A review of ALL the Chinese Restaurants in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, from food court to fine dining- I've tried them all and the standard can vary quite a bit!

Jump to:
Planning a trip to Marina Bay Sands, Singapore but not sure where to eat?
Marina Bay Sands has many restaurants, from Japanese restaurants such as Wakuda to Chinese, casual to fine fining, and to make sure this is the best Marina Bay Sands Chinese restaurants review, I've tried them all! As my blog focuses on how to travel comfortably as a senior, I'll be including 2 Points of View: mine and a senior's point of view (basically, my 76-year old Mom's review of the restaurant!)
Whether you have a limited budget or none, there is something here for you!
Note: When I refer to Marina Bay Sands, I'll be looking specifically at Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Marina Bay Sands shopping mall.
Know Before You go
Pro Tip 1: Get the FREE Marina Bay Sands Rewards card. With the card, you'll earn points for your expenditure at MBS (not at all the shops and restaurants but at most.) The points are converted into reward dollars which you can spend almost immediately after. (I usually get mine within 3-4 hours of the purchase.) I've already eaten for free at Spago once, thanks to my friend's Rewards dollars!
In the Hotel
Blossom
Location: MBS Hotel Lobby, Lobby Tower 2, #01-05/5A
What's good: The restaurant serves good Sichuan cuisine. I enjoyed the Pickled Fish and LOVED the stir fried beef.
Stay away from: Don't order the congee as it's quite sad. Dim Sum is not their forte. (Go to Imperial Treasure, located at the mall side, if you want Cantonese cuisine.)
This is the only Chinese restaurant in Marina Bay Sands hotel, although you do get Asian options at the infinity pool, Rise, Renku, and in-room dining. (Click for the respective reviews.)
Although this is classified as a fine dining restaurant, to be honest, I don't think of it as one, as the main dining room is "open" to the hotel lobby- thus, it can be quite noisy! (There are also private rooms but you need a certain number of people/ expenditure to get one. Not worth it in my opinion.)
My review: I've dined here several times and find the food can be a bit hit or miss but the service is always very attentive (though not as refined as a western fine dining restaurant.) They sometimes close earlier than the closing hour advertised online. Generally, they're good at general Chinese dishes, but the dim sum is not great. For a full Blossom Chinese restaurant review, click here.
Senior Mom's review: The restaurant has accessible wheelchair entrance and seating, though it is a little further from the hotel lobby drop off. The service was excellent but certain dishes felt a bit pricey for the environment.
In-room Dining
Pretty good, in genereal, but the standard will vary depending on what you order. Click here for a detailed review of the MBS room service (where I've rated dishes individually.)
In the Shoppes (Mall): Mid to Fine Dining
Imperial Treasures Fine Chinese Cuisine (Cantonese)
Location: MBS Level 2 Dining (located near Waku Ghin- you need to access it via a special elevator)
4.0 of 484 Google Review (as of 22 Oct 23)
This restaurant is part of the Imperial Treasures chain- one of its outlets has a Michelin star- and serves traditional Cantonese cooking and dim sum. Although labelled as a fine dining restaurant, don't expect the dining experience to be posh and upmarket. (It's more like a casino restaurant.) It has views of the glittering casino floor at MBS as well as private dining rooms.
My Review: This is one of the better places for traditional dim sum in the Marina Bay area. (Mott 32, below, also does good dim sum but it's modern recipes.) However, we once ordered a soup that was terrible: goopy and bland! So very inconsistent standard.
Senior Mom's Point of View: I lunched at this restaurant several times and was most impressed by the very attentive service I received on every one of my visits. Most of all, I would like to give them extra stars (besides a 5 star rating) because I noticed a waitress patiently helping a lone diner who wanted to use up her “food & beverage vouchers.” The waitress painstakingly calculated the amount of take-aways that the customer needed to order to use up the balance of the voucher, after deducting the diner’s lunch bill!
The Peking duck, crispy Cheong fun with shrimp, glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf, pan fried cod were delicious. Post COVID; I tried the minced meat mixed with garlic and the double boiled fish maw soup, sautéed cod fish fillet with Chinese cabbage and a few dim sum. They are all delicious.
I did not try their signature dishes: Australian Lobster Baked with Superior Broth, Poached Empress Clam with Chinese Wine, and Braised Birds Nest with Crab Meat and Roe.
Pro Tip: If you are in Singapore for some time and plan to eat at the Imperial Treasures restaurants several times, I recommend getting their card. You have to pay $88 for it, but you get more than that back in vouchers! (It basically turns into them paying you to eat!)
Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew Cuisine
Location: MBS Mall L1-26
Nearest Car Park: Central (Orange Zone)
3.1 of 21 Google reviews (22 Oct 23)
My Review: I've dined here several times as I find it has the most inviting dining area of the restaurants on the list. (Not crowded, with good spacing from the other tables.) The first 2 times I ate here it was terrific, but the 3rd time the food was a little bland (even though I ordered the same dish), the 4th time was also not that good... So basically the standard is a bit inconsistent, though overall it is pretty good. I'm surprised by how low the reviews are but I'm guessing it's because the restaurant can be pricey. (They don't have dim sum or the cheaper small dishes which can lower the price of the meal.) Service is good.
Senior Mom's Review: In this restaurant, you can find a spread of fresh seafood, marinated meats and tempting desserts. They are famous for their steamed pomfret in Teochew style, marinated sliced octopus,crystal dumplings and home-made orh ni (yam paste.) The fish was very fresh but we had to be very careful with the numerous small bones- I think the young server was not familiar with how to cut a fish, Chinese style- so I did not enjoy my meal. The staff were very attentive.
Jumbo Signatures
Location: MBS Mall (The Shoppes) B1-01B
Nearest Car Park: South (Blue Zone)
4.5 of 283 Google reviews (as of 22 Oct 23)
Jumbo is a household name in Singapore, having years of experience in the Singapore restaurant scene. The MBS brand does modern interpretations of Singapore and Jumbo's Iconic dishes, such as a small Chili Crab serving for 1 person and a rendang tart. (I think this is a terrific way to try Singapore's national dish (chili crab) if you're alone, as you usually need a few people to eat chili crab!)
The decor here is also more upmarket than at the typical Jumbo outlet though it's not really a fine dining place, in my opinion. For a full review of Jumbo Signatures MBS, click here.
My review: In my opinion, Jumbo Signatures serves the BEST Chinese food at MBS. It's one of my favorite restaurants at Marina Bay Sands. Every time I've dined here, the food has been excellent! (Note that I've always ordered the Executive Lunch set, which is changed every few months.)
Some of the more memorable Dishes I tried:
- A century egg starter which was really, really good: creamy and flavorful. (I'm not usually the biggest fan.)
- Beef rendang tart
- Crispy Prawn
- Chili Crab and Mantou for one
- Inaniwa Udon
- Fried rice
- Chendol (weakest link)
Mott 32
Location: MBS Mall, B1 - 41/42
4.2 out of 600 Google reviews (as of 22 Oct 23)
Recommended for: swanky interiors, pretty good food. Best dim sum in Marina Bay Sands. (One of their signatures is Barbecue Iberico Pork Glazed with Yellow Mountain Honey.) For a full review of Mott 32 MBS, click here.
Do not order: the lobster mapo tofu. This was suggested by the waitress (she was not pushy- I asked for her opinion.) I found it expensive and slightly bland compared to the other dishes.
Chinese restaurant Mott 32 Singapore is the place for you if you want a trendy, buzzy restaurant serving good Chinese food with modern flavors. It also has the best interior design of the restaurants on this list.
If you're looking for a quiet dining experience, the 149-seater Mott 32 is not for you. (To be honest, if so, MBS is probably the wrong venue for you! But if you're already here and want somewhere peaceful, I would suggest trying Imperial Treasures Teochew Restaurant. (Not Imperial Treasures Cantonese, which is quite lively.))
Note: the restaurant has a Dress Code (Smart casual, strictly no slippers. Guests in pool wear, gymn or workout attire,hotel robe and/or s hotel slippers may be denied entry.)
My Review: I can see how people who like to see and be seen would like this restaurant but I personally am not a fan of the ambience. (Bit noisy and showy for me.)
However, the food and service are both pretty good. We enjoyed most of our dishes, except for the lobster Ma Po Tofu and the dessert. The Ma Po Tofu was the most expensive dish we ordered but alas did not have the most flavor. The dessert was pretty but the taste wasn't very memorable (bit dry.)
Senior Mom's Review: We had iberico char siew, roasted and crispy pork, Mala Xiao Long Bao, mushroom dumplings, black truffle siu mai, fish maw soup with cabbage and noodles. All were very good
In the Shoppes (Mall): Casual Dining/ Cheaper Options
Rasapura Masters Food Court
Recommend: Chinese soup, the fishball noodles (Lixin), Sheng Jian Bao (Dingtele),
There's a large range of stalls at the food court, from China Chinese food (Ding Te Le- Shanghainese), to Singaporean Chinese, or just soup. The standard varies quite widely but this is the cheapest food you'll get at Marina Bay Sands. I've reviewed all the stalls of the MBS food court here.
