Milli

The best seat in the Civic District now comes with chilli crab ice cream and a boyband playlist.

Milli is the rooftop to book when you want the Padang view with food that is actually about Singapore, and it suits a group happy to share and stay late. Take an outdoor table on Level 6 and finish with the chilli crab ice cream. The compromise is that this is two venues in one building, and only one of them is a quiet night: skip the Level 5 Lounge unless you came to sing.

The top of National Gallery Singapore has always had the best seat in the Civic District. Milli opened there on 31 May 2026, in the spaces Smoke & Mirrors and Yan used to occupy. The team is the reason to take it seriously: chef LG Han of Labyrinth on the food, Vijay Mudaliar of Native on the drinks, and the Bae's Cocktail Club team, led by Sheen Jet Leong and Dharma Wang, running the place. Leong describes the idea as “nostalgia coupled with novelty”, which on the plate means Singaporean flavours in forms you won't have met before.

Han's menu is where to spend your attention. Start with the kacang putih, here rempah-spiced macadamias with muruku, then popiah tartlets, cereal corn ribs and a chicken rice paella cooked in old mother hen stock. The prata comes with an assam curry beurre blanc to drag it through, and there is king crab leg if someone else is paying. Finish with the signature chilli crab ice cream – Japanese snow crab with tomato and strawberry relish – or the Bandung kakigori, which is built to share. The lunch sets are the cheaper way in; the starting price is in the facts box.

The drinks hold their own. The Peranakan Spritz arrives with a cube of kueh salat, there is a whisky green tea, and the house cocktail, Milli, nods to the Million Dollar Cocktail by Ngiam Tong Boon, the Raffles bartender who also gave the world the Singapore Sling. That is a lot of heritage for one glass, and it is the one to order first.

Downstairs is a different animal. The Lounge plays pop, disco funk, hip hop and R&B under mirrored ceilings and disco balls, with throwbacks and 2000s boyband songs on the playlist. If you ever sang along to a boyband at a void deck, you will know what to do; if you wanted a quiet nightcap, stay upstairs.

How to do it well: book an outdoor Level 6 table for the view over the Padang, order the kacang putih first and the ice cream last, and make use of the late hours. The bar keeps going long after the rest of the Civic District has gone home, so Milli works as well after an Esplanade show as before one. The bar runs later than the kitchen, though, so check the dinner hours before you book a late table. City Hall is the nearest MRT.

Good to know Milli is on Levels 5 and 6 of National Gallery Singapore (1 St Andrew's Road, City Hall Wing); City Hall MRT is the closest. The bar runs much later than the kitchen, so check dinner hours in the box above before you book a late table.

Milli | 1 St Andrew's Road, #05-02 & #06-01, National Gallery Singapore, Singapore 178957 | Nearest MRT: City Hall