Eighteen Chefs at Bugis Junction represents more than just a restaurant—it embodies a powerful social enterprise mission founded by Chef Benny Se Teo in 2007 to provide employment opportunities and community reintegration support for ex-convicts and troubled youth through meaningful work in Singapore's hospitality industry. Located at #04-06 on the fourth floor, this halal-certified casual Western restaurant has overcome numerous challenges to establish over 12 locations throughout Singapore, earning prestigious recognition including the President's Challenge Social Enterprise of the Year Award in 2012 and the RAS Epicurean Star Award in 2015 for their commitment to social impact alongside culinary excellence.
The menu showcases affordable Western cuisine with distinctive local twists, featuring their famous cheese-baked rice alongside freshly prepared steaks, crispy chicken with wedges, innovative salted egg prawn pasta, and signature dishes that demonstrate creative fusion between Western cooking techniques and Asian flavors. Special offerings include the 'Be Your Own Chef' (BYOC) student meal program available Monday through Thursday all day and Friday through Sunday during lunch hours, allowing customers to customize baked rice or pasta with their choice of sauces and ingredients, complemented by free soup of the day, ice cream, and iced lemon tea, while students, NSFs, and senior citizens enjoy special discount pricing.
Operating with extended hours until 9:30 PM weekdays and 10:00 PM on weekends (last orders 30 minutes before closing), Eighteen Chefs provides both meaningful employment opportunities and accessible dining experiences that prove social responsibility and culinary quality can successfully coexist. The restaurant's commitment to fresh preparation, fast service, affordable pricing, and community impact, combined with their signature dishes and welcoming atmosphere, makes it an inspiring destination for diners seeking both satisfying meals and the opportunity to support meaningful social change through their dining choices in Singapore's vibrant food landscape.
hi, i understand that it was a busy friday afternoon, but please do not leave food out for 10mins before serving, especially when there’s a fly around. I appreciate the hardworking staff, but I do feel that food that came out of the kitchen first should be served first, instead of being left there for 10 mins while food that came later were being served immediately. Furthermore, with all the food piling up, they still prioritised seating the customers. Thank you for complying to my request to reheat the food, but please take note in case you give food poisoning to unaware customers :(
catherine ong
We ordered truffle mac and cheese and salted egg prawn pasta and it tastes super awful.. the photo is how much we had remaining .
Kelvin “CesarCanas” Koh
The fish and chips is soggier than my pillow at home.. The chicken and chicken sausage is saltier than my life.. Not recommended..dont waste your cholesterol on this.. Rather go big fish small fish.. Ask for pepper the service stuff say its there.. I ask where?? And it's clearly there is no pepper there and She stare at me.. Regret tying eighteenchef
Fei Na Ng
Hi, I understand that it was a busy Friday afternoon, but please do not leave food out for 10 minutes before serving, especially when there's a fly around. I appreciate the hardworking staff, but I do feel that food that came out of the kitchen first should be served first, instead of being left there for 10 minutes while food that came later was being served immediately. Furthermore, with all the food piling up, they still prioritized seating the customers. Thank you for complying with my request to reheat the food, but please take note, as this could lead to food poisoning for unaware customers.
Kathryn Ong
We ordered truffle mac and cheese and salted egg prawn pasta, and it tasted super awful! The photo shows how much we had remaining.
Kelvin "Kaiser" Koh
The fish and chips are soggier than my pillow at home. The chicken and chicken sausage are saltier than my life. Not recommended. Don't waste your cholesterol on this. Rather go Big Fish Small Fish. I asked for pepper, and the service staff said it was there. I asked where? And clearly, there was no pepper there, and she stared at me. I regret trying Eighteen Chefs.
Positive Reviews
#janjiHalal
I must say my dining at Eighteen Chefs @Bugis never disappoints every time. Their services are well top notch. Ordering service was friendly and fast. Great soup of the day. Katsu & strip loin cooked to customers satisfaction. Well portion chicken steak. Overall it was great dining here & truly enjoyed 😋
Elden Teo
Honestly a nice place to have an enjoyable meal, there were a few available seating when I was there. Ordering is done online via the QR code with physical menus cash paymentscan be made at the cashier while card payments can be made online, a large variety of western dishes offered here and many special drinks too. Different soup of the day served here daily. Overall food here is quite affordable and staffs here are friendly and are willing to help you with any special requests.
phyo phyo
Food & service is fantastic. But order and payment App is abit confusing for me. Bez of the we wait for food more than half n hrs.
Glenn Thum
Quite crowded on a Wednesday evening but food came 5mins after ordering. I would skip the butter rice as a it's just normal rice, complete waste of a side dish... everything else was fine.
G K
Went on a weekday..no crowd and the surroundings were nice...food was well prepared and served on time...
Darryl Phạm
I had a great lunch experience at Eighteen Chefs. The food was delicious and seasoned just right, everything tasted very well-balanced and satisfying. The restaurant has a simple yet cozy décor that makes it feel welcoming. It was quite crowded when I visited, which shows how popular the place is. Despite that, the service was smooth and the prices are very reasonable for the quality of food. Definitely worth a visit!
Jules B
Reached around 5:45pm today for dinner, a bit early, but its good that I don't have to queue; plenty of seat and the service staff ushered me to the seat and informed to order via QR code on the table and he also shared soup of the day i.e. mushroom soup. I ordered baked cheese rice with meat & soup of the day+drink. portion just nice, not too much but also not too little; the soup was creamy and the meat is tender. I would say the foods is fairly priced. I had gone to the resto during peak hour as well (Saturday noon), its pretty pack; but the food has always been tasty.
