa Latteria, Acqua e Farina, Ristorante Luka, Gotti, Trattoria Nonna Lina and ANTO's pizza-and-aperitivo bar round out a very deep list.

This is the city's after-work dining hub, so weeknights after 7pm are busy and many places take bookings online. Lunch sets are often the best value, and the lanes are easy to reach from Tanjong Pagar, Maxwell and Outram Park MRT stations.