ODETTE
At Odette, the “action” is in the details – heavy, glass-panelled doors shield the calm, cream-, pink- and grey-toned space; to the left of the entrance, an almost-subtle oak, polyfoam, brass and paper aerial installation by local artist (and Odette’s creative director) Dawn Ng.
Winner of Restaurant of the Year at the G Restaurant Awards 2018, Odette is located at #01-04, National Gallery Singapore.
ORIGIN GRILL & BAR
Decked out in dark wood and dotted with plush leather chairs, Origin Bar has a convivial vibe that makes you relax immediately. In contrast, the adjacent Origin Grill, with its high ceiling, light wood floors, well-spaced wooden tables, and hand-stitched leather Tripolina chairs in teal, is quiet.
In the day, the dining area is bright and cheerful, making it a fine spot for entertaining guests. Origin’s express lunch menu is particularly ideal for business lunch. Take your pick from two or three courses, and choose from tantalising starters such as chicken liver and brandy house pate or octopus charred with smoked paprika, served with spiced tomato jam and eggplant puree.
Winner of Best Business Lunch (Western) at the G Restaurant Awards 2018, Origin Grill & Bar is located at Lobby Level, Tower Wing, Shangri-la Hotel Singapore.
MEZZA9
If you’re a group of four or more, opt for the newly-launched Personalised/VIP Sunday Brunch experience. For an additional fee of $90 per person, this experience offers Ruinart Blanc de Blanc. Plus, with your personal butler bringing beautifully-assembled platters of food from the nine different stations (you can let him know which ones you prefer), you’ll get to enjoy the most luxurious champagne brunch this side of town.
Winner of Best Champagne Brunch at the G Restaurant Awards 2018, Mezza9 is located at the mezzanine level of Grand Hyatt Singapore.
LI BAI
Setting the mood for an elegant Cantonese meal are deep-green jade placemats and shiny silver-capped chopsticks, neatly arranged on the tables. Hong Kong-born chef Chung Yiu Ming, who has decades of culinary experience, still helms this place after 18 solid years.
The fine food coupled with warm and friendly hospitality make Li Bai a stalwart that you don’t mind coming back to time and again. The business set lunch is a great option for those who want a satisfying and impressive lunch, yet have limited time.
Winner of Best Business Lunch at the G Restaurant Awards 2018, Li Bai is located at the lower lobby level of Sheraton Towers Singapore.
USHIDOKI WAGYU KAISEKI
Helmed by chef and kaiseki master Hirohashi Nobuaki, the classy Ushidoki Wagyu Kaiseki is housed in a shophouse on Tras Street. Shifting from seafood to beef two and a half years ago, Nobuaki shares: “(I applied) the ways I handle fish and seafood to the way I handle the beef.”
Nobuaki works with only directly-imported Ozaki beef (Ushidoki is the only restaurant in Singapore that exclusively orders one cow per month from the farm). This is Japanese wagyu from one Miyazaki prefecture farm that harvests its cattle at 32 to 36 months, giving the meat at least four months longer to mature than regular wagyu farms. “(For regular wagyu cattle), although they’ve reached their maximum size, the taste is not there yet,” he explained.
Winner of Best Dinner Experience (Asian) at the G Restaurant Awards 2018, Ushidoki Wagyu Kaiseki is located at #01-01, 57 Tras Street.
ISHI
Located on the second level of the new Intercontinental Robertson Quay, it serves Kappo cuisine, which features both cold and hot preparation using the season’s best ingredients. This place is an exercise in understated elegance from the moment we set foot in the restaurant, until our final sip of green tea before we leave the premises.
The counter seating allows one to watch the chefs meticulously carve a variety of fish. As he prepares the dishes, affable head chef Masaaki Sakashita happily chats with guests about the different ingredients. Before the exquisite meal is over, the kimono-clad waitress ferries cups of hot tea and then proceeds to pour sake into glasses, discreetly and with much finesse.
Winner of Best New Restaurant at the G Restaurant Awards 2018, Ishi is located at #02-06/07 Intercontinental Singapore Robertson Quay.
HASHIDA SUSHI SINGAPORE
What makes dining at Hashida Sushi such an exceptional experience, you may ask? Perhaps it is the gorgeous cypress wood sushi counter and bespoke Japanese furniture that set the tone for an understated yet luxurious meal. Or maybe the draw of family tradition being handed down from father to son: Chef-owner Kenjiro “Hatch” Hashida trained in Tokyo under his father, Tokio Hashida, a renowned sushi chef, for over 20 years, and they have a prized soya-based sushi sauce that is based on a family recipe that’s over 135 years old.
As with most fine sushi establishments, the menu at Hashida Sushi echoes the seasons. Fleshy Japanese crabs may grace your plate during winter, and, come spring, you may be presented with orange- fleshed sakura masu (cherry trout).
Winner of the Hallmark of Excellence at the G Restaurant Awards 2018, Hashida Sushi Singapore is located at #04-16 Mandarin Gallery.
HUA TING
After its extensive four-month refurbishment recently, the restaurant at Orchard Hotel sports a fresh, sophisticated look. The setting is accentuated by specially commissioned hand-painted silk wall coverings, wooden wall panels, and artwork such as paintings and sculptures.
Food-wise, the kitchen is in the good hands of master chef Chung Lap Fai, who has 30 years of experience in Chinese kitchens, and over a decade at Hua Ting. His team continues to roll out reliably excellent fare using the freshest produce.
Note that booking is essential at this wildly popular spot.
Winner of Best Dinner Experience (Asian) at the G Restaurant Awards 2018, Hua Ting is located at Level 2, Orchard Hotel Singapore.
GUNTHER'S
11-year-old Gunther’s recently underwent a two-month renovation and now showcases a contemporary interpretation of Art Nouveau woodwork whose dramatic curved lines resemble twining tree branches. The dining room is filled with stark linen-clad tables that are well spaced apart and ideal for business lunches or special occasions.
Even after a decade, diners continue to flock to the eponymous restaurant of Belgian chef Gunther Hubrechsen because their menus show off unadulterated flavours of the ingredients. Furthermore, wine pairings are approached with as much finesse as the food. More than 350 labels of wine, with the majority from France, have been carefully selected to pair with the chef’s creations.
Winner of Best Dining Experience (Western) at the G Restaurant Awards 2018, Gunther’s is located at #01-03, 36 Purvis Street.
NOURI
Born in Brazil and having worked at many luminous restaurants such as New York’s Per Se, Spain’s Mugaritz, and England’s The Fat Duck, including a stint heading Bacchanalia in Singapore, chef Ivan Brehm is finally cooking the food he wants to cook at Nouri, which he started last year.
Nouri features a long stone communal table where half is used by Brehm and his team to cook and plate desserts, while the other half is for diners. There are also tables along one side and a private room near the back kitchen. Brehm welcomes diners who want to move freely around and even peer over his shoulder – after all, he’s putting everything on show.
Winner of Best New Restaurant (Western) at the G Restaurant Awards 2018, Nouri is located at 72 Amoy Street.
This story was adapted from this article published by The Peak.