Singapore’s dining scene keeps expanding outward this August, with new restaurants, cafes and bars landing everywhere from a Botanic Gardens hall to a National Gallery rooftop.
This month’s just-opened list swings between heritage and reinvention: a century-old Katong bakery makes its first move beyond home turf, a ten-year-old Sichuan restaurant relaunches with a sharper culinary identity, and a three Michelin-starred fine diner reopens after a full refurbishment.
Alongside them, a wave of brand-new openings brings Spanish tapas, Japanese omakase, Korean outdoor drinking and French pastry craft to different corners of the island. Here’s what’s just opened in Singapore this August, and the spots we’ve added to our own list of places to check out.
Tembusu
Tembusu has opened in the Ginger Garden of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a Borderless Straits dining house from Fleursophy Group founder Nicole Chen. The kitchen is guided by Executive Chef Dome, formerly of the two Michelin-starred Les Amis, with Head Chef Lime Koh leading day to day.
The opening menu starts local with homemade kaya pullman toast and a nasi lemak of chicken leg berempah and blue-pea basmati rice, before moving further afield through squid ink claypot rice with pacific abalone, an udon laksa with Andaman sea prawn, and stuffed chicken wings finished with Hainanese chilli.
Modern Nanyang brews of kopi and teh, roasted locally from Gia Lai Highlands beans, round things out. The space leans into a maximalist design language, with illustrated ceilings, sculptural timber columns and a garden-facing conservatory.
Address: 1 Cluny Road, Singapore 259569
Website: tembusu.sg
Casa Mori
Casa Mori has opened at Dempsey, pairing Chef Willin Low, widely credited with pioneering mod-Sin cuisine, with Spanish Chef Jose Alonso of Kulto.
The name is a portmanteau of the Spanish for home and Japanese for forest, reflected in a space of terracotta hues and towering columns styled after tree trunks.
The menu plays on that pairing too, from kalipoquetas, a curry puff reimagined as a Spanish croqueta, to garlic huajiao prawns with Szechuan pepper and confit garlic, spring chicken with ginger and scallion relish, and a Hokkien mee fideua built on Argentinian red prawns, clams and mussels.
A weekday set lunch runs from $35++, with brunch and a la carte from $14 on weekends.
Address: 11 Dempsey Road, #01-17, Singapore 249673
Website: casamori.sg
Loulouca
Loulouca has opened on Ann Siang Hill, a day-to-night dessert atelier by Louisa Lim, who spent seven years as pastry chef at the three Michelin-starred Odette and was named Asia’s Best Pastry Chef in 2023.
By day, the space runs as a takeaway pastry gallery with a rotating selection of entremets, including the eponymous Loulouca cake built on Japanese buckwheat tea and Vanuatu vanilla, alongside a Cacao and a Matcha Kaya Pistachio riffing on a Paris-Brest.
In the evening, the room shifts to four plated desserts built around the season, from a lighter, sobacha-inflected Tiramisu to a Shizuoka Melon under a matcha meringue shell.
Small-batch ice cream in sobacha, Earl Grey and pistachio rounds out the day menu. Evening desserts run Wednesday to Sunday, 7pm to 11pm.
Address: 6 Ann Siang Hill, Singapore 069787
Website: loulouca.com
Assaggi
Assaggi has opened on Neil Road, the newest venture from Chef Denis Lucchi, best known for the one Michelin-starred Buona Terra.
The name means “taste” in Italian, and the restaurant runs on set menus only, with no a la carte spread. Two dinner journeys, both $88++, open with welcome snacks and housemade bread before moving into shared courses, from pappardelle with ossobuco to fusilli with capsicum and red prawns, then mains like roasted duck with peaches and fennel, before a tableside paccheri course and a rum baba to close.
Lunch runs three courses from $58++. Cocktails, developed with Bar Kakure, keep to classics like a Negroni and an Espresso Martini, alongside natural and biodynamic wines poured from clay vessels.
Address: 77A Neil Road, Singapore 088903
Website: instagram.com/assaggi.sg
Sushi Ryujiro
Sushi Ryujiro has opened at The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore, Michelin-starred Chef Ryujiro Nakamura’s first Singapore restaurant built entirely under his own direction.
