There’s no better time to love all things local as the nation turns 57. We turn to these four restaurants to feast on flavors that embody the true Singaporean soul.
This August, we’re keeping our eyes peeled for restaurants that are working hard for a patriotic celebration. From Mod-Sin to homages to traditional recipes, these special National Day menus take center stage. So if the occasion makes you want to love the local a little harder than usual, you have a long way to go.
Ahead is a list of four places where you can indulge and salute the motherland.
Akanoya Robatayaki & Bar
Leave it à la carte for another night; the all-Singaporean omakase here is well worth the splurge. The newly renovated Akanoya Robatayaki & Bar combines Japanese bounty with local dishes for a nine-course meal held in August. The journey begins with Yusheng with Chutoro, Mizuna and Wafu sauce, followed by a “Satay” platter of grilled wagyu beef from Misuji prefecture, chicken oysters, pork cheek and leek, sprinkled with peanuts and brown sugar from Okinawa.
Another quintessential Singapore dish, pepper crab, is revisited with steamed taraba crabs from Hokkaido, sautéed with sansho pepper and butter, and served with toasted bread. “Hei Mee,” or shrimp noodles, features grilled tiger prawns and fesh aburi scallops piled on top of somen.
As for the desserts, we easily fall for their riff on orh nee. Japanese sweet potatoes are first roasted overnight over bincho coals, then mashed and tossed with candied Japanese chestnuts, peaches and ginger for a smooth, elegant finish.
Visit Akanoya Robatayaki & Bar at 1 Tanglin Rd, Orchard Rendezvous Hotel, #01-01. Tel: 6732 1866
Remapa
Enjoy a dining experience full of heritage and culture at Rempapa, where champion of heritage dining, Chef Damian D’Silva welcomes Singapore’s next-generation tastemakers as guest chefs in August. The eclectic 4-handed collaboration sees Marvas Ng, executive chef of Path, and Vasunthara Ramasamy (Vasun), a former competitor of MasterChef, cement the bonds between ethnicities.
The celebrations begin on August 6 with a community-style Chinese dinner hosted by Chef Damian and Chef Marvas. The menu offers an array of 10 dishes, including a 16-day dry-aged crown of duck served with caramel jus, sautéed kai lan and tangerine segments, asparagus with sambal Juliana Beurre Blanc and glazed pasta with hair d’ange with Majiang sauce, among others.
On August 13, Vasun and the Rempapa team present a traditional South Indian lunch of three thosai and three chutneys. The sublime spread to share is complemented by three side dishes from Rempapa, before finishing with a colorful assortment of kueh. We loved Vasun’s Egg Podi Thosai, served as an accompaniment to Rempapa’s Sri Lankan Chicken Curry in which a zesty moist spice paste of Bombay onions, Bentong ginger and garlic shines the most. There is also the Kuzhi Paniyaram (crispy ball-shaped dumplings with ginger, coriander and green chilli) topped with green coconut chutney and peanut podi.
Visit Remapa at 2 Paya Lebar Road, Park Place Residences at PLQ, #01-01/02/03. Tel: 9459 1603
Kinki Restaurant + Bar
On a dash to catch the celebratory fireworks? Head to Kinki Restaurant + Bar, Collyer Quay’s hotspot with stunning views. Make the most of National Day by partying from 5pm to midnight at the open-air rooftop bar with addictive bar bites and electric beats by a guest DJ working the decks.
A small glass (or two) adds to the festive mood of course, so Kinki’s National Day rooftop package includes a bottle of Roku Gin, a choice of a bottle of Belvedere Vodka or Chita Whiskey, as well than mixers ranging from chilled sodas to fruit juices. . As for food, the urban Japanese establishment serves a sharing platter of marinated and fried sesame Kinki wings, Ebi Fry as well as cassava nachos – Kinki’s signature on nachos with chips topped with tomato miso beef plus dollops of guacamole and creme fraiche.
Visit Kinki Restaurant + Bar at 70 Collyer Quay, Customs, #02-02. Tel: 8363 6697
Level33
The world’s tallest urban microbrewery is not absent from the glorious panorama party, bringing you as close as possible to the pyrotechnics action. With Executive Chef Jake Kowalewski on board, his one-day-only menu is both ingenious and familiar, adding a localized twist to the dizzying waterhole.
Customers can expect a five-course dinner that includes an appetizing set of three Singaporean-inspired snacks, such as a potato and truffle curry puff, and a flesh-bending salted egg mud crab of hand-picked crab in a homemade salted duck egg sauce. A local take on LeVeL33’s traditional smoky tomato is a hit, where juicy smoky tomatoes are layered over a creamy whipped burrata that’s been drizzled with homemade curry leaf oil. For the main course, there’s the local lobster bisque, infused with homemade laksa batter and served with a poached lobster tail and sustainably farmed egg garnish. A vegetarian version of the five-course dinner is also available.
Visit Level33 at 8 Marina Boulevard, Marina Bay Financial Center Tower 1, #33-01. Tel: 6834 3133
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