It’s the season to be jolly, and nothing says joy to the world more than a decadent spread at your annual Christmas get-togethers with loved ones. Here are our top picks for everything from luxe hotel buffets to casual festive dinners.
Not in the mood to work? Take a day off and grab a friend for Capella’s festive afternoon tea ($39.90), where you’ll be treated to sweets like Christmas feuillete with parmesan and dark choc cheesecake with gingerbread crust. On Dec 24 and 25, Cassia will serve up six-course menus ($88-$148) with a Cantonese twist. Then on Christmas day, the annual Yuletide brunch ($198) returns to the hotel’s Grand Ballroom, complete with live food stations, roving music performances and hearty dishes like foie gras custard with gingerbread crouton and almond marzipan stollen.
Various dates.
Choose from five different restaurants here, including a Christmas brunch at mezza9, with a seafood spread, sashimi, sushi, roast meats and more. Buffets at StraitsKitchen offer a local twist on the holiday season, with Chinese, Malay and Indian dishes on display, while Pete’s Place is all about Italian antipasti, pasta, risotto and wood-fired pizza. Over at 10 SCOTTS, the afternoon tea and dinner buffet serve up treats like Christmas log cakes and organic roast turkeys, and Oasis Restaurant’s Christmas Eve barbecue dinner features seafood, carving stations and Christmas pudding.
Various dates.
For a little Yuletide zing to your lunch, pop by Jamie’s Italian and order the three-course set ($49.90) that includes options like wild mushroom pappardelle, smoked salmon salad with salt-roasted beets and seabass with steamed mussels in a broth. Dinner ($65.90) serves up dishes like whole roasted baby chicken with pork sausages wrapped in pancetta and white chocolate cheesecake. Plus, in the spirit of giving, the restaurant will donate part of the proceeds from kids’ meals to the Singapore Children’s Society.
Until Dec 31.
Western and Asian flavours meet at Labyrinth’s six-course menu ($88) that starts with an interpretation of rojak salad – here, it’s a blend of green mango salad, youtiao, crushed peanuts, a house-made rojak sauce, pomegranate seeds and starfruit. Next up, the double boiled soup with honey baked ham, followed by the Christmas turkey done in a roulade style, wrapped with prosciutto and served with a side of curried mashed potatoes. What’s for dessert, you ask? Scotch eggs. But these aren’t what you’d expect – they’re made with coconut panna cotta, mango purée and coconut shavings.
Until Dec 25.
A three-course set ($85) awaits at this British gastropub, where you’ll start off with snacks like sourdough bread with smoked butter and crispy corn with nutmeg. Then choose from appetisers like smoked bacon and toast or smoked salmon gravlax, and move on to mains such as turkey roast with chestnut stuffing or roast beef with hazelnuts and potatoes. We recommend ending off the meal with a serving of sticky toffee pudding and rum and raisin ice cream. Oh, and cocktails ($19) like spiced almond fizz, mince pie negroni and winter cup are available for your dose of festive booze.
Until mid-Jan.
Dig in to festive sandwiches at our fave sammie place this month – their hot butter ball ($16) with slow-cooked turkey, brown butter and truffle gravy, and cranberry fruit preserve will have you in Christmas comfort food heaven, while the porchetta ($16) sandwiches slabs of melt-in-your-mouth, slow-roasted pork belly with crispy crackle, caramelised onions, arugula and garlic sriracha mayo. If you’ve still got space after the hearty meal, get the white choc and cranberry oatmeal bar ($8) to share for dessert.
Until Dec 30.
Plaza Brasserie at PARKROYAL on Beach Road
The hotel restaurant’s buffet (from $48) gets festive with live stations carving up roast meats and turkeys with stuffing, as well as specials like honey baked ham, wok-fried tiger prawns with nonya chilli, sautéed clams in white wine and a spread of salted egg yolk and white pepper crabs.
Dec 16-Jan 1.
Regent Singapore, A Four Seasons Hotel
For Italian festive treats, head over to Basilico and stuff your face with a variety of Italian specialty cheeses and dishes like 100-day dry-aged Angus prime rib and slow-roasted porchetta stuffed with pear, lavender and wild fennel seeds. There’s also a live station featuring Alaskan king crab and foie gras rainbow ravioli. If you’re after something light, relax the day away at the afternoon tea session, where you’ll be serenaded with live piano melodies while you nibble on cakes, scones and tarts. At Manhattan, the year’s final Christmas brunch goes extravagant with plates of French toast, crab cake benedict and wagyu sirloin complemented with craft cocktails and sweet treats.
Various dates.
From now till Dec 26, pop by Xperience Restaurant for three-course set lunches ($45) that include roasted chestnut soup, beef wellington and Christmas trifle, as well as weekly surprises. Come Christmas week (from Dec 24 to 26), the restaurant cooks up a four-course set dinner ($85), where you’ll go from pumpkin and saffron soup to cote de boeuf to chocolate log cake in one night.
Various dates.
Celebrate Christmas by the river with a set menu ($95) of seasonal produce crafted into dishes like pumpkin soup, beetroot fettuccine, turkey with foie gras and bacon, and fruit cake with brandy and vanilla ice cream.
Until Dec 31.
Add a little Spanish flavour to your merrymaking meals on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at this three-course dinner ($70) that starts with pan-seared foie gras and moves on to grilled pluma Iberico pork. For dessert, sink your teeth into the traditional dark choc log cake served with caramelised hazelnut praline and vanilla ice cream. A live band performing acoustic Yuletide favourites will provide the Christmas-y vibes.
Dec 24 & 25.
Put a Chinese twist on your Christmas Day with this Clarke Quay restaurant’s X’mas-themed dim sum and champagne buffet brunch party ($128). Show up in your ‘Winter Wonderland’ best and settle into cosy couches as you savour unlimited dim sum plates and sip on champagne flutes (or wines and cocktails) while DJs spin upbeat Yuletide tunes for a festive atmosphere.
Dec 25.
On Christmas Eve, treat yourself to a fancy seven-course dinner ($250) of modern Australian dishes with an Asian touch. You’ll be indulging in dishes such as pearl oyster poached in butter with black vinegar custard, organic chicken with violet artichokes and pickled jellyfish, butter poached red sea bream with shaved squid, and grass-fed beef cooked over white charcoal.
Dec 24.
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