Degustation menus, novel recipes, and home-style legacy dishes abound, Malaysia’s most beloved culinary treasures will be receiving their flowers once more with the MICHELIN Guide Malaysia 2025. Find out which names have been awarded a new clutch of stars and accolades as part of the French dining guide’s list of recommended eats.
Before you ask, yes, the MICHELIN Guide was founded by the same people who also make tyres. In case you’re not already caught up on the history of the award, the inaugural edition of the dining guide was issued in 1900, at a time when less than 3,000 private cars dotted the roads of France. In a stroke of marketing genius (not unlike how jewellers DeBeers inextricably linked diamonds with romance with a campaign in the 1940s), the company decided to issue a pro bono dining guide, dubbed Guide Michelin, which contained a map of the nation’s tastiest restaurants, as well as other helpful information including car mechanic locations, hotels, and of course, instructions on how to change your tyres, to drum up demand for motoring and consequently, tyres.
The project’s popularity soared, having successfully tapped into the inherent human desire to explore and dine, leading to other regional editions of the guide being introduced just four years after its debut. Funnily enough, Michelin initially only offered a single star on their recommended restaurants, before the system evolved into its formal three-star rating in 1936, which continues to be used today.
For Malaysian epicureans, the MICHELIN Guide made a late entry in 2022 and has continued to remain a highly anticipated fixture of the local gastronomic scene ever since. At this point, the guide takes into account eateries from two primary food capitals – Kuala Lumpur, as well as Penang.
MICHELIN Guide Malaysia 2025: Full list of MICHELIN Star Restaurants in Malaysia
In this year’s edition, restaurants will be awarded based on the following categories:
- Michelin Star
- Michelin Green Star
- Michelin Selected
Predictably, MICHELIN Stars are a hot commodity where the MICHELIN Guide is concerned, being awarded only to restaurants that have truly perfected all verticals of the business that extend from food to service. Winners in this category include:
- Dewakan – 2 Michelin Stars
- Chim by Chef Nom – 1 Michelin Star
- Molina – 1 Michelin Star
- Au Jardin – 1 Michelin Star
- Beta – 1 Michelin Star
- DC Restaurant – 1 Michelin Star
- Auntie Gaik Lean – 1 Michelin Star
The lone MICHELIN Green Star recipient this year is Dewakan. The Green Star is a newly introduced category, which recognises a restaurant’s efforts in pioneering sustainable gastronomy. This makes Dewakan the most highly-awarded MICHELIN restaurant in the country.
On the other hand, a new fleet of MICHELIN-approved restaurants from KL and Penang have joined the fray in the Selected category, bringing the total list up to 80 from last year’s 70. These include:
- Atelier Binchotan
- Bar Kar
- Blanc
- Christoph’s
- Firewood
- Jaloux
- Lucky Hole
- Nyonya Willow
- Potager
- Terra Dining
Feature and hero image credit: Dewakan/Instagram
Tags
Written by
Benjamin Wong
Senior Editor, Fashion and Dining
Armed with an Advertising major from Lancaster University, Benjamin is a senior editor who has spent his time oscillating between the social media and digital media landscape since 2018. With a keen interest in haute fashion and gastronomy, he has written for publications such as ERROR Digital, WORLD OF BUZZ, and KL Foodie. Beyond the keyboard, you can find him arms-deep in a thrift pile.
