Christmas dining in Singapore 2020: Luxurious festive menus for house parties and in-restaurant feasts

Holiday celebrations will be cosier and more intimate this year but no less merry – especially with sumptuous spreads like these. We recommend some of the best festive feasts for dining out and to enjoy at home.

Andaz Singapore

Sit back, relax, and take in Singapore’s spectacular skyline as you feast on 665°F’s Christmas Specials. Located at Level 38 of the first Andaz luxury lifestyle hotel in Southeast Asia, the modern steakhouse specialises in halal-certified premium cuts and sustainable seafood. It’s Christmas Specials à la carte menu serves up traditional festive fare such as roasted turkey breast and roasted brussel sprouts, alongside lobster medallion accompanied with baby spinach and yuzu beurre blanc (“white butter” in French). This year, 665°F introduces a new Christmas special dessert: a next-level Mont Blanc topped with house-made blackcurrant sorbet.

The Christmas Specials à la carte menu is exclusively available on 24 and 25 December 2020. For enquiries or reservations, visit andazsingapore.com, or call 6408 1288.

Royal Plaza on Scotts

Traditional Christmas grub isn’t always spicy, but Christmas in this part of the world is never quite the same. Back by popular demand, Royal Plaza on Scotts’ Sambal Hijau Turkey (or green sambal turkey) is favoured for its aromatic spices and is served with nasi goreng, serunding, spiced chicken stuffing, sayur lodeh and sambal hijau kicap sauce. In keeping with the trends, the hotel has also created a burnt cheesecake logcake, accompanied with Valrhona chocolate creme and berries. The crowd-favourite Royal Chocolate, containing guanaja 70% rich chocolate cream with hazelnut feuilletine, is still available on the delivery menu.

At the hotel’s main restaurant Carousel, look forward to a la carte festive buffet spreads starring festive dishes like a teppan-style lobster tteokbokki, seafood paella, traditional roast turkey and Christmas puddings from 30 November 30 to December 31. Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve dinner spreads are made extra special with fresh, top-notch oysters, hot steamed snow crab, and prawns in bamboo baskets.

The Christmas delivery menu available ’til December 25, 2020. Advance order of three days is required. For more information and orders, please visit www.carouselbuffet.com.sg. For enquiries, please contact Gourmet Carousel at 6589 7788 or email gourmet@royalplaza.com.sg.

Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel

Marriott Cafe’s three-course festive set menus, available on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, is an example of why we will always stick to the classics, because nothing gets you into the Christmas spirit like turkey, ham, fruit cake, and comfort-inducing winter ingredients like mushroom, apples, mash and roasted vegetables. Tuck into luxurious starters that includes a seafood platter with Boston lobster, snow crab legs and poached prawns; ham hock terrine; and a wild mushroom and chestnut creme soup with truffle oil. For mains, choose between slow-roasted turkey, Iberico pork cutlet, roasted US Angus striploin and more. Help yourself to slices of maple-glazed ham leg at the live station, before rounding up the savouries with desserts like a Christmas pudding with brandy chantilly and gingerbread ice cream, chocolate chestnut tarts with rum and whipped cream, and — how can we forget — delightful log cakes.

Want a taste before Christmas rolls around? The hotel’s bounty of yuletide goodies for takeaways will impress your guests. Besides classic holiday favourites such as a traditional whole roast turkey and bone-in glazed ham, the culinary team has also come up with new festive dishes like a roasted tea-smoked turkey, sous-vide mustard mint roast lamb leg, lobster thermidor with lobster bisque risotto and a baked whole halibut.

For bookings, call 6831 4605 or email mhrs.sindt.fb.reservations@marriotthotels.com. To order festive takeaways, pre-order at www.celebratorydelights.com/christmas or call 6831 4708. 

TWG

Christmas is a special occasion, and TWG is a place for celebratory circumstances, with its elegant yet never off-puttingly posh interiors, decadent titbits and pots of exquisite tea. From 14 December through New Year’s Day, the world-renowned tea specialist is warming hearts (and hands) with a Insta-worthy festive menu, which starts off with a delicious, palate-opening mocktail of this season’s Grand Christmas Tea, pineapple and strawberry juice, soursop puree and Chantilly cream.

The main is a cheerful, pretty plate with all the colours of the holiday season: a perfectly-cooked tenderloin rests on a shallow pool of rich, winter-truffle beef sauce, alongside shards of foie gras crisps, dices of heirloom beetroot, little romanesco broccoli trees, tomato slices, and dollops of mustard seeds pickled with Noel! Noel! Tea. Pair it with a cup of the new Grand Christmas Tea to balance the richness.

