Out of the 33 new restaurants and 2 new bars opened in Aug 2017 Singapore, only 8.5 restaurants are not Asian. WOW. 10 of them are Japanese restaurants, 6 Chinese restaurants, 7 Asian or Asian-inspired, 1 Korean, 1 Thai, and 0.5 Indian-Italian. This trend is surprising to me and I’m not sure what it means. #Asianpride perhaps?

Out of the non-Asian restaurants, about one-third serves Italian cuisine. There is a general fatigue for Italian food, so it’s curious that Italian restaurants are still opening.

What is interesting is, looking outside of types of cuisine, there are 3 grill restaurants on the list. Singaporeans love meat, eh?

300boru, which means 300 bowls, specializes in dry ramen, starting from an affordable $6.90. They also serve coffee and desserts starting from $3.90.

Under the Japan Food Holdings Group, which brought us Osaka Osho, Menya Musashi, and Ajisen, Akimitsu is a tendon (tempura over rice) restaurant. The consultant chef Tanihara Akimitsu, founder of Akimitsu and 5th generation Head Chef of Dote No Iseya, introduces the 128 year-old recipe to Singapore. Fresh anago (sea eel) is imported directly from Tsukiji market. Their signature tendon bowl is priced at $14.90.

Arakawa serves omakase meals following the style of kappo, Osaka’s long tradition of dining.

The Bird Southern Table serves Southern food including the 100-year-old recipe Lewellyn’s Fine Fried Chicken ($35 for half), Buttermilk Biscuits ($10), Shrimp ‘N’ Grits ($39) and Chicken & Waffles ($45).

The flagship restaurant, Blue Lotus at Quayside Isle Sentosa, has opened a noodle house last month, and now a Chinese grill restaurant.

Buono Trattoria is helmed by Chef Aloysius Lim, who has more than 20 years of experience behind him in Italian, Spanish, Mexican and American cuisine. All the dough is made daily in small batches and hand-kneaded to
ensure customers get the freshest pizza crust. Pizzas start at $10++ for the 8 inch and $15++ for the
12 inch. Also on the menu are hearty (Italian) pastas such as creamy shrimp & bacon risotto ($15++) and baked Porcini mushroom ravioli ($12++).

Butcher Boy Singapore is a contemporary style Asian Grill brought to you by the team at Cure Singapore. Opening this month.

Kid-friendly bistro with a playground. They serve Western cuisine, and, on weekends, BBQ brunch.

Lebanese Master Chef Mohamad Slim, who founded Byblos Grill, has over 15 years of experience in the food and beverage industry under his belt, including Burj Al Arab, the only seven-star hotel in Dubai.

Chef Mohamad being passionate about his roots and culture, imports key ingredients directly from Lebanon such as Olive Oil, Pomegranate Sauce, and Sumac. He has gone a step further and shipped in a traditional oven just to bake fresh bread daily. This is to ensure customers in Singapore are able to enjoy a traditional and authentic house-cooked Lebanese meal. Fans of Labneh (Yoghurt) and Halloumi Cheese would be glad to know that he makes them fresh daily in their restaurant.

Malaysian celebrity chef Wan opens halal-certified restaurant presenting recipes passed down from his mother and grandmother.

Chikin, which literally means “chicken” in colloquial Japanese, is a Yakitori & Cocktails restaurant-bar. The yakitori, or skewered meat, range from $3 to $4.50 a stick, and are grilled over binchotan charcoal.

Sister outlet to Margarita’s, Comida Mexicana (which means ‘Mexican Food’ in Spanish) uses ingredients such as tomatillos, various Mexican chillies, beans and avocados from the host country wherever possible. Recommended: Enrollados ($18, chicken, Monterey Jack cheese, jalapeño and tomatoes rolled in a wheat tortilla); Carnitas ($32, pulled pork tortilla); and cornflakes-crusted fish fillets with roasted tomatillo sauce and fried corn ($32).

Helmed by Anglo-Indian chef Timothy de Souza, COMO Cuisine brings a light touch to the big flavours of the region, reflecting Singapore’s heritage as a culinary melting pot. On the menu are perennial favourites such as the Shrimp Ceviche and Our Big Raw Salad. New dishes are also inspired by the traditional cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. The tandoor, fired with coconut charcoal, infuses smokiness into the Lamb Kofta and transforms the tapas classic Padron peppers into a vibrant chaat.

Known for Eurasian and Peranakan food, the 61 year-old Chef Damian D’Silva presents dishes like buah keluak fried rice ($22), masak nanas (prawn-and-pineapple curry, $22), hati babi bungkus (minced pork and liver wrapped in caul fat, $18), and ayam pelencheng ($15).

