Singapore Expats

Hubby's birthday is coming up soon, so I've been doing a little research for some nice restaurants to take him to. His taste is coming back, though he still has many ulcers from the treatment, but that's besides the point.

Anyhow, after some searching, I found that most of the reviews and recommendations come from the same couple of local food sights, and as we all know, the best recommendations are made by people who actually try the food.

So I'm wondering, what is everyone's favorite restaurant here? Could be your go-to cheap weekday night dinner spot, a special place you reserve only for celebrations (this especially, would be helpful), or your guilty indulgence.

Mine are:

Blu Kouzina (Greek/Turkish at Dempsey)
Cacio e Pepe (Italian at Hillview)
Tandoori Culture
Yardbird (Southern food at MBS)

Lisafuller wrote: ↑

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 1:29 am

Hubby's birthday is coming up soon, so I've been doing a little research for some nice restaurants to take him to. His taste is coming back, though he still has many ulcers from the treatment, but that's besides the point.

Anyhow, after some searching, I found that most of the reviews and recommendations come from the same couple of local food sights, and as we all know, the best recommendations are made by people who actually try the food.

So I'm wondering, what is everyone's favorite restaurant here? Could be your go-to cheap weekday night dinner spot, a special place you reserve only for celebrations (this especially, would be helpful), or your guilty indulgence.

Mine are:

Blu Kouzina (Greek/Turkish at Dempsey)
Cacio e Pepe (Italian at Hillview)
Tandoori Culture
Yardbird (Southern food at MBS)

Tandoori Culture is one of my favorite too (for food).

Shish Mahal, Nepalese/North Indian, Albert Court (close to SLS), for food and ambience

The Town, Fullerton Hotel, Sunday brunches, for food, ambience

Melt, Fusion, Mandarin Oriental, Sunday brunches (or buffets in general), for food, ambience

Omar Sharif, North Indian, corner of Bukit Timah and Sixth Ave, for food, ambience is so-so (needs renovation)

https://www.panamericana.sg/, as the name suggests, Sentosa, for ambience, food (this order) - been there only once but liked it.

x9200 wrote: ↑

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 7:16 am

Lisafuller wrote: ↑

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 1:29 am

Hubby's birthday is coming up soon, so I've been doing a little research for some nice restaurants to take him to. His taste is coming back, though he still has many ulcers from the treatment, but that's besides the point.

Anyhow, after some searching, I found that most of the reviews and recommendations come from the same couple of local food sights, and as we all know, the best recommendations are made by people who actually try the food.

So I'm wondering, what is everyone's favorite restaurant here? Could be your go-to cheap weekday night dinner spot, a special place you reserve only for celebrations (this especially, would be helpful), or your guilty indulgence.

Mine are:

Blu Kouzina (Greek/Turkish at Dempsey)
Cacio e Pepe (Italian at Hillview)
Tandoori Culture
Yardbird (Southern food at MBS)

Tandoori Culture is one of my favorite too (for food).

Shish Mahal, Nepalese/North Indian, Albert Court (close to SLS), for food and ambience

The Town, Fullerton Hotel, Sunday brunches, for food, ambience

Melt, Fusion, Mandarin Oriental, Sunday brunches (or buffets in general), for food, ambience

Omar Sharif, North Indian, corner of Bukit Timah and Sixth Ave, for food, ambience is so-so (needs renovation)

https://www.panamericana.sg/, as the name suggests, Sentosa, for ambience, food (this order) - been there only once but liked it.

What's good at Omar Sharif? I drove past almost daily, but it appears pretty uninviting from outside. So to be fair, the same can be said about tandoori culture, though it's much nicer inside.

My favorite Sentosa eats are definitely Bedrock Origins and Trapizza. Trapizza is especially kid friendly.

Food is pretty comparable in my opinion between those two. Omar Sharif is this old style Indian restaurant that was more common 2 decades ago and then considered fancy - large upholstered chairs / sofas, big tables. The main dining room is upstairs. I go there once or twice a year for a change. Tandoori Culture is like slightly upgraded coffee shop.
If I remember correctly Omar Sharif also uses more the classic Indian copper-ware.

