Zén Singapore Review

Hidden behind an unassuming façade on Bukit Pasoh Road, Zén is housed within a restored heritage shophouse dating back to the 1920s, and it feels more like arriving at someone’s home than a restaurant — you quite literally ring the doorbell to be let in.

This is Björn Frantzén’s Singapore outpost, and like its Stockholm counterpart, the experience is built as a multi-floor journey. You move through different dining spaces throughout the menu, starting with snacks in the kitchen, then the main part of the meal in a more formal dining room, and finally the airy loft lounge upstairs for the petit fours. It designed to mirror the flow of an (incredibly fancy) dinner party.

The details

Zén opened in 2018 and was awarded its third Michelin star in 2021. It has also picked up many accolades along the way, including the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award, and consistently ranks in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, alongside being named the highest-rated restaurant in Singapore on La Liste in 2026.

At its core, Zén brings together Nordic, French and Japanese influences, with a strong emphasis on premium ingredients and very refined sauces. They serve a fixed tasting menu, with lunch priced at S$395 and dinner at S$580, excluding service and taxes. It’s open Tuesday to Saturday, with lunch from 12pm–5pm and dinner from 6:30pm–10:30pm. The full experience lasts around three to three and a half hours, depending on pacing and pairings.

To start

The opening bites in the kitchen set the tone clearly: a tartlet of crustacean with hibiscus and kohlrabi, a blini with shima aji and jalapeño, and a croustade of mango with sea buckthorn — each one precise, sharp and clean. The foie gras beignet with truffle is a wonderful, rich outlier — indulgent but not OTT. We were desperate for another.

Seafood & mains

The menu continues upstairs with the scallop crudo with salted radish and cashew milk, which is a good example of how Zén handles raw dishes — delicate, slightly sweet, and lifted with acidity. The chawanmushi, here with monkfish cheek, trout roe and saffron, was light and creamy, and anchored the meal in that Japanese framework.

Many of the dishes are constructed and served table-side, with chefs and waitstaff explaining the dish, its history and ingredients. There’s a noticeable blur between the kitchen and the floor staff — they even wear the same uniform — and it makes the whole experience feel immersive and personal.

The meal then builds in richness and complexity. The otoro with sansho pepper, Bafun Uni (sea urchin) and Amalfi lemon was rich and creamy, with a real punch from the lemon that I went absolutely mad for.

Then onto the French toast, a signature dish across the Frantzén Group restaurants. This one is unapologetically luxurious — blue mussel and caviar — rich, layered and savoury, and a clever shift in tone leading you from the seafood into the main course. The contrast in textures worked really well and we both agreed it was a standout.

The main course — BBQ guinea fowl with nduja, stuffed morel and brassica — packed a savoury punch, and the sauce was incredibly refined.

Sweet courses
The lemongrass, sesame and verbena pre-dessert was a real highlight, creamy with subtle spice from ginger and a freshness from the ice cold granita that does exactly what it’s supposed to.

The main dessert follows: a very clever, blackcurrant and candied beetroot tartlet with violet ice cream. Really interesting and unlike anything I’ve tried before.

Finally, we moved upstairs to the loft lounge area, with a gorgeous terrace, where we were served their playful interpretation of a fruit basket, with combinations like strawberry and pinecone, or muskmelon with Manzanilla.

Drinks pairings

Alongside classic wine selections — Riesling from Nahe, Sancerre, Albariño — there’s a strong presence of sake in the alcoholic pairings, including Yamada Nishiki and Hattan Nishiki bottlings, reinforcing the Japanese thread running through the menu.

What makes Zén particularly unique, however, is its non-alcoholic pairing. They have a dedicated team (affectionately known as ‘The Juice Boys’), whose sole focus is creating fermented juices for each course. It’s a brilliant concept — instead of working within the limits of existing wines, they can build pairings from scratch to either match each dish exactly or offer complementary flavours that extend it beyond the plate. Each one was complex, surprising and utterly delicious. I’ve only experienced this in one other restaurant before — Frantzén — and it impressed me there too.

The Experience

Zén sits firmly in the category of restaurants where the experience is as important as the food. The choreography is tight, and the service is polished but never stiff. We had some great conversations with both chefs and front-of-house about our travels and food, and it never felt like they were in a hurry to move us on.

Also worth noting is the playlist, which was upbeat and fun, and helped reinforce the idea that, whilst the tablecloths may indeed be white (at least before I was let loose on them), this isn’t a ‘white tablecloth’ restaurant in the traditional sense. It’s luxurious, yes, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The whole experience is carefully orchestrated by Head Chef Kelvin Ng and General Manager Rachel Ezekiel, with the kitchen and dining room working as one team and blending seamlessly. The transitions between rooms also give the experience a rhythm that keeps it engaging over several hours, and finishing upstairs with the terrace doors open (weather permitting) is a really nice touch.

Final Verdict

Zén manages to strike the perfect balance between giving you what you want, challenging you, and then giving you something you didn’t even know you wanted but can’t now stop thinking about. I can count on one hand the restaurants I’ve been to that get this balance spot on, and Zén (and Frantzén) are included in this. Throughout the menu, the chefs use acidity and fermentation cleverly to balance richness in some areas and create vibrancy in others. They take beautiful produce and create something even more beautiful on the plate. After racking my brains for some form of criticism, the only things I could come up with were: a lack of bread, and slightly too much sake for my liking.

At three Michelin stars, expectations are high and price tags are even higher, but it delivers. If you enjoy premium seafood, thoughtful flavour combinations, and having a bloody good time, Zén needs to go to the top of your list. The focus is on refinement, balance and execution at a very high level, and they make it look effortless… although I’m fairly certain it isn’t.

*I visited Zén as a guest of the restaurant. Everything here reflects my own views.*