On the 70th floor of Swissôtel The Stamford, with Singapore laid out in every direction below, Kirk Westaway has spent a decade defining what modern British cuisine can be when a Devon-raised chef is given the freedom and the altitude to do it properly. JAAN by Kirk Westaway means life. The name fits.
Where You'll Find it
The lift opens on the 70th floor and the city spreads out in every direction.
The name JAAN means life in Hindi — an inheritance from the restaurant's earlier incarnations, before Kirk Westaway arrived in 2015 and began the decade-long project of making it his own. By that measure, the name suits what's happened here better than it was chosen to. JAAN under Westaway is a restaurant that feels genuinely alive: considered, personal, continuously evolving, and built around a vision of British cuisine that most diners have never encountered in Britain itself.
The journey begins at the lift. The doors open on the 70th floor of Swissôtel The Stamford — one of the highest hotel buildings in Singapore — and through brass-framed glass doors, past a hallway lined with artworks by Australian artist Steven Cross, you arrive in a dining room where the first thing you see is Singapore. All of it. Marina Bay Sands curving at the water's edge. The Strait beyond it, container ships sitting low on the horizon. The city extending into the distance in every direction. There are twelve tables, and every one of them is positioned to let the guests see what's outside.
The room itself — 35 seats, bespoke furniture by Muebles Asia, French Pierre Frey fabrics, a central light installation fashioned from twenty-year-old hand-blown Italian Murano glass, its hawthorn-branch form a metaphor for the chef who adapts and scales — is a specific and beautiful space. But it is the view that arrives before the food and stays long after you've left the building. No restaurant in Singapore has a better one.
The Chef & His Vision
A Devonshire childhood, a Singapore kitchen, ten years of reinventing British.
Kirk Westaway grew up in Devon — in the particular landscape of England's southwest, where the sea is close and the farms are productive and the ingredients are honest without being precious. He trained under serious chefs, and by the time he arrived at JAAN in 2015, he had the technique and the formation. What he brought that was entirely his own was a question he has spent the decade since trying to answer: what does it mean to cook British cuisine, seriously, at the highest level?
The conventional answer in Singapore's fine dining world — in 2015, as now — was that serious cooking meant French cuisine, or Japanese, or some fusion between them. Westaway had a different conviction. British ingredients, British flavours, British nostalgia reassembled with contemporary precision and the perspective of someone far enough from home to see it clearly. Fish and chips reimagined as a potato pancake topped with Kristal caviar. Goose mousse on a wafer-thin cracker. A gin and tonic palate cleanser built with the same rigour as anything that precedes it. The country of his childhood, made recognisable and extraordinary at the same time.
The first is to always uphold the integrity of the produce and translate the best of each ingredient onto the plate. The second is that food should be comforting and form emotional connections.
KIRK WESTAWAY, ON HIS TWO PRINCIPLES
The restaurant received its first Michelin star in 2016. Its second came in 2021 and has been retained every year since, including 2025. The pursuit of a third star is openly discussed — Westaway has named it as his primary focus, spending five days a week in the JAAN kitchen and managing his growing empire (The Albion in Ho Chi Minh City, opened November 2024; The Crown in Jakarta, opened July 2025) from the days the Singapore restaurant is closed. He has spent a decade in one kitchen. That kind of commitment is visible in what comes out of it.
In 2025, JAAN's sommelier, Manon Bares, won the Sommelier Award at the Michelin Guide Singapore ceremony — a recognition of one of the strongest wine programs in the city. The restaurant has spent its decade building every element of the experience with the same care the kitchen applies to the food.
The Food & Philosophy
British cuisine, free form its own expectations, comfortable and extraordinary.
The tasting menu at JAAN is a single six-course journey — compact by the standards of restaurants at this level, which is a deliberate choice. Westaway is not interested in accumulation. He is interested in each course having a reason to exist, in the sequence building toward something coherent rather than comprehensive. The result is a meal that is immediately approachable — nothing alienates, nothing bewilders — but that contains genuine depth in every plate.
