IN 2022, Kevin Wong opened his now-vaunted Malay archipelago-focused restaurant Seroja in Singapore after 10 years of cooking French, American, Japanese and Korean food.
“I wanted to create something where I could view Malaysia in the way that I was brought up. But I opened the restaurant without knowing how to cook Malaysian food. So I went back to what I grew up eating, which became my guiding point, backed by my professional training on techniques,” he says.
Seroja earned a Michelin star within a year of opening and was the highest new entry on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2024 when it emerged at #31 (#40 in the 2025 rankings).
For Wong, Seroja is the culmination of years of culinary pedagogy interspersed with his own cultural heritage.
Wong grew up in Klang, Selangor on a street named Jalan Seroja, surrounded by a vibrant culinary scene. He recalls being exposed to banana leaf meals when he was very young.
His grandmother – a proud Penang Peranakan – also introduced some staples in his life, including asam pedas and otak-otak.
The restaurant has an easy, uncomplicated charm and sophistication. — ABIRAMI DURAI/The Star
When he was 18, he took his first flight ever to France to attend a cater
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