First Culinary Restaurant (第一食为鲜酒楼) is a southern Chinese restaurant established in 2011 on the ground floor of ITE College Central at 2 Ang Mo Kio Drive, Ang Mo Kio. It specialises in traditional Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew and Hakka cuisine, with culinary techniques passed down from generation to generation and every dish meticulously crafted — the familiar flavours of tradition for Singapore's older Chinese community, and a warm introduction to heritage cooking for everyone else.
The space is one of the larger Chinese dining rooms in the area: 6,000 square feet seating up to 320 diners across 32 tables, plus a VIP room for small meetings and soundproofed Private and Superior VVIP rooms accommodating up to 36 guests (3 tables), complete with a big-screen TV with HDMI inputs. It is a local favourite for business dinners, birthday celebrations, get-togethers of friends and family, and functions of all kinds.
The menu spans an extensive ala-carte list and multi-course set menus, with a signature gallery featuring steamed prawns, salted egg yolk prawns, roasted chicken, BBQ platter, taro hive, golden fortune bags and shark fin soup. First Culinary also provides a wide selection of buffet catering and takes orders online.
Open Monday to Sunday, with lunch from 10.30am to 3.00pm and dinner from 5.30pm to 10.00pm. Reservations by phone at 6481 5500 or by email at enquiry@firstculinary.com.
First Culinary Restaurant, known in Chinese as 第一食为鲜酒楼, occupies the ground floor of Block A at ITE College Central, 2 Ang Mo Kio Drive. Established in 2011, it has spent more than a decade serving the Ang Mo Kio community, earning a good reputation and steady popularity along the way. The restaurant's own telling captures its spirit best: although the Chinese have made Singapore their home for many years, one never forgets the taste of home — and recreating that taste is the whole point of this place.
The kitchen specialises in southern Chinese cuisine across four traditions: Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew and Hakka. These are cuisines carried by generations, and First Culinary is explicit about its approach — traditional culinary techniques passed down from generation to generation, with each dish meticulously crafted. For older Singaporean Chinese diners, the result is the familiar flavour of tradition; for younger guests, it is an education in heritage cooking done properly.
That reputation now stretches well beyond a single meal: the restaurant is one of the go-to names for food catering in the Ang Mo Kio area, and its dining halls regularly fill for the occasions that define a community — birthdays, business dinners and reunions of old friends.
The dining room is enormous by neighbourhood standards: 6,000 square feet seating up to 320 diners across 32 tables. Photos on the restaurant's story page show full stage setups, a quiet nod to the large functions it hosts. Unsurprisingly, First Culinary has become a favourite for business dinners, birthday celebrations and get-togethers of friends and family.
For occasions that call for discretion, there are Private and Superior VVIP rooms. The Superior VVIP Room is fitted with soundproof panels for a genuinely private experience, a big-screen TV with HDMI inputs for your own devices, and space for up to 36 guests across three tables. The restaurant suggests it for birthday parties, company dinners, solemnisation events and private functions, while a separate VIP room caters to smaller business meetings.
The signature dishes lean generously towards seafood and the roasting traditions of southern China. The gallery features steamed prawns and pan-fried prawns, plump salted egg yolk prawns in their rich golden sauce, a traditional roasted chicken and a BBQ platter built for sharing. There is crispy taro hive, festive golden fortune bags (金衣福袋) and shark fin soup for banquet occasions.
Beyond the signatures, the ala-carte menu runs to nearly twenty printed pages covering the full sweep of Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew and Hakka cooking, while a dedicated set menu lays out multi-course banquet options for groups. Seasonal promotions are posted on the website.
First Culinary also runs a substantial buffet catering service, offering a wide selection for events across the area — a natural extension of its event credentials. Diners who prefer to eat at home or the office can order online through the restaurant's website.
The restaurant operates split hours: lunch from 10.30am to 3.00pm and dinner from 5.30pm to 10.00pm, Monday to Sunday. Note the afternoon break between services. Reservations can be made by phone at 6481 5500 or by email at enquiry@firstculinary.com, and are a sensible move for weekends and larger tables.
Whether the occasion is a milestone birthday with three tables of relatives, a company dinner that needs a screen and sound, or simply a craving for the tastes of an earlier Singapore, First Culinary Restaurant delivers with the scale, warmth and steadiness of a place that has done this carefully for over a decade.