Eurasian classics to wagyu and uni: Where to book your Christmas dinner
From a one-for-one deal and Christmas "in the woods", to an extravagant S$550 10-course splurge, CNA Lifestyle has you covered this festive season.
Christmas Feasting (Photo: Botanico at the Garage)
You’ve made your holiday list and you checked it twice. Now all that’s left to do is find the best restaurant for all your kith and kin to enjoy a festive feast together.
Here are some recommendations where you can all sit back and enjoy the most wonderful time of the year.
FOLKLORE
For a taste of classic Eurasian Christmas treats, head over to Folklore, where chef Damian D’Silva will be dishing out a repertoire of dishes that his paternal grandfather once cooked for his family.
From Dec 14 till 31, diners can tuck into dishes rarely seen outside Eurasian homes, like white debal (a version of the fiery red curry devil), pork vindaloo, feng (a festive pig offal dry curry), and sweets like sugee cake and bolu cocu (cottony dome-shaped teacakes perfumed with grated coconut and spices like cinnamon, nutmegs and cloves).
Level 2, Destination Singapore Beach Road, 700 Beach Road.
STELLAR AT 1-ALTITUDE
For a blow-out dinner with a view, splurge on the six-course festive dinner at Stellar, perched on the 62nd floor of One Raffles Place.
At S$160++ per head, the meal boasts mains like Mayura full-blood wagyu tri-tip, slow-cooked kurobuta pork neck, and steamed turkey breast with pistachio and pancetta stuffing served communal style.
Dessert comes in the form of a winter garden on a plate, constructed with the likes of pistachio dacquoise and a snowball of vanilla viennois, yuzu mousse and grapefruit confit. Available from Dec 22 till 25.
Level 62, One Raffles Place, 1 Raffles Place
BOTANICO AT THE GARAGE
Its location in the Singapore Botanic Gardens is apt for The Garage’s “Christmas In The Woods” theme.
Inspired by the scent of burning logs in a fireplace, head chef Sujatha Asokan has created festive goodies like a crab and chestnut soup, charcoal-grilled Sanchoku wagyu rump, spiced roasted potatoes, and a warming quince Christmas pudding.
These are served as part of a six-course brunch menu (S$68++, available on Dec 23 and 25) and a seven-course dinner menu (S$88++, available from Dec 23 till 25).
ORIGIN GRILL
For a sense of proper, old-school Christmas dinners filled with truly decadent fare, book a table at the old-worldly Origin Grill.
The spread of a la carte and set menus feature an amuse bouche of chilled potato soup with eggplant and caviar, and a starter of salmon cured with beetroot and gin. Naturally, the main courses are richer yet – think 400-day-old grain-fed MS 5/6 tenderloin of William River cross-bred wagyu or Acquerello aged risotto with roasted butternut squash and sage browned butter.
Four-course (S$98++) and five-course (S$158++) set menus are available for dinner on Christmas Eve, while a three-course set menu (starting from S$60++) is available for lunch on Christmas Day.
Lobby level, Tower Wing, Shangri-La Hotel
BREAD STREET KITCHEN
Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen is serving up quintessentially British festive fare like braised turkey leg with bubble and squeak mashed potatoes, and pan-fried haggis with white onion puree and poached eggs.
The three-course festive menu (S$76++ per person) ends with a choice of dessert, including a pumpkin and pecan pie with clotted cream or sugared donuts with fig-jam and custard cream.
Bay Level, L1-81 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
BLUE JASMINE
Christmas takes on a spicy twist at Halal Thai restaurant Blue Jasmine, where a special Christmas buffet from Dec 21 to 25 will feature traditional festive favourites given an Esarn twist.
The likes of roast turkey and beef will be marinated in lots of spice and served with a house-smoked chilli sauce spiked with roasted and ground herbs and glutinous rice.
The dessert table will heave with everything from Thai chendol to nonya kueh and log cakes, which means there’s something for everyone at this Christmas shindig. All this is priced at a sensible $65++ per person.
Level 5 Park Hotel Farrer Park, 10 Farrer Park Station Road
SE7ENTH
Who doesn’t love a deal, especially throughout the holiday season? Priced at S$98++, the three-course set dinners at SE7ENTH are one-for-one with a minimum of two diners.
In other words, that’s a roundabout way of saying that the real price of the meal is S$98++ for two.
The set comprises the likes of baked pumpkin and orange soup with crab meat, roasted turkey breast with sweet potato and chestnut mash, and a dessert of almond sponge with chestnut mousse, blackcurrant cremeux, and white chocolate crunchy pearls. Available till Dec 31.
Level 7, Oakwood Premier OUE Singapore, 6 Shenton Way
WAKU GHIN
It’s a truly happy Christmas if your year-end budget will allow for a meal at the two-Michelin-starred Waku Ghin. The 10-course Christmas Tasting Menu, priced at a cool S$550++ per person, sees a smorgasbord of top-notch ingredients like kinmedai (golden eye seabream) slow-cooked and served with risotto, burdock and truffle; and seared Canadian lobsters served as part of a deeply flavourful bouillabaisse.
Of course, no meal here is complete without the restaurant’s signature marinated botan shrimp served with sea urchin and oscietra caviar. Available on Dec 24 and 25.
Level 2 Dining, L2-01 Marina Bay Sands
FOREST
Sam Leong, one of Singapore’s first celebrity chefs, whips up a fine contemporary Chinese meal that’s great for multi-generational families with differing tastes. For the holiday season, he’s created elegant offerings like crispy turkey stuffed with taro paste and stewed beef short ribs in fermented rice wine.
It is truly a family affair at Forest (which is named after Leong’s wife), as their son and junior sous chef Joe has whipped up a festive dessert he calls Christmas Cranberry Delight.
All these are served as part of a six-course festive set dinner for S$188++ per head, available from Dec 1 till 25. Children dine free with every paying adult.
Equaruis Hotel, Resorts World Sentosa, 8 Sentosa Gateway
JAMIE’S ITALIAN
Parents with young broods will appreciate the family-friendly space and food at Jamie’s Italian at VivoCity. On Christmas Day, along with activities like face painting and balloon sculpting, the restaurant will lay out a semi-buffet at lunch.
The spread will include hot and cold starters like porcini or crab arancini (fried risotto balls), side dishes, salads and desserts such as Jamie’s Epic Chocolate Brownie. Pizzas and pastas will be passed around the table, while main courses like tomahawk pork chops and Norwegian salmon are served a la carte.
The Christmas Day semi-buffet is priced at S$100++ per adult and S$50++ for children below 12 years old. For every paying adult, one child gets to dine on a Jamie’s Italian kid’s meal for free.
