New Year. New resolutions (the same repeats). New restaurants for 2017.
For the dining scene in Singapore, it should be a year of established brands diversifying into other concepts (some can be quite unrelated), more overseas restaurants coming down, and some attempting to get the Michelin stars. Expect more shocking results.
Food wise, health food and instagrammable items – although can be quite unrelated, should continue to flourish.
10 New & Hot Restaurants Singapore January 2017
(Click PLAY to watch highlights.)
Wheeler’s Estate
2 Park Lane, Seletar Aerospace Park Singapore 798386
(From Punggol MRT: Make your way to the bus stop at Punggol Temporary Interchange, Punggol Place. Board bus 117 and alight at Seletar Aerospace Drive, just right before The Oval.)
Tel: +65 6262 0001
Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Tues – Thurs), 11am – 10:30pm (Fri, Eve of PH), 8am – 10:30pm (Sat, Sun, PH)
Wheeler’s Yard Opens Instagrammable Restaurant At Ulu Seletar
Wheeler’s Yard, which must have been one of Singapore’s most instagrammable café, has opened Wheeler’s Estate.
It comprises of 6 components – Restaurant, Café, Bar, Events, Picnic and Cycling.
Food seems to be on the pricier side – Beef Short Rib ($59), Tequila and Lime Pork Spare Ribs ($45), Peruvian BBQ Style ($32), Surf and Turf ($45), Estate Corzetti Pasta ($20), T-Bone Steak ($90 for 500g) and Scotch Filler ($39 for 300g).
While price of food is on the higher side, I find this a comfortable, attractive place that is not overly pretentious to have a good-day’s conversation with family and friends.
Roost
Centrepoint B1-17/18/19, 176 Orchard Road Singapore 238843
Tel: +65 6909 0411
Opening Hours: 11:00am – 9:00pm Mon – Sun
Chicken Rice Specialty Shop At Orchard, The Centrepoint
The 1500 sq ft, 60-seater casual dining Roost offers popular local and Asian delights, with its main feature on Singapore’s national dish – Chicken Rice.
The special thing to note is that Roost cooks and serves chicken used the world’s first patented automated poultry cooking machine – the Singapore-made iKook.
Not sure which to pick? Get the Yin Yang Chicken Rice ($8.90) which contains a platter of both.
The Chicken Sushi ($4.90) probably needed a side serving of chilli, and Singapore White Bee Hoon ($7.90) as what my friend would term…. ”Food court standard LOR.”
Ippoh Tempura Bar by Ginza Ippoh
Block 17B Dempsey Road Singapore 249676
Tel: 1800 304 3388 (local calls only)
Opening Hours: 12.00pm – 2.30pm, 6:00pm – 9:30pm (Sun – Thurs)
12:00pm – 2:30pm, 6:00pm – 10:30pm (Fri, Sat, Eve of PH, PH)
Osaka’s Famous Tempura Restaurant
Osaka’s oldest premium tempura restaurant Ippoh has opened its first casual concept restaurant-bar at Singapore.
Located at Dempsey (next to Candlenut), Ippoh Tempura Bar is serving Osaka style tempura known to be light, crisp and delicately battered.
For lunch, set menu options are priced from $60 to $100. For dinner, the set menu options are priced from $140 to $200.
The basic $60 Lunch set will include an amuse, 8 pieces of tempura, kakiage with rice and miso soup, and a dessert. For example, green tea ice cream.
Yuki Onna
No. 3/4 Amoy Street (Far East Square) Singapore 048775
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 2:30pm, 5:30pm – 10:00pm (Mon – Fri), Closed Sat, Sun
Truffle Beef Yakiniku at Far East Square
Yuki Onna is the sister outlet to Ice Queen (now located at the basement of One Raffles Place).
Some of their signatures are the Truffle Beef Yakiniku, Cold Truffle Somen with Hotate, Pork Belly Don as well as Chirashi Don. Their Japanese inspired poke bowls are also popular with health conscious regulars.
They will soon be launching a dinner menu as well as an All Day Happy Hour Menu which will feature affordable drinks. You can also look forward to special deals like uni on toast for $2 per piece from 5pm onwards.
Pololi Singapore
51 Telok Ayer Street, Singapore 048441 (Near Telok Ayer MRT)
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 3pm (Mon – Tue), 11:30am – 6pm (Wed – Thu), 11:30am – 10pm (Fri), Closed Sat & Sun
https://www.facebook.com/pololisg/
1st Hawaiian Poke Shack From Hong Kong
Say ”Aloha” to Pololi. The pioneer poke shack to spread the love of Hawaiian poke bowl concept in Hong Kong, is now available in Singapore. (Read: 5 Best Poké Bowls In Singapore)
Their poke bowl comes in two sizes – Kama’aina ($17.99), regular size with 180g of fish and Keiki ($15.99), small size with 150g of fish.
I spotted a familiar marinade which I have tried before from Pololi in Hong Kong and dived straight for the Thai Sweet Chilli with much assurance.
