Upscale

Upscale French restaurants sit between the bistro and the tasting room: polished brasseries, chef-led bistros and wine-focused dining rooms serving à la carte classics with strong wine lists, in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and beyond.

In Singapore, Claudine (Michelin Selected) serves home-style classics in a former chapel on Dempsey Hill, Maison Boulud (Michelin Selected) is a two-level brasserie at Marina Bay Sands and Brasserie Gavroche cooks family recipes. Hong Kong's Jean-Pierre (Michelin Selected) is a Belle Époque bistro, and LPM serves Riviera sharing plates. In Bangkok, Bisou is known for tableside beef Wellington and Brasserie Palmier has a riverside oyster bar, both Michelin Selected. Alice by Tom Aikens at The Langham, Jakarta, and Brasserie Fritz in Kuala Lumpur round out the range.

Book for dinner, especially at weekends. Some brasseries offer set or business lunches that cost less than dinner. Smart casual is usually fine. Expect a meal with wine to cost noticeably more than a neighbourhood bistro but well below tasting-menu prices.