If you are wondering what is a Michelin star, you are at the right place. A Michelin star is the world’s most respected dining award, and it’s the reason many top restaurants are fully booked months in advance. More than just incredible food, a Michelin Star represents prestige, exceptional consistency, and a level of quality that creates a powerful sense of trust and desire among diners.
In this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about the Michelin Star, from what it truly means to how restaurants are evaluated. Consider this your complete, easy-to-understand guide to the most prestigious culinary award in the world.
What Is a Michelin Star?
A Michelin Star is one of the highest honors a restaurant can receive, awarded by the Michelin Guide, a globally respected culinary authority that began with the French tire company Michelin. This recognition is given only to restaurants that meet exceptional standards in cooking, consistency, and overall dining experience.
Today, the Michelin Guide has officially arrived in Indonesia, with its spotlight focused on Bali and Jakarta. As a result, many restaurants in Bali are stepping up their game, competing to earn their first Michelin Star or proudly maintain the one they already hold.
The History Behind Michelin Stars
The story behind Michelin Stars is surprisingly unconventional, as it didn’t begin in the culinary world at all. It started with André and Édouard Michelin, founders of the Michelin tire company, who created a small travel guide for French motorists.
The guide included maps, repair shops, fuel stations, and places to eat, all with one goal in mind, to encourage people to travel more, drive farther, and eventually replace their tires more often.
As the guide grew in popularity, restaurant recommendations became its most valued feature. What began as a free booklet soon turned into a paid publication, and Michelin started highlighting standout dining spots with a star symbol.
Over time, this evolved into the now-famous one, two, and three-star system used to rank a Michelin-starred restaurant based on its level of excellence. To protect credibility and consistency, Michelin introduced anonymous inspectors who travel the world, dining quietly to ensure every star is awarded purely on quality, a standard that still defines the Michelin Guide today.
Understanding the Michelin Star Rating System
One Michelin Star
A restaurant at this level stands clearly above the crowd. The cooking is refined, ingredients are carefully chosen, and techniques are executed with confidence and consistency.
If you’re exploring a city and wondering why it’s called a Michelin Star, this is the level that shows how the guide rewards solid excellence, absolutely worth stopping by for a memorable meal.
Two Michelin Stars
Often described as “excellent cooking, worth a detour,” this category reflects a chef’s strong identity and mastery in the kitchen. Every plate shows precision, creativity, and balance, turning the meal into a standout experience.
This is where you begin to understand what is a Michelin Star chef is, someone whose food is compelling enough to make you change your travel plans just to taste it.
Three Michelin Stars
This is the highest honor a restaurant can achieve and the pinnacle of global gastronomy. The cuisine is flawless, the ingredients are exceptional, and the flavors are truly one of a kind, often delivering an emotional, once-in-a-lifetime dining experience.
Restaurants at this level help define who has the most Michelin Star recognition worldwide, as they represent destinations people are willing to fly across countries for, purely for the food.
The Michelin Star Criteria: What Inspectors Look For
Michelin inspectors always work incognito, blending in like regular guests. They don’t judge décor, tableware, or service style, the spotlight stays firmly on what matters most: the food on the plate at Michelin-starred restaurants.
Here are the five key standards Michelin uses to decide which places earn a star, and why only a limited number qualify, shaping the answer to how many restaurants have Michelin stars worldwide:
- Quality of Ingredients
Inspectors look for exceptional ingredients that are fresh, seasonal, and handled with care. Restaurants that respect peak produce and premium sourcing immediately stand out, as there’s no tolerance for shortcuts in quality. - Mastery of Technique and Flavor
This is about precision in the kitchen. From perfectly cooked proteins to well-balanced sauces, every element should work in harmony. Great technique allows flavors to shine without overpowering one another. - The Chef’s Personal Signature
Michelin values originality. Beyond technical skill, inspectors seek a clear culinary identity, food that reflects the chef’s vision, creativity, and point of view rather than simply copying tradition. - Value for the Experience
Price isn’t the issue, fairness is. Whether casual or fine dining, the experience should feel justified by what’s served. The quality, thought, and execution must match the cost. - Consistency Over Time
Perhaps the toughest requirement of all. A restaurant must deliver the same high standard every visit, no matter the day, season, or crowd size. Inspectors return multiple times to confirm that excellence isn’t a one-time performance.
