Chinese New Year will soon be upon us. If you are not one to slave over a hot stove trying to whip up an elaborate meal for your family, it’s never too late to make a booking at a restaurant to enjoy good food in air-conditioned comfort. From lavish and extravagant sets to comforting but no less delicious fare, here’s our list of where you can go to have a hassle-free reunion feast with your loved ones.
From 9 January 2023 to 5 February 2023, enjoy modern twists on classic Asian flavours at 15 Stamford by Alvin Leung. Choose between a four-course Chinese New Year Set Lunch Menu (S$78++) and a five-course CNY Set Dinner Menu (S$168++), with the option to elevate the meal with wine pairings at an additional S$88++ per person.
The lunch menu features dishes such as the Haddock ”Yu Sheng;” chargrilled Abalone with spiced pineapple, Spanish ham, chilli petit pois and corn shoot; Kurobuta Pork Shoulder paired with romanesco, pork fat potato, lardo crisp and topped with a pineapple glaze; as well as “Nian Gao” Mochi with desiccated coconut, palm sugar and Thai yam ice cream.
For dinner, expect dishes like the Razor Clam & Abalone presented with a tamarind gel, shallot, olive caviar, black fungus and a chilli-lime emulsion; flavourful Canadian Lobster and Quail; the Flounder served with fried baby leek, lemongrass and coconut foie gras; and refreshing Osmanthus Soup packed with water chestnut, peach gum and white fungus.
When: Jan 9 to Feb 5, 2023
Where: 15 Stamford Rd, Singapore 178906
Cost: From $78++ for the CNY Set Lunch
Call +65 6715 6871 or email 15stamford@kempinski.com for reservations or more information.
Conrad Centennial Singapore’s award-winning Cantonese fine-dining restaurant Golden Peony helmed by chef Ku Keong is so well-received, we heard it had reservations for Chinese New Year since earlier this year.
Chef Ku’s yearly roasted suckling pig gets a luxurious twist this year, stuffed with lobster and Japanese rice, and served with a rich heady lobster broth. Other specialties include the Boston Lobster Vermicelli ‘Mian Xian’ Noodle steamed with egg white in a flavourful velvety Chinese wine broth, as well as a buttery and tender tooth fish glazed with a honey sauce. Hakka yam abacus seeds ($28++, available a la carte), piled high and served with crispy carrot cake, is wok-fried with plant-based meat and dried shrimp for extra flavour.
There are also several yu sheng platters to choose from, with the highlight being the luxurious Fortune Gold Flakes Yu Sheng with ingredients like lobster, abalone, mock bak kwa and crispy whitebait. You’ll also get lots of fresh veggies like ice plants for a vibrant mixture.
When: Jan 5 to Feb 5, 2023
Where: Level 3 Conrad Centennial Hotel, 2 Temasek Blvd, Singapore 038983
Cost: From $168++ for the Prosperity Set Menu
Call 6432 7482/8 or e-mail sinci.goldenpeony@
Chinese restaurant chain Yun Nans has six Chinese New Year set menus to whet your appetite. Its popular Prosperity Hot Pot is making a welcomed return, as well as the “Bi Feng Tang” Style Pork Ribs with Truffles. But you’ll also get to feast on two new dishes — Crispy Roast Chicken marinated with five-spice powder and Sauteed Tiger Prawns with Superior Soy Sauce that are flash fried for extra crisp.
Each set comes with the chain’s signature rose pastry, a flaky traditional Yunnan dessert, and the new Prosperity Abalone Yu Sheng which has plump baby abalone and shredded white carrot arranged in the form of an adorable rabbit.
When: Jan 9 to Feb 5, 2023
For reunion dinner on the eve of CNY (Jan 21, 2023), dinner timings are as such:
4.30pm to 6pm / 6.30pm to 8pm / 8.15pm to 9.45pm
Closed on Jan 22, 2023. Operating hours remain usual on other days.
Where: Multiple outlets. Click here for outlet locations
Cost: Menus priced from $338++ for four persons to $828++ for eight persons
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Best and formerly known as the Original Sembawang White Beehoon, White Restaurant has three CNY menus to tantalise your taste buds — the Joyous, Prosperity and Fortune Sets. These are further customised to suit groups of four, six and eight and 10, so there’s a set for everyone.
Of course, its signature white bee hoon is on every menu, alongside tasty accompaniments like braised crab meat and fish maw thick soup, platters of meat and seafood rolls, braised pork with Shajing oyster and mushrooms, deep-fried marble goby, and roasted duck with angelica herbs.
