While it’s almost impossible to determine what will happen in the future, there are often some key indicators that a trend will become a trend.
While it’s almost impossible to determine what will happen in the future, there are often some key indicators that a trend will become a trend.
Here are some insights into what might happen in the F&B scene in 2025:
More casual fine-dining restaurants
In the past few years, there has been a shift from the starched white linen atmosphere engendered in traditional fine-dining restaurants to more casual affairs that still deliver high standards.
Restaurants like London’s fabled one-Michelin-starred Fallow for example epitomises this trend perfectly. Fallow is a social media darling that is perpetually packed and even has a full-blown children’s menu! It is nothing like a conventional fine-dining restaurant and yet it has a Michelin star.
Another London favourite, modern British restaurant Lyle’s also has a Michelin star and is fairly fuss-free and casual. Children are welcome and the chef even makes special cheese toasties for them!
Casual fine-dining restaurants like KL’s Pickle Dining fill a gap in the market for upscale dining that offers better value and is more casual. — PICKLE DINING/Instagram
In Malaysia, casual fine-dining is on the uptick, with restaurants like Pickle Dining filling this gap in the market for an upscale restaurant that also isn’t simultaneously stuffy or too hard on the wallet. At Pickle Dining, guests enjoy shared meals – sort of a high-end version of communal dining.
“I think that casual fine-dining ties in with the trend of people looking for value and authenticity in their meals. So it is bringing an informal dining experience with good food. The days of degustation meals are still there but for a narrowing segment of the market,” says Wong Yin-How, who helms the Tinkerman Collective, which owns and operates restaurants like Stoked and Vintry.
Wong believes that this year, people are looking for more value-for-money eats as well as compelling stories and authenticity in their meals. — Filepic
In 2025, there will potentially be a surge in casual fine-dining restaurants in Malaysia and perhaps more noticeably an uptick in families visiting these restaurants – a trend that means that the conventional demographic of diners patronising these restaurants will continue to evolve.
Currently, most fine-dining eateries don’t allow children under a certain age (normally 12). If casual fine-dining continues to grow, you can expect to see diners of all ages at these restaurants.
More star-studded international chefs in Malaysia?
The Michelin Guide reveal in Kuala Lumpur and Penang delivered some big blows and many new surprises in 2024. While the past few years seemed to shine the spotlight on modern Malaysian restaurants like Dewakan (which has retained two stars), this year the Guide bestowed Michelin stars on newbie restaurants Chim by Chef Noom as well as Molina KL.
One celebrates Thai cuisine and the other does avant-garde European fare. It is worth noting that both are helmed by international chefs. Thaninthorn ‘Noom’ Chantrawan is the Thai chef spearheading Chim while 26-year-old Belgian chef Guillaume Depoortere helms Molina.
If the Michelin Guide in Kuala Lumpur and Penang’s current compass is built on a more international landscape, we could potentially see more international chefs entering the local scene in a bid to gain those elusive stars and follow in the footsteps of Noom and Depoortere.
Since Molina KL attained a Michelin star in under a year with Belgian chef Depoortere at the helm, this gives rise to the belief that more international chefs will set up restaurants in Malaysia, also with the aim of earning Michelin stars. — MOLINA KL/Instagram
This will echo the ecosystem that Singapore and Bangkok have built and developed over the years, attracting chefs like German twins Thomas and Mathias Suhring who started Bangkok’s famed two Michelin-starred Suhring and Frenchman Julien Royer who runs the three Michelin-starred Odette in Singapore.
“I think people looking to invest and come into Malaysia would see those two examples and realise they attained Michelin stars within a year. So I think definitely those restaurants overseas that have a star or a track record will be encouraged to come here because of the low set-up costs and the fact that the Michelin Guide is here and other people have done it.
“I have heard that there is a high-end Japanese restaurant that is opening and I know for a fact that two Michelin-starred chefs from Taiwan are looking at opening in Kuala Lumpur,” says Wong.
This will potentially make the local fine-dining scene in 2025 one that attracts some of the best chefs in the world.