Together, these strict criteria explain why earning a Michelin Star is so rare, and why only a select group of restaurants around the world ever achieve it.
The Michelin Star Criteria: What Inspectors Look For
Earning a Michelin Star is a quiet, behind-the-scenes journey that takes time, discipline, and unwavering quality. There’s no application form or submission process, restaurants are found, not nominated, continuing a tradition that traces back to where did Michelin Star come from, when excellence was meant to be discovered organically.
Here’s how the process really works:
The Michelin Inspector Process
Everything begins with an unexpected visit from a Michelin Star inspector, someone the restaurant will never recognize.
- Total Anonymity
Inspectors dine like regular guests. They book normally, eat quietly, and always pay their own bill. The kitchen never knows it’s being judged. - Highly Trained Palates
Inspectors come from strong culinary or hospitality backgrounds, often with more than a decade of experience. Their ability to compare dishes across countries and cultures is what gives the guide its global credibility. - In-Depth Evaluation
After each visit, inspectors write detailed reports assessing ingredient quality, cooking technique, the chef’s personality, value for money, and, most importantly, consistency.
The Annual Review: Stars Are Never Permanent
A Michelin Star is earned year by year, not for life.
- Multiple Return Visits
If a restaurant shows star potential, or already holds one, different inspectors will return at various times to confirm standards never slip. This process is carried out to determine the consistency of food quality. It was also the reason Gordon Ramsay lost his Michelin Stars due to the inconsistency of his dishes. - Star Sessions
All findings are discussed in closed-door meetings known as Star Sessions, where final decisions are made collectively. A restaurant can gain a star, move up, or lose it entirely. - Public Results
The outcomes are published annually in the Michelin Guide, both online and in print.
What Is a Michelin Star Chef?
There’s actually no formal job title called a “Michelin-Starred Chef.” Michelin Stars are awarded to restaurants, not to individuals. Still, in the culinary world and media, the phrase is widely used to describe the chef who leads the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant.
When a restaurant earns a Michelin Star, the spotlight naturally falls on the executive or head chef, the person behind the menu, the flavors, and the kitchen’s direction. Calling them a “Michelin-Starred Chef” is a way of honoring their vision, creativity, and the discipline required to deliver extraordinary food at the highest level, day after day.
Michelin Stars Around the World
- INDDEE – Bangkok, Thailand (Two Michelin Stars)
INDDEE is one of Bangkok’s most exciting culinary success stories, offering a refined take on modern Indian cuisine. Staying true to its name, which means “good” in Thai while nodding to its Indian roots, the restaurant challenges the idea that Indian food must be heavy or overpowering.
Here, wood-fired techniques and contemporary cooking highlight the natural character of each ingredient, creating dishes that feel elegant and balanced.
Set inside a beautifully restored heritage house in the Langsuan area, INDDEE also pairs its menu with a thoughtfully curated wine selection, making the experience feel both intimate and sophisticated.
- Toyo Eatery – Manila, Philippines (One Michelin Star)
At Toyo Eatery, Chef Jordy Navarra leads a bold reinterpretation of Filipino cuisine that feels deeply rooted yet refreshingly modern. The restaurant transforms humble local ingredients and traditional methods into fine dining with a strong sense of identity.
One of its most talked-about creations, Bahay Kubo, brings a beloved Filipino folk song to life through a salad made from 18 different vegetables. The name “Toyo,” which means soy sauce in Tagalog and can also imply playful creativity, perfectly captures the restaurant’s experimental and expressive spirit.
- Coco Dining – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (One Michelin Star)
Coco Dining represents Vietnam’s growing presence on the global fine dining stage. The restaurant presents contemporary Vietnamese cuisine built around seasonal ingredients sourced from across the country, from misty highlands to coastal regions.
Its open kitchen adds a sense of theatre, letting guests watch the chefs work with focus and precision. Each dish strikes a refined balance between tradition and modern presentation, delivering flavors that are clean, layered, and quietly complex on the palate. - Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro – Singapore (One Michelin Star)
Perched on the 35th floor of Hilton Singapore Orchard, Shisen Hanten is a celebrated name in Singapore’s fine dining scene. Founded by Chen Kenmin, often called the “Father of Szechuan cuisine” in Japan, the restaurant is now led by his grandson, Chef Chen Kentaro.
