Where to feast this Christmas

Within the stately confines of The Summerhouse’s black and white colonial bungalow, the Yuletide celebrations are in full swing with festive specials that kick off early in the month.

But for those dining out on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the restaurant is pulling out all the stops with its garden domes decorated like snow globes, making it the perfect backdrop for its extravagant nine-course meal that includes Loch Fyne Oyster with dashi granita and nori; a foie gras terrine on sour dough accompanied with pickled pearl onion and gherkin together with festive mulled wine.

Alternatively, the dining room’s doors are open for a communal brunch and dinner spread with Christmas essentials like the whole roasted turkey stuffed with bacon and pistachio; and honey baked bone-in ham with cranberry sauce.

Date: 24 and 25 December

Time:  The Summerhouse Communal Christmas Brunch, 11am-3pm
The Summerhouse Communal Christmas Dinner, 6pm-10pm
The Summerhouse Snow Domes, two seating times, 6pm-8pm and 8.30pm-10.30pm

Last year’s titleholder for the Best Dining Experience award is sparing no expense this festive season. Great food meets art once again, in a five-course menu that weaves gorgeous plating with impeccable ingredients and execution in dishes like the foie gras pate with port wine glaze and hazelnut brioche; poached Boston lobster with sauce Americaine and baby spinach; and grain-fed beef tenderloin with béarnaise and potato mille feuille.

Date: 25 December

This Christmas, LeVel33 takes your Yuletide celebrations to new heights. At the world’s highest microbrewery, a three-course menu combines festive flavours with the restaurant’s signature brews. The honey-roasted ham with caramelised pineapple, for instance, is glazed with house-brewed IPA. The Beef Wellington is cooked in a stout jus, while the Italian Christmas Panettone comes with a rich sauce made with a seasonal bock beer. To take the feasting up a few levels, order a sharing platter of a whole lobster, 1.2kg rib steak, or a seafood platter comprising of scallops, crayfish, salmon, and oysters.

Date: 24 to 26 December

Here’s how you can enjoy Christmas at Oakwood Premier AMTD Singapore: Begin with a Yuletide cocktail or two at The Bar, where the festive concoctions include the Holiday Spritz, which is a fizzy sparkling wine and pomegranate blend, and the Yuletide Mule, a feisty combination of vodka, ginger beer, cranberries and lime.

Once you’re in high spirits, move along to the Se7enth for a three-course dinner that starts with a comforting bowl of roasted pumpkin and orange with Alaskan crab meat soup. Your choice of main course includes: Christmas duck confit served with chestnut Brussel sprouts and mushroom ragout; oven baked cod fish with sweet potatoes and cream spinach with parmesan and garlic butter; or a seafood baked rice with meaty morsels of king crab, shrimp, mussels, and squid.

Date: 12 to 26 December

Time: 6pm to 9.30pm

Nestled away in Sentosa is Capella, a serene destination for your Christmas get together. At the Grand Ballroom Foyer, tuck into its decadent Christmas Day brunch that’s best enjoyed with free-flow of Billecart-Salmon Brut Réserve NV Champagne, wines, beers, as well as cocktails. Alternatively, The Knolls offers a Mediterranean take on Yuletide feasting, with a three-course lunch or a five-course dinner on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  It’s even pulling out all the stops with entertainment. Expect Christmas carolling, electric animal rides, and a magic show for the kids to enjoy while you dig into your feast.