Pick between the Grand Christmas Tea-infused strawberry banana log cake or the Napolean Tea-infused hazelnut caramel log cake for a sweet nightcap, then pick up a box or two of their holiday macarons and tea sets for those last-minute gifts.

For more information, visit TWGTea.com. 

Goodwood Park Hotel

We get it, the holidays can be stressful. If you’re looking to ease your way through the festivities (read: no fussing about in the kitchen), Goodwood Park Hotel has a smorgasbord of sumptuous Christmas takeaways for all your year-end get-togethers. The Ivory Christmas Celebration log cake is a showstopper, with its white chocolate die-cuts of the hotel’s magnificent architecture and macadamia nut-filled interior. Of course, there’s also a Goodwood Black Thorn Durian log cake for fans of the fruit.

The savouries on offer are just as fascinating, with Asian-inspired fare like the har cheong turkey with vegetable rice, shredded turkey with leek and sesame pockets that guests can assemble themselves, and crispy char siew turkey with pine nuts kataifi. Those who prefer to stick to the classics can opt for the mini turkey shepherd’s pie with duo potato and cheese crumble, and the slow-roasted Iberico pork belly with crackling, pickled cabbage, apple sauce and pork jus, accompanied with potato gratin.

Festive takeaways are available at The Deli from December 1 to 26, with advance orders of five days required. Place your orders at goodwoodparkfestive.oddle.me, or call 6730 1867/68 from 10am to 6pm. Visit Goodwood Park Hotel’s website for more festive promotions.

The Marmalade Pantry

Who else loves bundles? The Marmalade Pantry’s customisable Yuletide Gifting Bundles are like an emergency delivery of festive cheer for anyone who isn’t too keen on putting in the grunt work in the kitchen this holiday season. Priced from $98 to $288++, choose your roast (traditional whole roast turkey, roasted chicken, glazed gammon ham, beef ribeye or Moroccan lamb rack), side (mac & cheese, garlic mash or roasted winter vegetables) and dessert (truffle chocolate log cake or pandan gula melaka log cake) and, voila! Dinner is ready.

For more information, visit The Marmalade Pantry’s website. To order the festive menu, head to its online store. 

Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore

An extensive range of festive offerings awaits at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore, where its various restaurants have rolled out tempting lunch and dinner repertoires for dine-in and takeaway. The Line, for instance, will serve up a la carte buffet spreads on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Its highlights include seasonal specials such as Canadian lobsters, a Lebanese-style roasted turkey, and tandoori prawns alongside fresh seafood, sushi, sashimi, local delights, Western dishes and desserts. The Christmas Eve dinner comes with a free flow of Prosecco, while Christmas lunch is accompanied by an unlimited supply of Veuve Clicquot Champagne. If Italian cuisine is more your style, head to Waterfall for its Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day brunch, which showcase delectable options such as seafood stew and pan-seared foie gras with chestnut puree.

For a takeaway feast to be savoured in the comfort of home, Origin offers a family set for four that includes bread with mushroom and truffle butter, appetisers of roasted cauliflower and cured salmon, black garlic barbecue Angus short ribs, and desserts of mini macarons and blueberry crumble. The hotel’s Shophouse counter also boasts an array of mouthwatering treats such as roasted turkey with trimmings, beef wellington, and Cajette de Fraises — a dreamy vanilla sponge log cake composed of fluffy honey yoghurt mousse layered atop strawberry confit jam and bedecked with juicy strawberries. The confection, a brand new creation for 2020, is crafted to resemble a crate and even comes fringed with a golden border made from white chocolate.

To make reservations or order festive takeaways from these restaurants, visit shangri-la.com/sgcelebrations, call +65 6213 4398 or email dining.sls@shangri-la.com.

The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore

From German to Italian, Asian and more, the holiday lunch and dinner menus at The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore’s various restaurants will leave you spoilt for choice. Head to Frieda for an authentic German Christmas feast with dishes like chestnut soup and a four spices duck breast served with brussels sprouts, sweet potato mash and a pomegranate jus. At Italian restaurant La Scala Ristorante, opt for classic pizzas and pastas or, for something lighter, the baked red snapper with black olives and Roma tomatoes. Broadway American Diner is serving up casual festive bites like the roasted turkey breast sandwich with egg mayonnaise and giblet dressing in a soft and chewy house-baked hoagie roll.