Hanwoo beef can be cut into up to 120 cuts, which means it has a bigger yield than conventional cows and can be cooked in multiple ways. —OLIVIA LEE
The rise of Korean Hanwoo beef
At the end of 2024, Hanwoo beef made a noticeable splash in the Kuala Lumpur dining scene, when intrepid entrepreneur Olivia Lee who runs companies like Plan New brought in the rare MiGyeong San Hanwoo beef in the country, the first time these virgin cows were seen and tasted outside of Korea.
Malaysia is one of the few countries to which halal-certified Korean Hanwoo beef can be exported, which means the potential of this premium beef is exponential.
Since Lee introduced the premium MiGyeongSan beef to the Malaysian market, there has been considerable interest and more widely disseminated information about Korean Hanwoo beef, which was previously only seen via the conduit of K-dramas.
Lee has also been instrumental in bringing in top Korean chefs like Yoon Wonsuk of Byeokje Galbi to demonstrate the various ways that Hanwoo beef can be cooked and even cut, like the diamond cut, which is a famed way of cutting the meat in Korea.
Lee has been instrumental in driving awareness about Korean Hanwoo beef and has plans to bring in more affordable cuts of Hanwoo this year. — OLIVIA LEE
Being a former chef herself, Lee also took great pains to introduce the beef to top chefs around the Klang Valley. As chefs are normally the first movers in terms of adopting change in the dining scene, the likely trickle-down effect of this is that Korean Hanwoo beef is going to be pretty big in the Klang Valley dining scene in 2025.
“For me, branding is important – I wanted to introduce the premium Hanwoo first to let Malaysians know how good it is. But we have many grades of Hanwoo beef in Korea so this year I will be introducing more cuts and more affordable options,” says Lee.
Part of the value system attached to Korean Hanwoo beef is that even though the cows are smaller, Korean chefs like Wonsuk often cut each animal into up to 120 cuts. This means it has far more versatility and use than Japanese wagyu or Australian beef and can be utilised in cooking techniques as diverse as braising, grilling, stir-frying, etc as opposed to a conventional char-grilled steak.
This gives it a bigger pull factor and more usage than conventional cuts of beef – something that Lee says makes it a more alluring value-for-money proposition.
China-style mala hotpots that are halal-certified like Supamala Hotpot will likely be even more popular in 2025. — SUPAMALA HOTPOT
The increasing popularity of China restaurants
From the 1980s through to the early 2000s, Hong Kong culinary culture and chefs were hugely influential in the Malaysian dining scene, which resulted in a proliferation of Cantonese-style restaurants and dishes.
But in the past few years, restaurants from China have slowly started creeping into the mainstream dining scene. This intensified last year with the burgeoning popularity of China-style hotpots as well as Szechuanese and Hunan cuisine, courtesy of restaurants like famed Hunan eatery Nong Geng Ji, which entered the Malaysian market last year and has already expanded from one outlet to three in 2024 alone.
Szechuan and Hunan restaurants like Nong Geng Ji have been slowly entering the market and will likely continue to gain steam this year. Pictured here is Nong Geng Ji’s steamed fish head with chopped peppers.
Concepts like mala (the tongue-numbing effect from Szechuan peppercorns) have also done really well and there is a growing market segment catered towards halal China hotpot restaurants like Supamala Hotpot, which attained halal certification in March 2024.
“Oh yes, for sure, those restaurants hit the sweet spot, they are mid-priced and they do offer fairly consistent products that are translated from a hyper-competitive environment in China.
“Also there was already a big wave of China restaurants that came into Singapore so you can see that wave is happening here now – I think it will be a very strong trend in 2025,” says Wong.
Newer restaurants looking to capitalise on an older demographic that likes to drink casually with their families are now incorporating bars into restaurants, like the new Mona Lisa Kitchen and Bar in KL. — MONA LISA KL/Instagram
Bars complementing restaurants
Over the past few years, growing numbers of young people have been eschewing alcohol or drinking very little. Meanwhile, the older generation of drinkers have aged out of drinking in bars and clubs as many have young families and no time to imbibe.