The cuisine blends bold Szechuan flavors with the precision and refinement of Japanese cooking, resulting in dishes that are deeply flavorful without being overpowering. The signature Mapo Doufu is a standout, made with aged fermented bean paste that delivers incredible depth and umami.
Paired with elegant interiors and sweeping city views, dining here feels both refined and memorable.
- Auntie Gaik Lean’s Old School Eatery – Penang, Malaysia (One Michelin Star)
Tucked away in George Town, Auntie Gaik Lean’s Old School Eatery is a heartfelt tribute to Peranakan heritage and home-style Nyonya cooking. True to its name, the restaurant stays loyal to time-honored family recipes and traditional methods, with no shortcuts taken.
The atmosphere feels warm and nostalgic, reminiscent of a 1960s family dining room rather than a formal Michelin-starred space. Every dish is made from scratch, from freshly ground spices to slow-cooked sauces, resulting in bold yet beautifully balanced flavors.
Signature plates like Nasi Ulam, Curry Kapitan, and the playful Egg Architecture helped earn its Michelin recognition.
The Impact of Earning (or Losing) a Michelin Star
- When a Restaurant Earns a Star (The Upside)
The moment a Michelin star is announced, life in the restaurant can change almost instantly. Reservation books fill up for weeks or even months as food lovers from all over the world rush to secure a table.
Revenue often rises sharply, allowing restaurants to invest more in ingredients, teams, and creativity. The kitchen also becomes a magnet for rising culinary talent, with young chefs eager to learn, sometimes even without pay, just to gain experience at a starred establishment.
With demand soaring, restaurants can also justify higher menu prices to support the intense standards required to keep the star. - When a Star Is Lost (The Downside)
On the flip side, losing a Michelin star can be emotionally and financially devastating. Customer numbers may drop as diners chase the next “starred” destination, directly impacting revenue.
For chefs, it often feels deeply personal, bringing intense pressure, disappointment, and mental strain. From a business perspective, a lost star can also shake investor confidence, making it harder to sustain the high costs of operating a fine dining restaurant.
Michelin Stars vs. Other Restaurant Rating Systems
- Michelin Star vs. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
Think of this as precision versus popularity. Michelin Stars are awarded by anonymous inspectors who focus deeply on consistency, technique, and what’s happening on the plate, nothing else.
It’s all about how perfectly a restaurant executes its craft over time. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, on the other hand, is shaped by votes from chefs, food critics, and industry insiders.
It tends to spotlight places that feel exciting, innovative, and “of-the-moment.” Restaurants that spark conversation and set trends often shine here, even if they break traditional rules.
- Michelin Star vs. Forbes Travel Guide (1–5 Stars)
Michelin is almost entirely about food quality. A tiny, no-frills eatery can earn a star if the cooking is exceptional.
Forbes Travel Guide looks at the bigger luxury picture. It evaluates service details, ambience, comfort, and hospitality, from how the phone is answered to the condition of the restrooms. It’s designed for travelers seeking a polished, full-scale luxury experience, not just a great meal.
- Michelin Star vs. Gault & Millau (1–20 Points)
Gault & Millau, especially popular in Europe, takes a more playful and experimental approach.
It often celebrates bold creativity and young, boundary-pushing chefs. Michelin, by contrast, leans toward technical mastery, refinement, and long-term consistency rather than pure experimentation.
- Michelin Stars vs. Community Ratings (TripAdvisor & Google Maps)
Michelin Stars come from trained professionals following strict, standardized criteria. Community platforms like TripAdvisor or Google Maps reflect everyday dining experiences.
They’re useful for understanding atmosphere, portion sizes, prices, and general vibes—but ratings can vary wildly depending on personal taste, expectations, or even someone’s mood that day.
Conclusion
What is a Michelin Star ultimately comes down to is one thing: a symbol of extraordinary dedication to culinary excellence, consistency, and a chef’s unique vision on the plate. More than an award, it represents trust, assurance that every detail, every flavor, and every experience has met the highest global standard.
As Bali continues to shine on the international dining map, restaurants like Seven Paintings Ubud show how immersive storytelling, refined technique, and bold creativity. This restaurant can elevate dining into something truly memorable, proving that the spirit behind Michelin-level cuisine is very much alive in Ubud.