Tangy blend of sweet and spicy with a hint of coriander, simply appetizing for the palate with goes well with simple, white rice.
O.BBa Jjajang
77 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088484
Opening Hours: 11.30am – 7am (Mon-Sat), 11.30am – 2am (Sun)
Probably One Of The Best JjaJangMyeon In Singapore
O.BBa Jjajang’s signature dish is the Jajangmyeon ($10 Lunch/ $12 Dinner), served with fermented black soybean paste in homemade noodles, diced pork, onions and shredded cucumber.
Slurp. Probably one of the best jjajangmyeon I had in Singapore!
While most of the JjajangMyeon in Singapore had a strong black bean taste with a grainy texture, the version here had a slight sweetness in the black bean sauce (“zhup”).
Different from the salty Chinese-styled Zha Jiang Mia, the sauce was somehow both appetising and addictive.
SBCD Korean Tofu House 북창동 순두부
7 Walich Street #B1-01,02 Tanjong Pagar Centre Singapore 078884
Tel: 6386 6441
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 10:00pm
Korean Soontofu Restaurant At Tanjong Pagar Centre
Soontofu is a type of jjigae (Korean stew), consisting of freshly curdled tofu, ingredients of meat or seafood, egg and gochujang served in a hot stone pot with white rice on the side.
The restaurant specialises in tofu stews ($18.90 – $29.90), and mains such as Pot Bulgogi ($25.90), Spicy BBQ Pork ($25.90), Spicy Grilled Chicken ($25.90), Hot Stone Bibimbap ($19.90), Spicy Octopus ($29.90) and Pork Belly Tofu Bossam ($32.90).
Dishes tried were predictable, decent fare, served in air-con comfort with more space.
Wishing for more “rustic-ness” in terms of the taste, and greater affordability in terms of pricing.
Tuk Tuk Cha
Suntec City #B1-173/174, 3 Temasek Boulevard Singapore 039593 (5-10 min walk from Promenade MRT)
Opening Hours: 8am – 10pm (Mon – Sun)
https://www.facebook.com/tuktukchasg/
Have Chinese La Mian with Thai Milk Tea
This is the first collaboration between Love Mee with their Chinese La Mian (noodles) and Tua Tuk Cha’s Thai Milk Tea and desserts.
The La Mian selection includes a total of 9 dishes priced between $5.80 and $10.80.
For the recommended dishes, they are mostly fusion of Thai and Chinese flavours – Tom Yum Seafood La Mian ($10.80), Claypot Mee Sua ($8.80) with a choice of Mala or Hot & Sour and Beef La Mian ($7.80).
Commonground
Our Tampines Hub, #01-103, 51 Tampines Ave 4, Singapore 529684 (Near Tampines MRT)
Tel: +65 6386 6917
Opening Hours: 10:00am – 10:00pm (Mon – Thurs), 10:00m – 12:00am (Fri), 8:00am – 12:00am (Sat), 8:00am – 10:00pm (Sun)
https://www.facebook.com/commongroundsingapore
Brunch Hideout In The East
“Wah, so many things?” I exclaimed while flipping through the pages with everything from pizzas, platters, meats, sandwiches to brunch food.
Born from the Commonwealth Retail Concepts group (who is also behind Swissbake, Kraftwich, PastaMania), it is no wonder that Commonground has the resources to whip up this well-curated selection at reasonably friendly prices. Retail gourmet space portopantry is next door.
My take is, Commonground is probably gunning for the family-dollars, as seen from the number of sharing-platters available.
I guess with a selection this huge and with many other favourites like Smoked Salmon and Salted Eggs Benedict ($12) and Carbonara Linguine with Soft Boiled Egg ($14) listed, one will came to expect a certain level of finesse to their food.
Tenderfresh Classic
Our Tampines Hub, #01-102, 25 Tampines Street 82, Singapore 528988 (Near Tampines MRT) Opening Hours: 10:00am – 10:00pm Daily
https://www.facebook.com/tenderfresh.sg
Fried Chicken Shop Opens Halal Family Restaurant at Our Tampines Hub
If you are looking for hearty Western classics coupled with the nostalgic taste of Tenderfresh crispy chicken, this relatively new concept at Our Tampines Hub has a huge variety waiting for you.
With surprising twists like Seafood Salted Egg Pot and Laksa Prawn Spaghetti, there is probably something for the whole family.
I was also confident that they would get their signature fried chicken right – and was fortunately proven correct.
Their Lucky Set (2 pieces of chicken, $7.50) was enhanced by the delicious sambal chilli that is available if you ask the staff for it.
Other Related Entries
10 New & Hot Restaurants Singapore December 2016
12 New & Hot Restaurants Singapore November 2016
10 New & Hot Restaurants Singapore October 2016
10 New & Hot Restaurants Singapore September 2016
10 New & Hot Restaurants Singapore July 2016
10 New & Hot Restaurants Singapore June 2016