My all time Indian favorite is Shish Mahal. I like their food and the dining area outside that sits between the row of old shop hoses and also old style building complex of Albert Hotel.

x9200 wrote: ↑

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 6:11 pm

Food is pretty comparable in my opinion between those two. Omar Sharif is this old style Indian restaurant that was more common 2 decades ago and then considered fancy - large upholstered chairs / sofas, big tables. The main dining room is upstairs. I go there once or twice a year for a change. Tandoori Culture is like slightly upgraded coffee shop.
If I remember correctly Omar Sharif also uses more the classic Indian copper-ware.

My all time Indian favorite is Shish Mahal. I like their food and the dining area outside that sits between the row of old shop hoses and also old style building complex of Albert Hotel.

Not sure if this was always the case, but tandoori culture does use the "traditional" dishware. I put it in quotes because I'm not exactly sure, but it certainly looks convincing.

What do you get at Shish Mahal? Never been, and honestly, there's far more Indian dishes that I haven't tried than those that I have so I wouldn't know what to get. I'm not always the most adventurous, even something like Palak Paneer took years for me to taste. Now it's one of my favorites.

If you liked Blue Kouzina, you should also try Sofra at Marina Square. Amazing Turkish food. You can get a private dining room if you hit a certain amount (can't remember exactly, 500 SGD? Doable for a larger group).

If my wife offered to take me anywhere for my birthday, I’d probably choose Ruth’s Chris.

A Quick Suggestions for this topic.

Here are some tips to find & discover more favourite restaurant in SG

- check reviews on Google map (do qualify if the reviews are few (may not be accurate) vs those with plenty of reviews esp from diverse experiences

- read reviews of popular food blogs eg ieatishootipost, HungryGoWhere, Tatler, ST Wong Ah Yoke, Makansutra, EatBook.sg, Time Out, Daniel Food Diary, Miss Tam Chiak, Burpple, The Ranting Panda, SETHLUI.com etc to name a few
(do verify authencities as some of these review sites/critics are not sponsored nor receiving any monetary from the restaurants or eateries; some may practise otherwise )

- Youtubes, Tiktok, Instagram, and other social media may at times share interesting reviews
(again verify if these are sponsored or not sponsored posts)


Finally, Word of mouth (WOM) sharings from your friends, family, networks, clubs etc are perhaps one of the best sources of insights . . .

And when visiting any eateries or restaurants etc - do account that there may be times when the head chef may be on rest days - should these places open daily ( most may have a day when they close eg Monday (many) or Sunday (for example Amoy St) etc; shopping mall restaurants/eateries usually have to operate daily)

Hope these guide help

WineCaviar wrote: ↑

Tue, 31 Oct 2023 9:32 pm

tic...tok...tic...tok

moderator

I have to say, social media has got to be the worst source to find any place worth going, restaurants, sight seeing, you name it.

In our vacations post-Covid, I was asked to include some places from people’s instagram - - what a joke and complete waste of time… every single one was utter trash, overhyped nonsense - - only good for selfies, or other soul sucking activities. Needless to say, social media is no longer a source for any suggested places to go in our family.

Have to agree with malcontent. Never trust social media's recommendation especially influencers.

My few favourite places are:

* Haidilao hotpot (good food and service, reasonable prices)
* Skai (the once in a while treats to self)
* Red house seafood (for your chilli crab fix)
* Crystal Jade (for dim sum fixes, I think theirs are finer)
* Tim Ho Wan (another dim sum favourite for me)
* Morganfield's (for ribs)

We’ve been going more and more to roots@onenorth, between there and meat&chill I’d say it’s among the best steak you can get for the money around here. The tenderloin, when you see what you get, you’ll know what I mean by good value - especially the set with the soup, drink and desert.

Colony - The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore. Never fails. It provides a buffet experience with a focus on Singaporean and Asian cuisine.