Profile | Restaurant with most Michelin stars for Singaporean food… is in Taiwan. Welcome to JL Studio
- Chef Jimmy Lim’s JL Studio in Taichung is making waves in the culinary scene for showcasing Singaporean flavours using the best produce that Taiwan has to offer
- Lim is also bringing lesser-known dishes to his table, ones that go beyond the usual hawker favourites – such as rasam vada, an Indian spiced tomato soup
Singapore has a global reputation for its hearty and affordable street food such as chicken rice, laksa (spicy soup noodles) and bak kut teh (pork rib broth).
But when Singaporean chef Jimmy Lim Tyan Yaw – whose father once ran a hawker stall – had the opportunity to open his own restaurant in Taiwan, he chose to showcase a different aspect of the Lion City’s culinary culture and create a fine-dining concept.
“At that time, there were no restaurants offering high-end Singaporean cuisine outside Singapore, so I decided to do it,” says the chef-founder of JL Studio, in the city of Taichung, which opened in 2017 and has held two Michelin stars since 2020.
His dishes feature fine Taiwanese produce cooked using the traditional techniques and flavours of Singaporean cuisine. For example, he riffs on the classic Hainanese chicken rice by substituting chicken with Taiwanese water bamboo or white asparagus.
This approach initially confused his diners.