Canton Paradise
Location: L 1-02 The Shoppes, nearest carpark: North (green zone)
This Chinese restuarant offers all-day dim sum, roast meats, Hong Kong style congee, and wok- fried Cantonese dishes. Some of the seats offer partial views of the waterfront. It's the only option for cheap dim dum beside the food court and Tim Ho Wan- and the best of the 3, if you consider the entire package (food+interiors.) (I don't consider Din Tai Fung dim sum as it's Taiwanese though they do serve dumplings and the like.)
My review: the congee is a bit bland, but better than the one at Blossom. The fried dim sum is decent- hard to go wrong with fried food!- but the steamed dim sum is only so-so. The dumpling noodles are not bad.
Din Tai Fung
Location: B1 - 01 The Shoppes
Nearest carpark: South (Blue Zone)
Famous for: Xiao Long Bao dumplings
A popular Taiwanese food chain, Din Tai Fung has branches everywhere from New York to Singapore.
My review: Whilst the Hong Kong branch has a Michelin star, I find the standard really varies from location to location. (For example, the standard in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is deplorable.) The one at Marina Bay Sands is better than KL, but not so good that I'd want to return.
Haidilao Hot Pot
Location: B2-01A, The Shoppes
Nearest carpark : South (Blue Zone)
This is the only hotpot/ steamboat restaurant at Marina Bay Sands MALL- there is another in the casino.
My review: I was very impressed by my experience at Haidilao- it helped me to understand how the founder could make so much money with this chain!
The restaurant and staff are extremely customer-focused. I was welcome even though I dined there alone- they have a special section for solo diners, and also allow you to order half portions to make it possible for solo diners to try a wider variety of dishes- and greeted with a present (a small bag containing toys and snacks- I think this is only for your first visit.)
As a casual dining joint, the food is tasty but not very refined. (For example, there was a lot of foam on my hotpot soup from boiling the ingredients. In a fine dining place, this would usually be skimmed away.)
It's also quite fun- for example, if you order the special noodles, you'll be treated to a special show.
Putien
Location: MBS Mall (The Shoppes)- it's above the food court. Once you see the huge "chandelier" aka Digital Lights Canvas, go up to the top floor and you're there.
What's good: I usually have the tofu and cabbage soup here, which I very much enjoy. Heng Hwa Bee Hoon is one of my favorite Putien dishes, but I find it's not as good here as at the other outlets. The fresh soursop juice is also delicious!
Putien has its roots to the city of Putien, a city in China’s Fujian province. It is a chain restaurant whose main/ original outlet (not this one) was awarded a Michelin star for several years.
The signature dishes include the dumpling soup, Fujian Red Mushroom Seafood Lor Mee (not a fan), Fried Heng Hwa Bee Hoon, Cabbage Rice, and Mazurka Mee Sua. If you're looking for a good affordable Chinese restaurant with decent interiors (not a basement), you can consider Putien.
My Review: I've had the food at the restaurant, taken away to the hotel room, and brought home. To be honest, I find the standard here not quite as good as at the other Putien outlets. However, if you're looking for a good affordable Chinese restaurant (that is not a hotpot place), this is the best one in MBS, in my opinion. (The soup stall at the food court, Rasapura Masters, is also good.)
Senior Mom's Review: My only experience with Putien MBS was ordering take-always. I only ordered dumpling soup and spinach. I repeated this take away order several times.
Tim Ho Wan
Location: B2-02/03/04, Canal Level, The Shoppes
Famous for: the roast pork bun
A dim sum restaurant from Hong Kong that has a Michelin star awarded to its Hong Kong outlet (but not its other branches.)
My review: the food used to be just OK but it improved a lot after it re-opened. (The interiors are also much nicer.)
If it's cheap dim sum you're after, then the food court, Tim Ho Wan or Canton Paradise would be your best bet. (They're located at opposite ends of the mall- Canton Paradise has nicer interiors, as it's fileld with light, whilst Tim Ho Wan feels like it's in a dreary basement. The dim sum at the food court is the worst of the 3.)
In the Casino
Blue Pearl Seafood Restaurant
Temporarily closed.
Fatt Choi Hotpot
This Chinese restaurant is located in the casino so you can only eat there if you enter the casino. Last order is at 5 am!
Tong Dim Noodle Bar
This is Chinese Casual Dining option in the casino. (i.e. you can only eat there if you are in the casino. Local Singaporeans will have to pay a fee to enter the casino FYI.) The last order is at 1.30 a.m.
Their signature is Chinese barbecued meats, as well as Cantonese and Szechuan dishes.
Questions about the Chinese restaurants in Marina Bay Sands? Let me know in the comments!
Leave a Reply