Lunch at 15 Stamford by Alvin Leung sees an Asian twist, with a Boston lobster carpaccio in a flavourful bisque made with fish broth and laksa spices and topped with chilli mango and Kaluga caviar. The dinner menu switches to a focus on classic festive flavours such as foie gras with raspberry spiced apple and Hokkaido Black Angus beef tenderloin black truffle and duck fat potato. The hotel also offers a selection of roasts, sides and sweets for takeaways. We recommend the baked gammon ham served with rum honey glaze, applesauce and pork raisin sauce, as well as the roasted Black Angus beef prime rib with horseradish, mustard and beef jus.

For more information, call +65 6568 8888 or WhatsApp +65 9817 2750.  To order festive takeaways, head to shop-capitolkempinski.com.

Capella Singapore

Escape to Sentosa on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at The Knolls, the resort’s all-day dining restaurant, for a set lunch or dinner. Start with a warm vichyssoise velouté which is a creamy leek and potato soup served with tender Hokkaido scallops, leek compote, Lardo di Colonnata and herb oil. We also enjoyed the salad of Alaskan King Crab, where sweet shredded crab meat is tossed with savoury plankton and topped with sweet prawn gelée, cilantro, cauliflower mousse and Oscietra caviar. Unlike the standard roasted turkey, the bird is prepared two ways here. The breast of the honey-rosemary brined turkey is slow-cooked in a sous vide for a fork-tender texture, while the leg is done confit style. Accompanying the turkey are sides of roasted vegetables, pine nut-sage and onion bread stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy. Vegetarians have a dedicated festive plant-based menu featuring dishes like porcini and cheese ravioli with black winter truffle, spinach, asparagus, green peas, arugula and parmesan cheese. For those that fancy Cantonese cuisine for Christmas, Chinese restaurant Cassia offers specialties like the baked spare rib with Champagne sauce and braised bird’s nest with crabmeat in superior broth.

For bookings, visit capellahotels.com/singapore, call +65 6591 5046 or email gr.singapore@capellahotels.com

The St. Regis Singapore

At Brasserie Les Saveurs in The St. Regis Singapore, executive chef Thibault Chiumenti presents an impressive gourmet spread with touches of French flair.  Highlights include luxurious treats like the cold crabmeat salad with chives and shallots, finished with Baerii caviar and gold leaves as well as the autumnal entrée of pan-seared foie gras served with pumpkin compote and a sweet gingerbread coulis. For the mains, don’t miss the Beef Wellington – a showstopper that looks impressive and tastes even better. The middle is made up of a beef tenderloin coated with spinach and mushroom duxelles, that is wrapped in a layer of Parma ham and then covered in a flakey puff pastry. To end the meal, a wide selection of desserts are available from classic logcakes to fruit tarts and rolls and our personal favourite, fluffy panettone with mascarpone cream and a scoop of mulled wine nitrogen ice cream. The hotel’s take-home offerings are equally delightful, with hearty roasts like the côte de boeuf with roasted potatoes and cold entrées like foie gras terrine and the signature smoked salmon infused with The St. Regis Singapore Tea Blend.

For reservations, call +65 6506 6860, email bls@stregis.com or visit brasserielessaveurs.com. To order, shop online at festive-stregissingapore.oddle.me, call +65 6506 6813 or email festive.sg@stregis.com.

Regent Singapore

There may not be any traditional self-service buffets this year, but Basilico at Regent Singapore is still pulling out all the stops with feasts starting as early as November until New Year’s Day. From now to the end of the month, guests can enjoy Festive Basilissimo lunches and dinners featuring a choice of three courses: plated antipasti, mains like parma ham-wrapped turkey ballotine stuffed with foie gras, and delectable desserts such as an Alphonso mango cheesecake nestled within a coconut snowball. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the spread is elevated with myriad traditional Italian cold cuts, fresh creamy burrata and mozzarella, aged balsamic vinegars and heirloom tomatoes. There will also be mains like poached Boston lobsters and cotechino, a slow-simmered pork sausage typically served with lentils. To make it an enjoyable family affair, a kid’s corner will keep the little ones entertained with festive goodies, a bouncy castle, game consoles and craft activities. Special guests will also pay a visit, including a magician and Santa Claus himself. For couples and groups of friends, Manhattan, the hotel’s award-winning bar, has a Festive Adults-Only Sunday Cocktail Brunch. Expect Gin and Tonic, Bloody Mary and Garibaldi trolleys that make their rounds for tableside pours as well as unlimited servings of festive hot plates.

For reservations at Basilico, call +65 6725 3232 or email basilico@regentsingapore.com.sg. For reservations at Manhattan, call +65 6725 3377 or email manhattan@regentsingapore.com.sg.