Artem Moshnin
Great western cuisine with a range of good quality foods to choose from. Everything seemed reasonably priced, and specially caters to students through their student discounts available. I got the truffle chicken cheese baked rice which was very tasty and had a great truffle taste. Very moist with the cream sauce and thick layer of cheese on top. The chicken was in big generous chunks, paired perfectly with the soft sliced mushrooms. The other cheese baked rice I got was the one you can create on your own and have student meal including soup and a drink. It was made from cream tomato sauce, salmon, and chicken sausage. Not bad, but not the best tasting combination. Would recommend the cream sauce, never goes wrong. Everything was served quite quickly and worth the money.
ris
Been a regular diner at 18chef bugis and never once disappointed with the service. Staff from kitchen to cashier were friendly and their service are fast ! As seen in photo, the serving was alot and nice presentation too ! Thumbs up !
Sean Lee
Don’t be fooled by the cost of the food and youthful crowd. It’s delicious! The coconut chicken with rice is a must try with the coconut sauce. Chill sauce has a nice tangy taste.
Muhammad Salimin
Very top notch Steak. Complements to the chef. Very seldom get the doneness to what was ordered. And the Garlic Butter...melts your tounge. Love the spicy sauce that comes with the Steak. Lovely staff and ample of seats. Just need stronger aircon IMO. But lovely place to dine with love ones. Keep it up Yall!
Seah Jia Hui
Very fast service, so fast that it feels microwave food. Very nostalgic and comfortable seats.
Janji Halim
I must say, dining at Eighteen Chefs @Bugis never disappoints. Their services are top-notch. Ordering service was friendly and fast. Great soup of the day. Katsu and strip loin were cooked to customer's satisfaction. The chicken steak was well-portioned. Overall, it was a great dining experience, and I truly enjoyed it 😋
Alden Teo
Honestly, a nice place to have an enjoyable meal. There were a few available seats when I was there. Ordering is done online via the QR code, with physical menus. Cash payments can be made at the cashier, while card payments can be made online. A large variety of Western dishes are offered here, and many special drinks too. A different soup of the day is served here daily. Overall, the food here is quite affordable, and the staff are friendly and willing to help with any special requests.
Pei Pei
Food and service are fantastic. But the order and payment app is a bit confusing for me. Because of this, we waited for food for more than half an hour.
Glenn Tham
Quite crowded on a Wednesday evening, but food came 5 minutes after ordering. I would skip the butter rice as it's just normal rice, complete waste of a side dish... everything else was fine.
Gary Koh
Went on a weekday. There was no crowd, and the surroundings were nice. The food was well-prepared and served on time.
Daryl Phua
I had a great lunch experience at Eighteen Chefs. The food was delicious and seasoned just right; everything tasted well-balanced and satisfying. The restaurant has a simple yet cozy décor that makes it feel welcoming. It was quite crowded when I visited, which shows how popular the place is. Despite that, the service was smooth and the prices are very reasonable for the quality of food. Definitely worth a visit!
Jules Beh
I arrived around 5:45 PM today for dinner, a bit early, but it's good that I didn't have to queue. There were plenty of seats, and the service staff ushered me to one, informing me to order via the QR code on the table. He also shared the soup of the day, which was mushroom soup. I ordered baked cheese rice with meat, the soup of the day, and a drink. The portion was just right – not too much, but also not too little. The soup was creamy, and the meat was tender. I would say the food is fairly priced. I've also visited the restaurant during peak hours (Saturday noon), and it's pretty packed, but the food has always been tasty.
Moh Sin Teng
Great Western cuisine with a range of good-quality dishes to choose from. Everything seemed reasonably priced, and the restaurant specifically caters to students with available student discounts. I ordered the truffle chicken cheese baked rice, which was very tasty and had a great truffle flavor. It was very moist, with a creamy sauce and a thick layer of cheese on top. The chicken was in large, generous chunks, paired perfectly with the soft, sliced mushrooms. The other cheese baked rice I tried was the one you could create on your own, and it came as a student meal including soup and a drink. It was made with creamy tomato sauce, salmon, and chicken sausage. Not bad, but not the best-tasting combination. I would recommend the cream sauce; it never goes wrong. Everything was served quite quickly and was worth the money.
Iris
Been a regular diner at 18Chef Bugis and never once been disappointed with the service. Staff from kitchen to cashier were friendly, and their service is fast! As seen in the photo, the serving was a lot, and the presentation was nice too! Thumbs up!
Shawn Lee
Don’t be fooled by the price and youthful crowd. It’s delicious! The coconut chicken with rice is a must-try, especially with the coconut sauce. Chili sauce has a nice tangy taste.
Muhammad Salim
Here's the edited review:
The steak was very top-notch. Compliments to the chef. Very seldom do I get the doneness exactly as ordered. And the garlic butter... it just melts your tongue! Love the spicy sauce that comes with the steak. Lovely staff and ample seating. Just needs stronger air conditioning, in my opinion. But a lovely place to dine with loved ones. Keep it up, y'all!
Seah Jia Wei
Very fast service, so fast that it feels like microwave food. The seats are very nostalgic and comfortable.