The British references are consistent but never kitschy. A fish and chips reimagining using the best available technique and product. A goose mousse cracker that is English country house elevated beyond recognition. A gin and tonic that functions as a palate cleanser because, properly made, it does exactly what a palate cleanser should. These are not jokes at Britain's expense. They are the evidence that British ingredients and British culinary memories are as worthy of serious treatment as any other national tradition.
The provenance runs through everything. Westaway's Devon roots mean he has spent his working life thinking about what British produce looks like at its best — the fish of the southwest, the dairy of the English countryside, the seasonal rhythms of a specific island's agriculture. In Singapore, where sourcing those ingredients requires real commitment, the kitchen works with suppliers from the UK as well as top-quality Asian producers, building menus that feel British in orientation without being trapped by geography.
What The Kitchen Returns To
Dishes that define the JAAN approach
Fish & Chips Reimagined
A potato pancake filled with cream and topped with Kristal caviar — the most iconic British dish, rebuilt with the same nostalgic flavour profile and an entirely different level of precision. The most photographed course. Possibly the most instructive about what Westaway is doing.
Onion Cracker with Crème Fraîche
An early bite that sets the tone: roasted onion flavour, the tang of crème fraîche, the crispness of the cracker. An inverted, elegant version of something humble. The restraint is the point — understanding that simplicity done well is more difficult than complexity.
Goose Mousse Cracker
Light, creamy, with a touch of acidity — a one-bite preparation that places British game cookery in a context of technical refinement. Westaway's version of something that is profoundly of the English countryside, translated for a dining room above the tropics.
Gin & Tonic Palate Cleanser
The most British possible moment in any fine-dining meal, executed with the same care as every other course. The alcohol-free version is equally considered. Both are impeccably crafted — proof that the palate cleanser is a serious culinary act, not an interval.
The Seasonal Fish Course
Fish cookery is the heart of the Westaway kitchen — sourced with the care of someone who grew up near the water, handled with a technique that achieves the particular balance of texture the best British seafood deserves. Changes with season and availability.
The Wine Pairing
Under the Michelin Award-winning sommelier Manon Bares, the pairing at JAAN is one of the strongest in Singapore — notably better, in many guests' estimation, than selecting by the glass. Six courses, six wines, each chosen to make the food more of what it is.
Before you Go
Everything practical, plainly told
- Address: Level 70, Swissôtel The Stamford, 2 Stamford Road, Singapore 178882
- Phone: +65 6837 3322
- Website: jaan.sg
- Hours: Dinner Tuesday to Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. One sitting per evening. Check jaan.sg for current schedule and any seasonal variations.
- Getting There: City Hall MRT station is directly connected to Raffles City Shopping Centre, which connects to Swissôtel The Stamford. The lift lobby for JAAN is clearly signposted within the hotel. From Changi Airport, take the MRT to City Hall — approximately 30 minutes. Taxi from the airport takes 20–25 minutes.
- Bookings: Via jaan.sg or by phone. Book as far in advance as possible — the restaurant seats 35 guests, and the best dates fill weeks to months ahead. Credit card required to confirm. Cancellation policies apply — check the website for current terms.
- Price: The tasting menu is approximately SGD 388 per person for food only (current pricing — verify at jaan.sg before booking). Wine pairing is approximately SGD 248. Non-alcoholic pairing available. Service charge and GST additional. The full experience with wine pairing runs approximately SGD 700–800 per person.
- The Table: The restaurant has 12 tables of varying configurations. A window seat is ideal for the view — worth requesting when booking, though availability depends on the configuration of guests that evening. The entire dining room has sightlines to the skyline; no position is poor.
- Dress Code: Smart casual to formal. Singapore's climate means linen and tropical fabrics are appropriate and practical. A jacket is welcome but not required. Flip-flops and shorts are not.
- Dietary Needs: Flag allergies and restrictions at the time of booking. The kitchen creates pescatarian alternatives for certain courses and accommodates most restrictions with advance notice. The pescatarian mushroom cracker, for instance, is prepared alongside the goose mousse version as a considered alternative.