Each set comes with an abalone yu sheng platter. For each booking of six, eight, or 10 pax set menus on Chinese New Year’s Eve (for the first, second, and last seating), you’ll get a complimentary Celebration Gift Set worth $51.20 featuring abalones in unique flavours like White Truffle, Sichuan Mala, Sichuan Green Pepper Mala, and Braised Dried Scallop, while stocks last.
When: From Jan 6 to Feb 5, 2023
Where: White Restaurant is at multiple locations
Cost: From $198++ for the four-pax Joyous Set (Pre-orders have to be made three days in advance)
Visit its website for reservations or more information.
Enjoy your reunion dinner with the live streaming of CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala, one of the world’s most-watched television show while you enjoy celebratory dishes at the hotel’s resplendent Tower Ballroom on Jan 21 and 22, 2023.
From 6.30pm, savour an eight-course menu with delicacies including Fortune Yu Sheng with Norwegian Smoked Salmon, Braised Bird’s Nest, Braised Whole Abalone, Wok-fried Prawns with X.O. Sauce, Steamed Cod Fish Fillet, Salted Baked Chicken Fillet, Fragrant Glutinous Rice and Chilled Pumpkin Sago Cream with Aloe Vera, priced at $168++ per guest, inclusive of unlimited soft drinks and Chinese tea.
When: Jan 21 and 22, 2023
Where: Tower Ballroom, Shangri-La Singapore, 22 Orange Grove Road, Singapore 258350
Cost: $168++ per person
E-mail dining.sls@shangri-la.com or call 65 6213 4398 for reservations or more information.
Take your celebratory dinner to the elegant interiors of Chinese restaurant 5 on 25, which affords stupendous views of the cityscape. Head chef Lim Hong Lih puts out a menu of stellar items, like the lightly battered Deep-fried Lobster with apple chunks that’s glazed with honey sauce ($58++), and succulent Dang Gui Crispy Roasted Duck ($45++ for half, $90++ for whole) bathed in a flavourful herbaceous sauce (order rice to go with this one).
The Braised Hokkaido Scallops with Ee-Fu Noodles and Truffle Sauce ($38++) shines too, with silky truffle-infused noodles boasting smokey wok hei, and plump scallops.
Toss to great health and wealth with its Prosperity Yu Sheng which has an array of auspicious toppings, including the luxurious abalone (from $98++), Norwegian salmon (from $90++), Australian lobster (market price) and the newly introduced bird’s nest ($118++).
There are four set menus available.
When: Jan 9, 2023 to Feb 5, 2023
Where: 5 on 25, 5 Fraser St, Level 25 Andaz, Singapore 189354
Cost: From $98++ to $268++ per person for set menus
Visit its website for reservations or more information.
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For a festive feast that nods to Singapore’s heritage, celebrity chef Damian D’Silva’s Rempapa is where to make your reservation. For this year’s celebratory menus, he’s handed the reins to his team of young culinary talents.
From head chef Alan Chan, there’s Steamed Red Grouper with Silk Steamed Egg (seasonal price) as well as Braised Pork Knuckle with Fa Choi & Dried Oysters ($68++), a Hokkien classic inspired by his grandmother. Sous chef Chit Pang turns out a Homemade Golden Tofu ($26++) that’s wok-fried with lily bulbs, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and prawns in a savoury sauce. And from chef Chee Seng, there’s Dang Gui Prime Ribs ($22++), a flavourful stack of juicy ribs glazed with angelica root sauce.
For your lo hei, there’s Hu Say ($18++), the Teochew name for yu sheng, which is an auspicious dish inspired by the recipe from chef D’Silva’s Peranakan grandmother.
When: Jan 9 to Feb 5, 2023 (available only during dinner)
Where: 2 Paya Lebar Rd, #01-01/02/03 Park Place Residences at PLQ, Singapore 409053
Click here for reservations or visit e-mail papa@rempapa.sg for more information.
Best known for traditional Cantonese dining with an inventive touch by executive chef Ricky Leung, Hai Tien Lo has a series of eight festive menus that shine the spotlight on Chicken Wings stuffed with Bird’s Nest, Fresh Crab Meat, Dried Scallops and Truffle as well as Double-boiled Fish Maw with Bamboo Pith and Dried Scallops in Fish Bone Broth and more. Its luxurious Superior Treasure Pot pen cai (from $598++, serves up to six) has a total of 15 ingredients, from eight-head whole abalone to lobster, dried oysters, succulent pork knuckle, scallops, roast duck, and Yunnan golden ear mushroom in a rich broth.