To appease this demographic and the downward spiral in terms of alcohol drinkers, many restaurants now actively have bars, like the brand-new Mona Lisa Kitchen & Bar in KL’s Chinatown area or Bamboo Hills’ Botanica + Co.
It would seem that for F&B entrepreneurs looking to capitalise on a crowd that both eats and drinks with their families – having a bar that complements a restaurant is a great way to attract new clientele. Which is why this trend will likely grow even more in 2025.
“The days of splitting nights into two parts and going to one place for dinner and another one for drinks is less of a trend now. It seems people are happy to have everything under one roof,” agrees Wong.
Value-for-money meals like Pondok Ketam’s offer of three crabs for RM50.50 will continue to be on the rise. — Filepic
Value for money
With the rising cost of living, most people who are eating out are looking for value-for-money meals – whether that’s special promotions or meals that proffer value without compromising on quality.
This makes restaurants like Petaling Jaya’s new Pondok Ketam – which offers three crabs for the price of RM50.50 – ideal places to eat for people looking for value, which means these are the restaurants that will proliferate and do well this year.
“I think the big theme in 2025 is that customers are looking for value – that is a very clear, larger trend, regardless of cuisine.
“Besides that, I think diners are also looking for authenticity and a really compelling story – both of which are growing in importance,” says Wong.
Malaysian hyperlocal snacks
According to Singaporean futurist and strategist Angelia Teo, who is also the founder of trends insight company Futura, the Malaysian snack scene is going to pick up considerably in 2025.
Now if you’re wondering exactly what snacks mean in this context, it isn’t the traditional banana chips or keropok that we all grew up with. These hyperlocal 2.0 snacks take the form of chocolate cereal and tempeh chips and are designed to appeal to modern consumers around the region.
Leading Singaporean futurist Teo predicts that Malaysia will become a leading innovator of snacks in South-East Asia this year. — ANGELIA TEO
“I feel like 2024 was the year of snacks for Malaysia. I think you had tempeh chips and buckets of chocolate cereal and all of this not just influenced Malaysians but positioned Malaysia as a snack scene for the region.
“So you saw some of these snacks going into Singapore and Thailand, and people were buying them up. So there’s a real ground-up activity where I feel like Malaysia for 2025 will be really pushing the envelope for snacks.
“I’m quite excited about that in terms of what might come out from these Malaysian entrepreneurs’ minds because so far they’ve been so creative and there’s a real cultural confidence that’s coming through from these entrepreneurs where they are formulating their own cultures with what is interesting to them at that point of time.
“So I’m very buoyant about 2025, where these companies, and even more entrepreneurs, come out with their own versions of what they think would be a snack,” says Teo.
Universities as a force for change
Last year, British outfit Polymateria introduced Lyfecycle, a range of plastic utensils, cups and plates capable of biodegrading. Where was it introduced? The Monash University Malaysia campus, which was the first adopter of these eco-friendly materials. Increasingly, universities are being viewed as ideal places to introduce new ideas and concepts.
“What you find is that at that age group, the habits and preferences have not yet formed. So it’s a perfect time to introduce new ideas to them. So actually young people are an excellent place to look for trends because they are much more open and they are on the lookout basically for new ways to do things,” says Teo.
Universities and university students are now viewed as champions of change in terms of the behaviour and thinking driving sustainable food choices. Pictured here are Monash University students with country-first fully biodegradable cups which were introduced on their campus first. — LYFECYCLE
What is slightly different is that F&B innovators, think tanks and entrepreneurs also now see students are gateways to change. Which is why the adoption of biodegradable utensils in Monash was the first phase in a push to get university students to adopt more sustainable, practical food choices that are also planet-friendly.
Currently, many local culinary schools are already experimenting with future foods like crickets and grasshoppers while local universities have introduced courses like Le Cordon Bleu’s Diploma in Plant-Based Culinary Arts programme, which is geared at diets of the future.
In 2025, it is very likely that students will be viewed as the new champions for change in terms of sustainable food choices and there will likely be more innovative ideas, campaigns and collaborations with entrepreneurs coming out of these centres for education.
