Festive feasting: Consider these restaurants for dining out this Christmas and New Year's

There is a certain charm about a home-cooked holiday dinner, but eating out is just as wonderful when the food is good and the restaurant’s dining room is decked out for the holidays. Here are some tasty spots to hit during Christmas and the New Year, serving festive fare for just about every taste.

BUTCHER'S BLOCK

Chef de cuisine Jordan Keao takes inspiration from his native Hawaii in his new IMUA tasting menus, which he’s launched just in time for the holidays. On Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, the seven-course dinner (S$258 and S$288 respectively) includes a smoked sashimi poke comprising cuts of tuna belly and hamachi (king fish) that call to mind the black sand beaches of his hometown, Hilo. There’s also a dish called Forest, a celebration of seasonal veggies including crispy Brussels sprouts, grilled king oyster mushrooms and coal-roasted beetroot finished with Perigord Black truffles.

The main course is a dry-aged duck that embodies the restaurant’s “whole animal and zero-waste philosophy” and features parts of a Malaysian duck prepared in different ways. There’s also a five-course Christmas Day lunch that at starts at S$188 per guest. Wine pairings start from S$138 per person.

CLAUDINE

At this gorgeous French bistro, the festive lunch menu (S$138) is a three-course affair, while dinner (S$198) comprises four courses. Expect hearty, familial French dishes including carabinero crudo and roasted scallops with fresh chestnuts, pumpkin gnocchi and truffle coulis.

FIAMMA

There is an elegant homeliness about the holiday brunch (available on 17 and 31 Dec) at this well-loved Italian restaurant by acclaimed chef Mauro Colagreco. For S$268 per person, you’ll get a free flow of Roger Coulon 1er Cru Champagne, white and red wines, and Italian spritzers, along with a spread of wood-fired pizzas, Italian cheeses, and oysters on the shell.

Also look forward to dishes like charred lobsters, beef tomahawk, and a slew of desserts. At Christmas Eve dinner, guests can opt for a five-course menu (S$266, includes a flute of champagne) that includes spicy octopus salame with sausage and coriander pesto and gnoccheti sardi pasta with stewed octopus and tomato sauce. The three-course children’s menu is priced at S$78 per head.

HAI TIEN LO

When your family much prefers a barbequed suckling pig to a Christmas turkey, head to Hai Tien Lo at the Pan Pacific Singapore. From now till Jan 1, 2024, this Cantonese restaurant is serving a six-course menu (S$168 per diner) that includes deep-fried sea perch fillet with fresh fruit in barbecue sauce, sliced crispy barbequed suckling pig, and jelly fish with chilled honey pepper ham salad. If you are there to ring in the New Year, head down to the Countdown Party at Pacific Club Lounge where you can buy a seat with a view of the fireworks for S$338 per person.

LEVEL33

For Christmas lunch with a view, head to this sky-high microbrewery for a buffet spread (S$198 per person) that includes a charcuterie station, cheeses, and raw and cured seafood like Australian king prawns with house-made cocktail sauce, freshly shucked Australian oysters, and Tasmanian ocean trout Brut Beer gravlax.

There’ll be Christmas roasts – think slow-roasted Westholme wagyu with Yorkshire pudding, Bangalow free-range roasted pork tomahawk, and free-range Mount Barker beer can chicken. Add S$88 per person for a free flow of house-brewed beers, house wines that are exclusive to Level33, prosecco rose, and soft drinks; or S$158 for a bottle of Barons de Rothschild Brut Champagne.

SPAGO BY WOLFGANG PUCK

Perched on the 57th floor of Marina Bay Sands, Spago by Wolfgang Puck is another stunning option for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve dinner (S$185 and S$200 per person respectively). Among its four-course menu are starters like hamachi and Hokkaido scallop ceviche and the always popular agnolotti with Italian chestnuts and black truffles. Diners can choose from eight mains such as a lobster pie brimming with winter vegetables and black truffles, and pan-seared sea bream served with a laksa broth. For desserts, choose from a billowy salted caramel souffle with Fuji apple sorbet or a delicate raspberry chocolate millefeuille with raspberry lychee sorbet.

THE RITZ-CARLTON, MILLENIA SINGAPORE

The hotel’s popular Christmas brunch extravaganza returns this year with its lavish spread of delights. Anyone who’s ever partaken in this highly anticipated event knows that it’s best to come in loose clothing. Apart from carving stations heaving with everything from roasted turkey and glazed ham to lamb shoulder roast and a la minute pastas, there will be a selection of 40 cheeses from Les Freres Marchand, one of the oldest cheese affineurs in Eastern France.

If you’re coming with children in tow, you’ll be pleased to know that they can tear around in a bouncy castle, occupy themselves with arcade machines and other activities like candle-making workshops and face painting. The Christmas Buffet Brunch Extravaganza is priced at S$328 per person and includes unlimited Champagne Barons de Rothschild Ritz Reserve Brut NV, wines, draft beers, and soft drinks. Prices for children start from S$82. 

THE ASTOR GRILL BY ST REGIS

This classic New York-style grill is known for its dry-aged meats and superlative grills. For Christmas, find braised beef cheeks in red wine sauce and steamed halibut with mashed artichoke and tapenade at the carving station, but not before you nosh on seafood like king fish, Australian rock oysters, Alaskan king crab, and a host of charcuterie and cold cuts. While you graze from the buffet table, chefs will pass around decadent delights like porcini mushroom flan with shaved truffles and desserts. Prices start from S$228 per adult (S$114 per child) for Christmas Eve lunch and dinner.