7 New Restaurants in Singapore
So, those resolutions. Out the window eh?
Hey, no shame! With all these amazing places popping up around town, eating out isn’t a luxury – it’s a total necessity.
There’s a great Asian-Mexican takeaway that will blow your Mexicana dreams out the water, the East Coast has gone and done it again with a new restaurant-cafe-pub-boutique hotel, Keong Saik Road is buzzing with another new tenant, and CBD folk now have a new coffee spot to fawn over. We told you it’d be a good month.
Here’s the list at a glance:
Rabbit Carrot Gun
Pistola
Tanuki Raw
The Retrospective
Shoebox Canteen
Windowsill Pies In The Woods
Homebodies
Looking for more hot new tables? Check out our picks for March 2012, June 2012, July 2012, August 2012, September 2012, October 2012, November 2012, December 2012, and January 2013.
Rabbit Carrot Gun
East-Siders now have this charming restaurant-café-pub-boutique hotel to brandish against the rest of us islanders.
Rabbit Carrot Gun serves up unapologetically English cuisine using seasonal and organic produce : and here’s the catch: they don’t use any salt! Unlike most kitchens they’ve also chucked the microwave out the window, so food here is 100% fresh. There’s an array of British classics for breakfast, weekend brunch, lunch, and dinner. We also hear their locally produced beer, Buckshot Ale, is fast becoming a classic.
What we love about the place: um, let’s start with the amazing décor. It’s the perfect mix of modern and antique furnishings, with interior essentials like fresh flowers for ambience (tick), great light (tick), sweat-free surroundings (tick), and cute touches (mini chandelier, tick).
There are also 7 boutique suites upstairs which have been individually designed with Asian and European antiques! Great for staycations or stopover travellers.
Rabbit Carrot Gun, 49 East Coast Road, Singapore 428768, p. 6348 8568. Open Tue-Sun 8am-12mn.
Pistola
Last month we mentioned this little gem that we’ve been eagerly anticipating – this month we’re glad to say it’s finally open!
Hands up if you like your Mexican food but don’t get the fine-dining fuss. Pistola is an Asian-Mex fusion takeaway inspired by the Korean taco food trucks of LA and NYC – and they’ve modelled it to look east village grunge.
We spoke to Min Chan (yes, you might recognize that name from Club Street Social), who’s behind Pistola and gave mad props to her greoup of friends who helped to realize the vision of Pistola. The lady tells us, “we’e a bit irreverent, feisty and to be honest, kinda potty mouthed. We’re also open late, serving the boozy crowd of Club Street. We’re not the place you would take your kids.” We’re sold.
The menu is small but you won’t walk away disappointed. There’re tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and rice bowls. Sides include tortilla chips with salsa (but of course!) and vege-friendly options like a corn cup and an Asian slaw.
PS. Cocktail fanatics, listen up. John deBary Min’s next door neighbour in college and fancy pants mixologist who oversees David Chang’s beverage programs for the Momofuku group in NYC, Toronto, and Sydney, who also works as resident bartender at world-famous cocktail bar PDT (yes, that’s a lot of accolades), designed Pistola’s “sloshie” recipes.
Girls, you know where you’ll find us. Don’t mind if we have two burritos in hand.
Pistola, 93 Club Street, Singapore 069461, Mon-Sat 5pm-12mn.
Tanuki Raw
Recall Standing Sushi Bar, the concept everyone thought so novel they’d go bust in a couple of months? (Though we think a taste test would immediately convince naysayers otherwise.)
Well the guys behind Standing Sushi Bar have just launched Tanuki Raw, a bar and restaurant specializing in Japanese-inspired dishes along with oysters, sashimi, martinis, and classic cocktails.
Its undeniable charm: happy hour. Oysters go for $1 (no typo), martinis and beer go for ten bucks, and cocktails go for $10. Here’s another place we’ll be visiting, simply because these guys are generous with their alcohol – they understand the true meaning of a stiff drink and give 50% more alcohol in each drink than most bars.
Tanuki Raw, 181 Orchard Road , #02-03 Orchard Central, Singapore 238896, p. 6636 5949. Open 1130am-1030pm daily, happy hour from 5-8pm daily.
The Retrospective
We’re putting out there: we like our crepes suzette. We also fancy a good steak Diane, and hell, since we’re at it – roast beef was never meant for just the Christmas table.
So bring on The Retrospective, a resto that pays homage to the best of the ’80s and ’90s (aka the best years of our childhood, sans mullets and crimped hair). These guys put a modern spin on what most other restos would think dated, like corned beef hash and prawn cocktails (we’ll take multiple). There’s also deep-fried camembert on the menu, which is enough reason for us to hike to Chinatown right this moment.
The Retrospective, 21 Keong Saik Road, Singapore 089128, p. 6223 1334. Open Mon-Thu 12pm-12am, Fri-Sun 12pm-1am.
Shoebox Canteen
So variety’s the spice of your life huh? Meet Shoebox Canteen, your new BFF.
This clever cookie was made for the office crowd. The menu ( everything below $20, btw ) changes every 4-6 weeks and offers a re-interpretation of fast food. Think comfort food made with far better ingredients and served to you in the same time it takes to get your Big Mac.
This one’s boss-approved, we bet.
Shoebox Canteen, 36 North Canal Road, Singapore 059292, p. 9296 4836. Open Mon-Fri 1145am-230pm. Opening hours will change post CNY.
Windowsill Pies In the Woods
We like them pies and we cannot lie. We’ve raved about Windowsill Pies before but since then they’ve had to move from Ulu Pandan to the up-and-coming Jalan Besar (mark our words, it’s the next Tiong Bahru).
The upside? Plenty. Their pies are still fantastic, the selection is ever-growing, they now offer coffee and savoury items. Fancy a corndog? How about a serving of bacon waffles and egg salad on the side? Sure the menu looks deceptively simple, but these boys know what they’re doing. Expect some explosive flavours.
And while you’re there, bring home a good pie selection. You’ll be hit with cravings.
Windowsill Pies In The Woods, 78 Horne Road, Singapore 209078, p. 9004 7827. Open Tue-Thu 11am-930pm, Fri 11am-1030pm, Sat-Sun 10am-1030pm.
Homebodies
More café than restaurant, but this one’s for our CBD friends. If you’re mourning the loss of Henry Congressional, you can now get your fix at Homebodies. The same Smitten folks are behind this one, so along with great coffee, expect a good selection of craft beer.
There are gourmet sausages to chow down on, so you won’t go hungry here, but you’re not going to leave stuffed either. Fair warning: it’s a cozy space, but word hasn’t gotten around quite yet so hurry down now!
Homebodies, 60a Boat Quay, Singapore 049848, p. 9169 2821. Open Mon-Thu 11am-9pm, Fri-Sat 11am-11pm.