The Dempsey Cookhouse & Bar

The man credited with the molten chocolate cake once worked in a Singapore hotel. This is the return.

The Dempsey Cookhouse is a weekend restaurant: a long brunch with the in-laws, the dog on the terrace, or a late dinner with friends who want a proper cocktail list. It is Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Singapore flagship, French with Asian accents in a former army barracks, and the dish to plan around is the salted caramel sundae. The compromise is price: it sits at the pricier end, so treat it as an occasion, not a Tuesday.

A chef's return

Vongerichten is the Alsace-born restaurateur behind more than 60 restaurants, and the man credited with accidentally inventing the molten chocolate cake in New York in 1987. Less well known is that he worked at a Singapore hotel in the 1980s and has run the Singapore Grand Prix kitchen since 2010, so when the Cookhouse opened at COMO Dempsey in 2017 as his Singapore flagship, it was something of a homecoming.

The room

The barracks were reworked by Italian designer Paola Navone of OTTO Studio, with checkerboard floors, ornate pendant lamps and an open kitchen. It is a handsome room to sit in for a couple of hours, which is the whole point of a brunch. There is pet-friendly alfresco seating outside, and two private dining rooms for occasions that need a door.

What to order

The cooking leans on citrus, herbs, spice and aromatics. The menu has featured crispy salmon sushi with chipotle mayonnaise, oven-roasted tiger prawns in yuzu kosho, and egg caviar with vodka whipped cream; menus move on, so treat old dish lists as a guide rather than a promise. Whatever you order first, save room. The salted caramel ice cream sundae, with candied peanuts, popcorn and hot fudge, is the reason to stay for dessert, and it is made for sharing, which is the only restraint it shows.

How to do it well

Go for brunch, which runs on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and ask for the terrace if the dog is coming. Weekday lunch is the lower-key way to see the room. For dinner, book rather than wander in late, because there is a last seating well before closing. Book through COMO's official channels, and allow for the walk or bus from Napier MRT; Dempsey is not a place anyone reaches by accident.

Good to know 17D Dempsey Road; Napier MRT, then a short walk or bus. Lunch on weekdays, brunch on weekends and public holidays, and dinner nightly. Book through COMO’s official channels and check the current menu before you go.

Want more Dempsey dining? Here are our favourite tables on the hill.

The Dempsey Cookhouse & Bar | 17D Dempsey Road, Singapore 249676 | Nearest MRT: Napier (then a short walk or bus)