Things Worth Knowing
Before you take the lift to the 70th floor
- Book dinner, not a specific dish — The menu at JAAN changes regularly. What was on the table when a review was written may not be what's on the table when you arrive. This is intentional — Westaway evolves the menu constantly. Come with openness to what the kitchen is currently focused on, rather than a list of dishes you've seen described online.
- Take the wine pairing — The pairing at JAAN has consistently received stronger praise than the by-the-glass selection. Under the award-winning sommelier, each wine is chosen to extend the experience of the food rather than simply accompany it. At approximately SGD 248, it is a significant addition — and worth it.
- Arrive early to watch the light change — The 70th-floor view is different at every hour. Arriving fifteen minutes before your reservation — the lift opens onto the floor early enough to allow this — gives you time to watch the city shift from late afternoon into evening before the meal begins. Some guests consider this transition the first course.
- This is a destination for a special occasion, not a stopover — JAAN is not the kind of restaurant you visit quickly. Allow three to four hours for the full experience. Don't book a late flight the same evening. The meal requires the pace it sets, and the view at midnight, when most of Singapore is asleep below the restaurant, is not something to rush past.
- The non-alcoholic program is genuinely considered — The non-alcoholic beverage pairing at JAAN has received consistent praise as a well-constructed alternative to wine — not merely juice or sparkling water, but a sequence of pairings designed with the same intention as the wine list. Worth requesting if you're not drinking.
- Kirk Westaway is almost certainly in the kitchen — He has publicly committed to spending five days a week at JAAN even while managing restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta. Unlike many chefs at this level, the person whose name is on the door is, with high probability, cooking your food. He also regularly comes to the dining room to meet guests — something every repeat visitor mentions.
While You're There
Singapore rewards more than a single meal
Singapore is a city-state of extraordinary efficiency and cultural density — two things that are easier to enjoy if you give yourself more than a weekend. The neighbourhood immediately around Swissôtel The Stamford is one of the most historically interesting in the city.
The Raffles Hotel
The colonial-era landmark is two minutes on foot — its Long Bar, its palm-lined courtyards, its Tiffin Room for lunch. Whatever you think of the Singapore Sling, the building itself is one of the great examples of colonial-era hospitality architecture in Asia.
National Gallery Singapore
Occupying the former Supreme Court and City Hall buildings, the National Gallery holds the world's largest public collection of Singapore and Southeast Asian art. A morning here before an evening at JAAN makes the city legible in a different way.
Marina Bay
The waterfront that you'll be looking down at from the 70th floor during dinner. Worth walking at night after the meal — the light show on the bay, the Helix Bridge, the Gardens by the Bay beyond — to see what the city looks like from ground level.
Chinatown & Telok Ayer
Fifteen minutes by taxi for a completely different Singapore — street food hawker centres, temples, shophouses from the early 20th century. The contrast between a 70th-floor tasting menu and a bowl of something excellent at a hawker stall is specifically Singaporean.
Why This Restaurant
What JAAN actually represents
A restaurant that has held two Michelin stars for five consecutive years, that has a chef who returns to the same kitchen five days a week for a decade, that has a sommelier who wins national awards, that has a view that no other dining room in Singapore can offer — this is a restaurant that has earned its reputation through consistency, not spectacle.
What Westaway has accomplished at JAAN is something specific and difficult: he has made British cuisine interesting outside Britain. He has done this not by making it exotic or ironic or contemporary in a way that hides its origins, but by treating it as a serious and worthy culinary tradition and bringing to it the rigour and intentionality that French or Japanese cuisine would receive in equivalent hands. The fish and chips on the tasting menu is not a joke. It is a demonstration that the best British ingredient, handled with the best available technique, produces something worth celebrating at the highest level.
It doesn't feel like a decade, but it does feel like an achievement.
KIRK WESTAWAY, ON TEN YEARS AT JAAN
The pursuit of a third star is ongoing. Whether it arrives or not, JAAN is already something significant: a restaurant with a point of view, a chef who believes it, and a dining room above the equator that makes British food feel like the most natural subject in the world.