Today’s travellers are no longer just enjoying food at their destination.
According to Trip.com Group’s (a global travel service provider) data, food-related searches increased by 45 per cent over the past eight months of 2026. Within these searches, interest in restaurants specifically grew by 68 per cent.
“Increasingly, a single meal is shaping where they choose to go, and when,” said Trip.com’s vice-president Sunny Sun at the launch event of the online travel platform’s 2027 Fine Dining List on Sept 8 at Resorts World Sentosa.
The list spans six continents and 105 cities from 40 countries and regions, recognising 744 restaurants across three tiers – Black Diamond (60), the highest distinction, Diamond (160) and Platinum (524) – which includes three restaurants of South Asian origin.
Thevar
Malaysian-born chef Mano Thevar’s eponymous two-Michelin-starred restaurant is famed for its bold and contemporary take on Indian cuisine. It is one of the eight Diamond-tiered restaurants in Singapore featured on Trip.com’s list.
Signature dishes like Fig Chaat flaunt Chef Mano’s philosophy of elevating every ingredient through purpose and craft. The natural sweetness of fresh figs is layered with acidity, spice and texture to capture the vibrancy of chaat through a lens of precision and balance.
Located at 16 Mohamad Sultan Road, the restaurant mostly serves a fixed course menu that showcases a diverse selection of seafood, vegetables, meats and delectable sweet treats. Diners can choose between the Experience Menu or the lunch-only Executive Menu priced per guest at S$228 and S$298 respectively.
Formally trained in French cuisine, Chef Mano spent his formative years in Michelin-starred restaurants such as Guy Savoy and Waku Ghin. As a result, his creations portray a fusion of Asian flavours and European techniques evident in Thevar’s Blue Lobster & Curry Beurre Blanc dish that reimagines the classic French butter sauce.
Indian Accent
Housed in The Lodhi Hotel in New Delhi, Indian Accent is the only Platinum-tiered restaurant from India in Trip.com’s 2027 Fine Dining List. It also earned a coveted spot on Asia’s Best 50 Restaurants 2025 list, and is known for its inventive approach to traditional recipes.
Under the culinary direction of Executive Chef Shantanu Mehrotra, diners can expect unique dishes like Pulled Jackfruit Phulka (an Indian flatbread) Taco with Lime Cream and Salsa or Chicken Keema Roulade with Brown Onion Korma and Hajikame, a variety of pickled ginger.
The food and beverage selection is extensive, with vegetarian and non-vegetarian options available for both the ala carte and the chef’s tasting menus.
Ministry of Crab
Also listed in the Platinum tier is Sri Lanka’s renowned Ministry of Crab (MOC), which has an outlet in Singapore’s Dempsey Hill. However, it is the flagship restaurant in Colombo that has won praise for its crustacean-forward menu.
Born in Tokyo to a Sri Lankan father and Japanese mother, Chef Darshan Munidasa started MOC after an episode of his travel show where he demonstrated how Sri Lankan mud crabs were exported to Singapore to be made into the country’s famous Chili Crab.
As expected, the menu offers crab dishes of every form and flavour, from the Black Pepper Dashi Crab to Crab Liver Pate with sizes ranging from half a kilo to two kilos, appropriately named “Crabzilla”.
