Party of five: Consider these 8 places to indulge in some Christmas feasting
Christmas lunch, brunch, dinner… we’ve got you covered. You can even enjoy a holiday high tea from the 56th storey.
Sure, you could cook holiday dinner, but isn’t it far more satisfying to let someone else do the heavy lifting? These restaurants have sumptuous fetes for five on Christmas and New Year’s Day, or light, easy brunches and high teas over which to catch up with friends you’ve missed no thanks to our two-person-dining days.
Whatever the case, the Christmas season is now in full swing, so put on your elastic waist pants and not-so-ugly sweaters and consider these restaurants for a jolly good time – and don’t forget to keep your fingers crossed the current dining in measures hold!
HIGH TEA AT ATICO LOUNGE
What better way to catch up with your friends and family than dining 56 storeys above ground with the city spread out before you? At Atico Lounge, a festive high tea (S$68 per person) is now available until Dec 31, with festive treats like mini turkey ham and cheese croissants, smoked salmon and cream cheese tarts, minced pies and candy cane cupcakes. It’s a fine way to toast the holidays and still make it to family dinner after.
DECADENT ITALIAN SPREADS AT BASILICO
The days of Basilico’s sprawling buffets are a thing of the past now, but rustic indulgence is still the popular restaurant’s calling card. Come for its festive brunch and you’ll enjoy a table-service buffet that offers unlimited portions of piquant antipasti and holiday classics like roasted turkey breast with smoked foie gras, Emilia Romagna pear and tomino cheese stuffing, and pandoro tiramisu.
On Christmas Day, the spread is yet more decadent with traditional Italian cold cuts, fresh burrata and mozzarella, and mains likes roasted wagyu sirloin with seasonal mushrooms. Best to schedule a nap after.
SPICED UP FEASTS AT FIRANGI SUPERSTAR
For a holiday meal with judicious spice, be quick to snag a reservation at the ever popular Firangi Superstar. This achingly stylish restaurant is serving seasonal specials like Brahma Sprouts, featuring brussels sprouts, caramelised onion puree and confit bacon.
There’s also Butter Fingers, head chef Thiru Gunasakaran’s take on classic dahl makhana enriched with a heady dose of lobster stock and crowned with an airy bhathura that turns into a spectacular twist on a pot pie. The five-course menu (S$125 per head) is available on Dec 24 and 25.
WOOD-FIRED ITALIAN FARE AT GRIGLIA
Those planning to head out for a special meal on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will find warmth in the hearth of Italian restaurant Griglia.
Anchored by an open fire grill, the restaurant is serving a five-course menu (S$148) featuring hearty Italian celebratory dishes. There is Hokkaido scallop crudo with cauliflower and caviar to start, as well as zucchini flower with Iberico pork and truffle.
Naturally there’s pasta: Fresh tagliolini served with Canadian lobster and Vesuvius tomatoes or conchiglioni with smoke ricotta and truffle, the latter traditionally eaten during the colder months. For mains, there is a choice of 10-day dry-aged quail stuffed with foie gras, grass-fed wagyu striploin, or Spanish turbot fillet. Available for dinner on Dec 24, and lunch and dinner on Dec 25.
SNOW-AGED WAGYU SPECIALS AT GYU BAR
Snow may not be on the cards for most of us this Christmas, but you can instead indulge in the decadence of snow-aged delicacies such as wagyu, sake and genmaicha at The Gyu Bar. Known as yukimuro, the 200-year-old Japanese method of snow-ageing ingredients sees food aged naturally in a snow-cooled storehouse.
The stable conditions imbue wagyu with deeper umami flavours to yield dishes like a snow-aged wagyu katsu curry (S$28), yakiniku cut snow-aged wagyu sirloin (S$78), and snow-aged wagyu shabu shabu and sukiyaki (S$218 for two). Pair these with the natural sweetness and exceptional smoothness of Hakkaisan Three Years Snow-Aged Junmai Daiginjyo sake (from $45 per 180ml carafe). These festive specials are available daily until Dec 31.
ELEGANT BUFFETS AT ONE-NINETY
One-Ninety at Four Seasons Hotel Singapore always delivers on elegant semi-buffet meals. Throughout the month of December, it is serving Christmas favourites at lunch, Sunday brunch or as part of a four-course dinner.
Choose from several entrees that include flame-grilled Westholm wagyu striploin with Bearnaise sauce and hand-cut fries, pan-seared seabass, or mussels with winter veggies, Avruga caviar and beurre blanc. To bookend the meal are other delicious delights like pumpkin soup with Parmesan foam, roasted turkey with chestnut stuffing and single-origin dark chocolate souffle with Darjeeling tea ice cream. Prices start from S$48 per adult for the Festive Semi-buffet Lunch.
CHRISTMAS BRUNCH AT CASA BY REMY LEFEBVRE
When all the gifts have been opened and holiday obligations are out of the way, sit down to a Boxing Day brunch with your nearest and dearest at Casa Restaurant by Remy Lefebvre.
The lavish feast (S$258) of 11 dishes is spread over four acts, all of which are accompanied by a free flow of vintage champagne. Dishes include Crapaudine beef with toasted peanuts, perigorudine sauce and black truffles; golden eye snapper served with Japanese monkfish sauce, sofrito, crab and kampot rice; and a Canadian apple tart with pomegranate and rose sorbet. Available exclusively on Dec 26.
ZERO FOOD WASTE DINING AT SALTED & HUNG
The holidays may signal a call for luxury, but Salted & Hung takes it a step further, proving that you can have a decadent meal with minimal waste.
This Christmas, chef-owner Drew Nocente has fashioned a meal that offers indulgence while cleaving close to his philosophy of “zero food waste dining”. That essentially means that every component of each ingredient is used, so you’ll get things like king crab and caviar served on collagen chips made from turbot trimmings and kingfish served on tomato water made from buttermilk and vegetable trimmings.
The eight-course tasting dinners, available on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, go for S$208 per person, while Christmas lunch – which features the likes of house-cured honey baked ham and turbot with shellfish emulsion – costs S$148 per head. All of these festive meals end with a rum-infused classic Christmas pudding served with cream and berries.
