Can travellers trust the Michelin guide? Yes. And no

October 21, 2026 — 4:00am

Chefs are usually excited when they receive their first Michelin star. This is a lifelong dream, the culmination of years of toil.

But Kyle Johns from Hentley Farm in the Barossa Valley had a different take when he collected his star last week at the launch of the Michelin restaurant guide to South Australia.

“I came to South Australia for a quiet life,” the South African-born chef lamented, in front of a packed crowd of industry and media. “But … here we are.”

Here we are indeed. Australia now has Michelin stars, and they’re all in SA. Eleven restaurants now have that famous emblem at their front door, while a further 16 were awarded “Bib Gourmand” status – effectively a step down from a star – and 50 more were included in the guide, itself a mark of quality.

The expectation from the South Australian government, which shelled out the money for Michelin’s coverage, is that a wave of tourists will now arrive keen to sample our country’s first starred restaurants. That expectation appears to be shared by Johns, who can expect anything but a quiet life over the coming months.

It seems clear from all involved that travellers to South Australia, and probably locals too, will now be checking the Michelin guide to decide where to eat.

But is that a good idea? And should travellers to any country with Michelin coverage be planning their meals around recommendations from the French tyre company?

Yes. And no.

Here’s how I see it: Michelin is an excellent resource because perhaps above all else, it’s consistent. With a few exceptions – a hawker centre in Singapore, a ramen joint in Japan – you know what you’re going to get with a Michelin-recommended restaurant, particularly if it has a star.

It will be a relatively formal style of dining, with a menu that’s often decided for you in advance, a set meal of dishes that will be of high quality, if a little fussy, and often influenced by European technique.

You tend to get more diversity and excitement from the Bib Gourmand listings, restaurants that take more chances and offer more value for money. Still, pretty much every Michelin-rated restaurant that I have visited around the world has adhered to these stylistic rules.

You could take this consistency as a recommendation, but it’s also a warning. If you choose one of these restaurants, you should know what you’re getting yourself into. It will be a long meal, it will be formal, it will be expensive. Fine, if that’s what you want.

But there’s a good chance that’s not all you want from your holiday dining experiences, which is why I would use Michelin as just one of many resources when it comes to deciding where to eat.

Check Michelin, for sure. Check the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list – currently trying to rebrand itself as “The 50” – too, though be aware you will also be getting formal food served over lengthy menus that don’t come cheap. Like the Bib Gourmand ratings, there’s more diversity in The 50 Discovery list, which includes more laidback, affordable options.

But if you’re really into food and you want a wide breadth of experiences, you need to do more research. Check other food review publications – there’s Gault&Millau in Europe, Gambero Rosso in Italy, the James Beard Foundation in the US, and so on.

Jump on Google and find local bloggers and food writers who usually have extensive lists of local recommendations, places the big publications often pass by. Have a look on social media, too. “Influencer” might be a dirty word, but there are plenty of passionate, knowledgeable content creators out there worth listening to.

But here’s the most important piece of advice if you’re chasing great food experiences while travelling: don’t over-plan, and don’t over-book. I’ve just recommended doing a whole heap of research, which is great, but sometimes the best meals are entirely spontaneous. The sort of thing you just decide on a whim, walking past a restaurant or a food stand that looks interesting and taking a chance.

Because the truth is that many of the resources above will lead you to the popular restaurants, the viral restaurants, the ones everyone is talking about and want to go to. And some of those will be truly great.

But you will never find anywhere new, anywhere that feels like just your own, and there’s so much excitement in that. That trattoria, that noodle shop, that sushi joint, that bakery.

The best bread I ever tasted in my life came from Boulangerie le Pain du Coin in Montagne, a town of about 1500 people in the countryside near Bordeaux. The bakery has 34 reviews on Google (La Maison d’Isabelle in Paris, meanwhile, has 5800). It most definitely does not appear in the Michelin guide and I can almost guarantee it doesn’t appear on anyone’s list of anything, anywhere.

The owners of this bakery really are living the quiet life, unlike our South Australian Michelin-starred chefs. And yet I called in there one day by chance and bought the most astonishingly delicious baguette that has perhaps ever existed on the face of this planet.

You have to leave space for that.

The writer travelled to Adelaide with assistance from the South Australian Tourism Commission