There are also tempting a la carte plates like Double-boiled Sakura Chicken with Whole Abalone, Fish Maw and Dried Scallops served in Young Coconut ($88 per person), and Barbecued Crispy Whole Suckling Pig ($440 whole, $220 half).
When: Jan 6 to Feb 5, 2023
Where: Pan Pacific Singapore, 7 Raffles Blvd, Singapore 039595
Cost: From $138++ per person for a minimum of two persons
Visit its website, call 6826 8240, email specialevents.ppsin@panpacific.co for reservations or more information.
You can’t go wrong with a feast curated by the award-winning Min Jiang Restaurant situated at the elegant Goodwood Park Hotel. Its line-up for the festive season sees tempting delights like the new Braised Spring Chicken with Iberico Pork Rolls & Abalone in Pot ($338++ for six persons) cooked with deep-fried goose web, spring chicken, Ibérico pork belly rolls, Chinese ‘Jinhua’ ham, and more.
There are six-course and eight-course celebratory menus, and the specially created Eight Prosperity Reunion Dinner Menu is available for dine-in at the Windsor Ballroom. Feast on dishes like the restaurant’s signature Roasted Silver Hill Irish Duck and Braised 6-Head Abalone with Sea Cucumber in Seasonal Greens.
And for the quintessential lo hei, you can go for its traditional yu sheng platters (from $88++ for small) or the less-conventional Trio of Prosperity Blessings ‘Lo Hei’ with lobster, salmon and abalone with fresh vegetables like affilla cress, arugula and edible flowers, as well as deep-fried yam strips.
When: Jan 7 to Feb 15, 2022 for set menus. Jan 31, 2022 for two seatings, 6pm and 8.15pm, for the Eight Prosperity Reunion Dinner Menu
Where: Min Jiang Restaurant at Goodwood Park Hotel, 22 Scotts Rd, Singapore 228221
Cost: From $148++ for the six-course Prosperity Harvest Menu. From $168++ per person for the Eight Prosperity Reunion Dinner Menu
Visit its website for reservations or more information.
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Global hospitality group Hilton has just opened its second Conrad Hotel & Resorts property here in Singapore, Conrad Singapore Orchard, with an exciting variety of new dining options on offer in their restaurants. Just in time for the Lunar New Year, one-Michelin starred Summer Palace has unveiled new menus featuring Cantonese delights and favourites like the Barbecued Suckling Pig and Steamed East Star Garoupa in Soya Sauce.
Choose from one of eight different Chinese New Year set menus for a family meal sometime between 11 January and 5 February. If you’re not feeling like going out for your family dinner, bring the goodies home with festive takeaways like Cantonese-style roasts and traditional pastries ranging from turnip cake to pineapple tarts on offer from 3 to 21 January.
When: Jan 11 to Feb 5, 2023
Where: Level 3 Conrad Singapore Orchard, 1 Cuscaden Rd, Singapore 249715
Cost: From $128++ for the Grand Dynasty Menu
Call 6725 3288 or e-mail sinod.summer.palace@conradhotels.com for reservations or more information. For deliveries, visit summerpalace.oddle.me.
Traditionalists flock to Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant for its repertoire of both classic dishes and ones with a twist — and there are seven different set menus to choose from this year.
For a cosy party of two, there’s the five-course Auspicious Times menu that treats diners to the likes of Braised Abalone, Sea Cucumber & Bai Ling Mushroom in Supreme Stock and Braised King Prawn Ee-fu Noodle.
For boisterous gatherings, there’s the Prosperous Celebrations menu for 10 people, with highlights such as Xin’s Baby Abalone & Salmon Yu Sheng, Baked Lobster in Superior Stock, Double-boiled Cordyceps Flower with Flower Mushrooms in Bone Broth, Steamed Sea Perch with Minced Garlic and Sliced Foie Gras with Roasted Chicken and Mango Sauce.
This year’s specialty yu sheng sees Japanese unagi slices drizzled with a zesty roselle sauce. Or you can go for the restaurant’s signature salmon yu sheng.
When: Dec 21, 2022 to Jan 8, 2022 (Closed on Mondays & Tuesdays), and Jan 9 to Feb 5, 2023 (available daily)
Where: Level 4, Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium, 317 Outram Road, Singapore 169075
Cost: From $198++ for two persons to $1,588++ for 10 persons
Call 3138 2531 or email xin.sinhi@ihg.com for reservations or more information.
This article originally appeared on The Singapore Women’s Weekly.