Wildseed Cafe and Bar
Coffee and cake in a 1930s RAF bungalow in Seletar by day, a garden bar by night, dogs welcome at the café. The easy way into the black-and-white enclave; book the half you want.
- Where: Punggol & Seletar
- Price: S$30–60
Brunch
Weekend mornings, sorted: what each place does well and whether you need to book.
Dutch Colony Coffee Co. (Frankel Avenue)
Siglap's café for a long sit: espresso flights, brunch that's solid rather than showy, and a back room under a glass skylight to claim with a book. Come before lunch for the kitchen.
- Where: Siglap & Tanjong Katong
- Price: Under S$30
Kinki Restaurant + Bar
A Japanese restobar at Customs House where the lift is wrapped in kintsugi, the rooftop is sprayed by ANTZ and a geisha in a fox mask glares at Marina Bay. The least corporate thing in Raffles Place.
- Where: Marina Bay
- Price: S$30–60
Kee's Restaurant & Bar
Singapore comfort food rewritten as brunch in a 1936 remittance house on Carpenter Street. Order the chicken curry shakshuka with coin prata first; it takes 20 to 25 minutes.
- Where: Clarke Quay
- Price: S$30–60
Common Man Coffee Roasters (Martin Road)
The Martin Road flagship that made a quiet street near Robertson Quay a brunch address in 2013. Sit at the bar early for the coffee; budget for brunch. Cashless.
- Where: River Valley
- Price: S$30–60
Plain Vanilla Tiong Bahru
Tiong Bahru's linger-friendly bakery café, with a skylight, its own grocery label and cupcakes still the headline. Hot food stops at 3.50pm, and nobody takes bookings.
- Where: Tiong Bahru
- Price: Under S$30
The Dempsey Cookhouse & Bar
Jean-Georges's Singapore flagship in a Dempsey barracks: French with Asian accents, dogs on the terrace, and a salted caramel sundae that is the real reason to stay.
- Where: Dempsey
- Price: S$60 and above
Dempsey: old army barracks, three very good lunches
Candlenut for visitors or a Peranakan-minded family, Claudine for an anniversary, Dempsey Cookhouse for a mixed group. Book the table first; the rest of the hill is optional.
- Where: Across Singapore
More restaurants collections
Restaurants worth planning around
Meals worth putting in the calendar, from Peranakan cooking to French dining and Singapore-led tasting menus. Settle the occasion first; the right table follows from it.
- 6 picks
Food centres
The answer when nobody agrees on lunch. Everyone browses, everyone orders their own, everyone meets back at one table; keep a second choice in case your stall is shut.
- 4 picks
Singapore flavours
Singapore food in three registers: a hawker meal, a heritage-led restaurant or a tasting menu. If you only do one, start at the hawker centre; the others are riffing on it.
- 5 picks
Eating in Dempsey
Dempsey is best done as one booked meal with time either side. Peranakan, French or an open kitchen, chosen for the company; don't rush the wander around it.
- 3 picks
Eating at New Bahru
New Bahru works best if you decide what you're eating before you arrive: breakfast, Sri Lankan cooking or pizza. Book the table, then wander afterwards.
- 3 picks
Tiong Bahru cafés and market
The small plan suits Tiong Bahru best: lunch at the market or a bakery stop, then a slow wander. Check which bakery branch you mean before you set off.
- 3 picks