Carles Gaig, the Michelin starred chef who also opened and left La Ventana at Dempsey, has started his own restaurant, serving classic Spanish dishes and tapas.

[FULL REVIEW] First established in 1980, the flagship store at Osaka received one Michelin star in 2009, and every year after that. The success of the outlet spawned a second one at Ginza, Tokyo. And now the team at Ginza has been transplanted to Singapore.

Helmed by Chef Hideyuki Tanaka who has 15 years of experience, Rokukakutei offers kushikatsu or Japanese deep-fried skewers of meat, seafood and vegetables. Most of the ingredients are imported from Japan. They only serve omakase, which changes based on the chef’s selection of ingredients: 10 skewers or 15 ($118++) or 20 ($134++).

A casual Chinese restaurant.

Japanese restaurant.

[FULL REVIEW] The new Lotus Kitchen at Chinatown Point is an outpost of Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant (Quality Hotel) and is under the same management as Greendot, the vegetarian chain restaurants. The difference between the three is that Lotus Kitchen fills in the gap between buffet dining (Lotus Vegetarian) and fast dining (Greendot); Lotus Kitchen is a casual dining restaurant, as signalled by the open and contemporary decor.

Their experience in vegetarian cuisine puts them in good stead. They know what vegetarians want and do not want. Here, they use less flour and more mushroom, herbs, and oats to create mock meat. Many sauces are homemade and some ingredients are imported from Taiwan. Dim-sum is made upon ordering and noodles are handmade. Most dishes are newly created, differing from the Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant.

Nojo serves the popular Japanese collagen hotpot. On weekends, they have a buffet for $48/pax.

Chimek is a Korean portmanteau word; it combines “chicken” and “beer” (mekju) to chimek, proving how much Koreans love to eat fried chicken and drink beer together.

They serve rice mixed with vegetables.

Pasta e Formaggio is a new Italian Indian fusion restaurant.

Serves Penang food and Korean bingsu.

Propeller, a new rooftop bar at Bay Hotel Singapore, overlooks the Keppel Harbour and Sentosa. Cocktails start from $13.50 and tapas from $5, featuring pan-seared scallops with citrus fennel salad ($9.50), crabmeat creole ($8.90), seared beef cubes with truffle mayonnaise ($9.90) and Brandy flambe escargots with garlic butter ($13.50).

Provisions is a claypot and skewer bar helmed by the young Chef Justin Foo who has a wealth of experience including stints at Andre andLe Saint Julien.  The highlights are seafood claypot rice ($16) and oyster & uni rice ($28). Skewers start from $4, claypot rice $9, and drinks at $12.

Publico comprises a trio of Italian experiences under one roof: a dine-in or grab-n-go morning and daytime gourmet delicatessen, Publico Deli, which transforms in the evening to Marcello, Singapore’s first modern Italian cocktail bar alongside a dessert bar, as well as Publico Ristorante which has an adjoining bar and terrazzo by the river. Opening soon.

Ramen restaurant.

[FULL REVIEW] Fish farm and wholesaler Ah Hua Kelong has opened its first restaurant, Scaled by Ah Hua Kelong at Haji Lane, sharing the premises with hipster cocktail bar Bar Stories.

Ah Hua Kelong is a fish farm located off Changi, farming and harvesting groupers, snappers, golden pomfrets, seabasses, mussels, clams, flower crabs and sea snails. They have a hawker stall at Bedok Marketplace and a kiosk at Pasarbella, but this one is their first restaurant.

A cali-styled whiskey sushi bar that serves omakase at $68++, $98++, $138++ by Kenny Khoo with 17 years of experience including at Nogawa and Tatsuya.

Sumo Bar Happy is a modern ramen and tachinomi sake bar.

Serves local and Malaysian food. Its signature is Sarawak prawn noodles.

Thai restaurant.

VLV has extended its operation to the Riverside. VLV Riverside serves local ‘zi char’ fare with a touch of innovation specially created by award-winning Executive Head Chef, Martin Foo. Recommended: Salted Egg Chicken ($18), Crispy Bull Frog with Ginger ($26), Roasted Truffle London Duck ($24/$45/$90), Curry Fish Head ($32), Chinese Herb Hua Diao Prawn ($9/100g), Stir-fried Sambal Prawn with Petai ($28), Singapore Signature Chilli Crab ($8/100g) and Chairman’s Crab ($9/100g).

A whiskey bar that collects over 500 hand-picked labels of rare and collectible whiskies and spirits from across the world. Other than whisky, the selection also includes fine wines, craft beers and bespoke cocktails.

You may be interested in…
–New Restaurants in July 2017
–New Restaurants in June 2017
–New Restaurants and Hawkers in May 2017
–New Restaurants and Bars in Apr 2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Photos without RERG logo are taken from the respective establishments’ facebook pages or websites.

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.