Christmas Day Brunch at the Grand Ballroom Foyer

Date: 25 December

Time: 12.30pm-3.30pm

Christmas Eve and Day Lunch at The Knolls

Date: 24 December 
Time: 12pm-2.30pm

Christmas Eve Dinner at The Knolls
Date: Tuesday, 24 December
Time: 7pm-10pm

Christmas Day Dinner at The Knolls
Date: 25 December 
Time: 7pm-10pm 

Sofitel Singapore City Centre pays homage to its French roots this Christmas with haute couture and its tailor made experiences. In line with the theme, Racines, its French-Chinese restaurant, is dressed up as a Christmas atelier, with buffet dinner specials for Christmas Eve  and brunch on Christmas Day. Dishes of the day include French ravioli stuffed with winter harvest truffles and Royan cheese; pan-seared foie gras with kumquat marmalade and escargot cooked in parsley butter and finished with a béarnaise; as well as Chinese-style spicy pepper glazed smoked pork ribs and scallops and prawns in a chilli crab sauce. Complete your meal with sweet treats of white chocolate toffee with pear compote and coconut mousse with passionfruit and banana crémeux, then toast to the season with cocktails over at 1864. Tipples are a range of flavours, with Vogue combining Grey Goose vodka, probiotic milk and acai syrup; Silly Symphony blending espresso, which is Nola coffee liqueur and raspberry syrup with vodka.

Date: Christmas Eve dinner, 24 December, 6pm to 10pm

Christmas Eve brunch, 12.30pm to 3.30pm

Perched atop Telok Blangah Hill, Alkaff Mansion is the perfect spot for a memorable Christmas celebration. Come Christmas Day, the grounds will resemble a Yuletide carnival with a snow machine diffusing big white puffs to delight kids and adults alike, along with an ice cream station, balloon sculpture activities, and a bouncy castle to keep the little ones occupied for hours.

Head to UNA for brunch, where small bites like Iberian cold cuts, and croquetas de salmon Iberico will whet your appetite for mains such as arroz con pollo y huevo, a creamy rice dish with chicken, sausage, egg flavoured with saffron; and papada de cerdo Iberico, a chargrilled pork jowl served with sides like roasted cauliflower with almonds and Idizabal, a famed Basque cheese Idiazabal. You’ll want to leave room for desserts, particularly for the Intxaursaltsa, a Basque pudding made with walnut milk and topped with cinnamon and candied walnuts.

A four-course dinner menu is set to entice at celebrity chef restaurant dB Bistro & Oyster Bar on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Kickstart your meal with the foie gras mabre with pistachio, celery and red wine gelée, before digging into the boeuf en croûte, classic filet mignon blanketed in a flaky crust and duxelle mushrooms. Dessert is a traditional black forest bûche de noel with bourbon ice cream.

Start your Christmas day right with a big brunch. The three-course set includes a selection of mains you can pick from, including croque madame, black truffle omelette, and the duck hash and eggs, dessert, and a crab and avocado tartine starter.

You simply can’t dine at Bread Street Kitchen without trying the Gordon Ramsay signature: The Beef Wellington. This is best enjoyed in the higher tier Royal Festive menu, a three-course treat with sharing platters for group celebrations. The starter board, for instance, features chicken, rabbit, and foie gras, seared scallops with a spiced red lentils puree and chorizo, as well as a Welsh rarebit, stuffed mushroom, mulled berries with a parsley crumb. The aforementioned Beef Wellington makes an appearance on the main board, alongside roasted stuffed turkey breast and a braised turkey leg with mashed potatoes, roasted parsnips, and pork crackling.

Date: Available all day on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Drink in views of downtown Singapore at Spago on Christmas Eve. Located on the 57th floor, its festive special is a four-course menu that presents an imaginative take on Californian cuisine. The Hamachi Tiradito is a flavour-packed dish of cucumber-jackfruit relish with a creamy avocado, spicy sesame vinaigrette and Kashmiri chilli. Meaty mains include lobster pot pie stuffed with French black truffles, winter vegetables and shellfish velouté, and smoked Maple Leaf Farms duck breast served with bacon confit, chanterelle mushrooms and apple-rosemary compote. Round off your meal with the restaurant’s pillowy soft salted caramel soufflé, or the raspberry chocolate millefuille, a cathedral of a dessert with layers of chocolate cremeux, raspberry jam, chocolate shortbread, and a fruity raspberry lychee sorbet.

Date: 24 December 2019