The ten-seat sushiya is led day to day by Head Chef Naruki Ikeda, trained under Nakamura in Tokyo, with seafood flown in four times weekly from long-standing relationships with independent fishermen and specialists like tuna dealer Yamayuki.
Three menus are on offer: a Nigiri Lunch ($228++) of thirteen pieces with maki and dessert, a Lunch Omakase ($298++), and a Dinner Omakase ($428++) built around a chawanmushi with rare sea cucumber innards and a tuna progression through chutoro, akami and ootoro. Wine and sake pairings run from $188++ to $268++.
The room is wrapped in hand-finished clay and rice straw walls, centred on a hinoki counter, with a paper installation by Wanda Barcelona at the entrance.
Address: 15 Stamford Road, #01-88, The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore, Singapore 178906
Website: sushiryujiro.sg
Casa Lola
Casa Lola has opened on Boon Tat Street, FOC Group’s take on a Barcelona neighbourhood bodega. It’s co-founded by husband-and-wife duo Chef Juanjo Carrillo, formerly Head Chef at London’s Michelin-starred Barrafina, and Marcela Pino, and named after Carrillo’s grandmother, whose family-run venta in Jumilla shaped much of the menu.
Tapas run from a chilled salmorejo soup to crispy suckling pig ear with smoked paprika aioli and Iberico chorizo in sherry wine sauce, while mains include huevos estrellados with garlic king prawns and grandma Lola’s baked macaroni ragu.
Seasonal paellas are built on Valencian Molino Roca rice, finished for a crisp socarrat base. Wine comes from wooden barrels and Spanish porrones designed for sharing, alongside house-made sangrias served in terracotta jugs.
Address: 3 Boon Tat Street, Singapore 069612
Website: casalola.sg
Jeju Haenyeo Outdoor Pub
Jeju Haenyeo has opened a new outdoor space in the courtyard of The Arts House, taking its cue from the bulteok, the stone fire pit where Jeju’s diving women once gathered to warm up and eat after work.
The setup leans into that with a mini bulteok fire, Jeju stone walls and dol hareubang figures through the space, alongside dishes rarely seen locally, like horn conch and octopus in a fermented soybean and yuzu dressing, or butter-grilled abalone finished with a sauce made from its own liver.
Some dishes are finished tableside, from bulteok skewers guests grill themselves to a cook-your-own pancake. Drinks run from five cocktails named after the island’s colours to Hallasan soju and kettle-poured makgeolli.
Open from 5pm to midnight, Wednesday to Sunday.
Address: The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane, Singapore 179429
Website: jejuhaenyeosg.com
Chin Mee Chin
Chin Mee Chin has opened its second outlet at NEX, its first move beyond Katong in over a century. The confectionery, founded in 1925 by Hainanese immigrant Tan Hui Dong and stewarded by Ebb & Flow Group, brings its house-made kaya and toast sets to Serangoon.
Toast Sets ($6.50) come with soft-boiled eggs and a hot drink, while bakes span the Luncheon Meat Bun and Hae Bee Hiam Bun to new additions like Curry Potato Pie and Nasi Lemak with Fried Chicken Cutlet.
The kaya cream puff is now a Choux au Craquelin in kaya custard and dark chocolate. Coffee stays central, with kopi and teh joined by Kaya Cloud Kopi and Salted Gula Melaka Cloud Kopi, in a space borrowing pastel hues from the original.
Address: 23 Serangoon Central, B2-60/61 NEX, Singapore 556083
Website: chinmeechin.sg
Xava Skybar
Xava Skybar has opened atop National Gallery Singapore, a 7,000 sq ft rooftop from the team behind Centre of the Universe, spanning shared dining by day and a cocktail-led evening scene after dark.
A bespoke LED ceiling installation shifts through cloudscapes, sunset hues and evening displays throughout the day. Food leans globally inspired, from an Obsiblue king prawn mosaic with tomato gelee and lobster cream to bourbon glazed beef short ribs with corn puree, alongside lighter bites like duck lasagne and petite lobster rolls.
Cocktails, led by Group Head Mixologist Yazid, include the Mango Hour with glutinous rice and mango caviar and a Xava Sling built on guava and longan honey.
A two-course lunch set runs $38++, three courses $48++. Open daily from 11am to 3am, with capacity for up to 190 guests.
Address: 1 St Andrew’s Road, #06-02, National Gallery Singapore, Singapore 178957
Website: xava.co
The Lobby Lounge at Frasers House
The Lobby Lounge at Frasers House has introduced a Symphony of Chocolate Afternoon Tea, running until Nov 15, built around a collaboration with French chocolatier Chocolaterie de L’Opera.
Executive Pastry Chef Jason Goh and Global Pastry World Champion Dexter Lee co-developed the sweets, from a Jamaya 73 per cent travel cake layered with candied orange to a chocolate hazelnut choux filled with diplomat cream.
Savoury bites lean into unexpected pairings too, including a duck foie gras parfait encased in a milk chocolate shell and a wagyu beef cheek finished with smoked caviar and dark chocolate.
Classic buttermilk and bitter chocolate scones round out the spread, alongside a chocolate fondue guests assemble themselves. The tea is served daily on Level One of the hotel.
Address: Frasers House, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Singapore, Level One, 80 Middle Road, Singapore 188966
Website: frasershousethelobbylounge.com
Zén
Zén has reopened on Bukit Pasoh Road after a three-month refurbishment, the three Michelin-starred restaurant’s first major renewal under Björn Frantzén’s Frantzén Group.
The experience now opens at a newly installed 16-seat counter, where seven canapés lead into six courses, paired with sake, wine or a full non-alcoholic route.
Mains move up to the second floor, through dishes like a shima aji crudo with artichoke barigoule and quince, a chawanmushi of abalone and shiitake in beef broth, and wagyu oxtail pressé with morel and fermented kampot pepper, before dessert closes out on the rooftop lounge or Glasshouse.
The redesign, done with Stockholm studio Joyn, leans into earthy browns, raffia and fossilised stone. Head Chef Kelvin Ng continues to lead the kitchen.
Address: 41 Bukit Pasoh Road, Singapore 089855
Website: restaurantzen.com
Nobu Singapore
Nobu Singapore has introduced Sunday Sushi Social, a new lunchtime spread of premium sashimi, hand-pressed nigiri and maki, with the option of free-flow Whispering Angel rose or Hokusetsu Junmai sake.
Alongside it, a bespoke Sake Trolley now runs nightly, guided by Sake Sommelier Robson Massayuki Kagawa through Nobu’s exclusive range from the Hokusetsu Brewery on Sado Island, a partnership dating back to 1994.
Brunch regulars also get an extended After Brunch session at Nobu Bar, a 90-minute stretch of free-flow cocktails and wine for guests on the Classic or Luxe packages.
Sunday Sushi Social runs from noon to 2.30pm at $88++ per person, minimum two, while the Sake Trolley operates nightly from 6pm to 10pm with pours from $22 to $450++.
Address: Nobu Singapore, Four Seasons Hotel Singapore, 190 Orchard Boulevard, Singapore 248646
Website: noburestaurants.com/singapore/home
Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather has relaunched on Amoy Street to mark its tenth year, stepping into a new concept it calls Progressive Chuan Cuisine under Chef-Partner Eugene See.
See, who trained for a decade at fine-dining kitchens including Guy Savoy at Marina Bay Sands, spent years on research trips to Chengdu building his approach to Sichuan cooking from the ground up.
The revamped menu is organised into Small Plates, Sides, Big Plates, To Share and Desserts, with new additions like a cold Abalone.Prawn.Clam over wheat noodles in green tiger’s milk, and a burnt chilli eggplant finished with sun-dried tomato and pickled onion.
The signature Loup De Mer returns upgraded, a whole seabass in a saffron yellow pepper broth infused with Shaoxing wine. Cocktails now lean botanical, with osmanthus, jasmine and rare baijiu worked into a renewed bar programme.
Address: 115 Amoy Street, Singapore 069935
Website: birdsofafeather.com.sg
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This article was first published in City Nomads.
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