Four Seasons Hotel Singapore

Celebrate with a festive six-course menu at Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant Jiang-Nan Chun. Available at lunch and dinner, the menu starts off with a chilled lobster jelly with white radish and fresh yuzu and follows with dishes that best represent the land and sea such as braised cod with eggplant in kung pao sauce as well as wok-fried Australian M7 Wagyu beef with mushrooms and basil. If you’re staying home for the holidays, the restaurant has curated a takeaway set that feeds approximately eight people. It features a spiced roasted Challans duck with kumquat compote, honey glazed pork collar, crispy pork belly, deep-fried Soon Hock with sweet and sour sauce, double boiled superior stock with abalone and cordyceps and more. The set also includes a dessert of Manjari chocolate hazelnut royaltine and Amarena cherry Yule log. Over at modern Asian brasserie One-Ninety, semi-buffet brunches, lunches and dinners are focused on traditional fare like roasted honey mustard-glazed ham along with a spread of delectable appetisers, imported cheeses, charcuterie and handcrafted desserts. Takeaway bundles are also available for various group sizes, with all the must-haves from roasts to sides and desserts. This year, guests can choose to order a regular roasted turkey that comes in both 5kg and 10kg or a 3.8kg organic one. These come with cranberry sauce, turkey jus, bread and chestnut stuffing.

For reservations, call +65 6831 7250 or email one-ninety.sin@fourseasons.com. To order the festive takeaways, call +65 6831 7253, email festiveseason.sin@fourseasons.com or visit fourseasonssingapore.oddle.me.

Resorts World Sentosa

The novel Christmas takeaways from Resorts World Sentosa will not only impress your guests but also amuse them. While the Turducken might look like a turkey at first, once carved, guests will be surprised to see that it is a unique three-bird roast of stuffing in a chicken, in a duck, in a turkey. It makes for quite the centrepiece and a single slice reveals the contrasting textures and flavours of all its components. Another rather unusual, eye-catching dish is the turkey Wellington – a roulade of flavourful turkey breast, portobello mushrooms and savoury prosciutto wrapped in pastry that is crisp on the outside and fluffy inside. It’s accompanied by honey-glazed carrots, parsnip, celeriac, brussels sprouts, bacon-wrapped chipolatas, herb-baked ratte potato, chestnuts, turkey gravy and cranberry sauce. Lastly, the Elderflower Festive Ball is truly a sight to behold. French Ruby chocolate forms the coconut praline shell of the large red bauble, which opens to reveal sweet treats like elderflower-infused sponge, almond biscuits, crunchy nutty streusel, custard, a confit of red fruits and more. Guests hoping to dine at Resorts World Sentosa restaurants this holiday season can look forward to festive menus at Ocean Restaurant, Osia Steak and Seafood Grill, Syun and table65.

For reservations at these RWS restaurants, visit rwsentosa.com/christmas-dining, call +65 6577 6688 or email dining@rwsentosa.com. To order the festive takeaways, visit rwsentosa.com/christmas-dining

Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore

An extensive range of festive offerings awaits at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore, where its various restaurants have rolled out tempting lunch and dinner repertoires for dine-in and takeaway. The Line, for instance, will serve up a la carte buffet spreads on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Its highlights include seasonal specials such as Canadian lobsters, a Lebanese-style roasted turkey, and tandoori prawns alongside fresh seafood, sushi, sashimi, local delights, Western dishes and desserts. The Christmas Eve dinner comes with a free flow of Prosecco, while Christmas lunch is accompanied by an unlimited supply of Veuve Clicquot Champagne. If Italian cuisine is more your style, head to Waterfall for its Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day brunch, which showcase delectable options such as seafood stew and pan-seared foie gras with chestnut puree.

For a takeaway feast to be savoured in the comfort of home, Origin offers a family set for four that includes bread with mushroom and truffle butter, appetisers of roasted cauliflower and cured salmon, black garlic barbecue Angus short ribs, and desserts of mini macarons and blueberry crumble. The hotel’s Shophouse counter also boasts an array of mouthwatering treats such as roasted turkey with trimmings, beef wellington, and Cajette de Fraises — a dreamy vanilla sponge log cake composed of fluffy honey yoghurt mousse layered atop strawberry confit jam and bedecked with juicy strawberries. The confection, a brand new creation for 2020, is crafted to resemble a crate and even comes fringed with a golden border made from white chocolate.

To make reservations or order festive takeaways from these restaurants, visit shangri-la.com/sgcelebrations, call +65 6213 4398 or email dining.sls@shangri-la.com.

(Main and featured image: The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore)