Boozy brunches, blow-out buffets and sensible afternoon teas: Here’s where to dine out this Christmas

Celebrations are all about gathering around a table with your nearest and dearest, and tucking into a satisfying feast. If that table isn’t in one of your homes this holiday season, there is no shortage of restaurants serving up the festive spirit. Here’s an array of options. 

HOLIDAY BRUNCHES

We’re all for a languorous brunch because it means we can be back on the sofa by teatime, nursing more champagne and our distended bellies. If that sounds like your kind of wonderful, check out the Harvest Table Sunday Bottomless Brunch (from S$78 or US$60, till Jan 4, 2026) at Bedrock Origin. Expect a selection of hearty cuts of meat, including a 21-day-aged OP ribeye steak and a seven-day-aged bone-in yellowfin tuna. At its sister restaurant, Fireplace by Bedrock, the Sunday Festive Fireside Brunch (from S$68, till Jan 4, 2026) features a line-up of delights like a turducken, prawn arroz caldoso, and brownie s’mores.

A high-energy brunch with DJ beats and performances awaits at the atmospheric Sushi Samba. Throughout December, the 52nd-floor restaurant’s holiday brunches (from S$160) dole out sushi and robata from live stations, a lavish dessert table, and plenty of festive cocktails and champagne to get you in the mood. 

For a proper blow-out Christmas Day brunch, head to The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore, where the annual Christmas Buffet Brunch Extravaganza (from S$298) sprawls across the hotel’s Grand Ballroom. Similarly, Intercontinental Singapore’s Big Christmas Buffet (from S$218) includes a Christmas brunch heaving with everything from seafood on ice, wheels of cheese, Benedict Royale, risotto alla Milanese com ossobuco, and Irish Peking Duck. Not for the faint of heart, these brunch buffets, with their copious amounts of food and champagne, might send you to bed before dinnertime. 

FESTIVE AFTERNOON TEAS

A sensible afternoon tea is just the ticket when you want to keep your holiday free enough to sleep in in the morning and chill at home at night. At The Rose Veranda at Shangri-La Singapore, the Festive Buffet Afternoon Tea (S$48, till Dec 31) offers lovely nibbles, including salmon cornets with caviar pearls, smoked turkey and cranberry choux, salads, soups, log cakes, and desserts in a charming setting. 

The Yuletide Reverie Afternoon Tea at Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel’s Lobby Lounge (from S$34, till Dec 31) tempts with its selection of sweets. Think chestnut noel tartlets, blueberry lemon mousse cake, and mini pistachio sponge with pistachio mousse. Savouries include salmon pate tartlets, truffle cucumber sandwiches, and prawn royale brioche rolls.

Ginger.Lily’s Festive Afternoon Tea (S$78) begins with tipples like a mulled wine sour cocktail or cranberry rose mocktail at the bar, before sweet and savoury bites such as crispy veal stew brioche, foie gras mousse croque, and gingerbread-spiced scones. 

The Nature’s Enchantments Afternoon Tea (from $68, daily till 1 January) at Portman’s Bar offers dainty delights like crab salad cones with mango, crustacean bisque, and braised Black Angus beef in Yorkshire pudding. For dessert, expect green tea Christmas tree cheesecakes and chocolate chestnut reindeers. 

BLOW-OUT BUFFETS

It’s turkey and roast meats galore at hotel buffet restaurants across the island. Just pick one, book a table, and bring the crowd. Among the highlights are Boston lobsters, snow crabs and slow-roasted Australian prime ribs at The Line (from S$68); slow-cooked turkey with chestnut stuffing and pineapple-glazed bone-in gammon ham at Embu (from S$78); and the seafood room at Beach Road Kitchen (from S$98 for weekday lunch), filled with freshly shucked oysters, Boston lobster claws, crawfish and sashimi. Get truffle cream pasta cooked in a Parmesan wheel and turkey in giblet sauce at Lime (from S$78), and Italian sumptuousness (duck foie gras mousse, porchetta, seafood on ice, pasta and more) at Luce (from S$78).

HIT THE ROOF

The festivities hit different when they come with a view. At the vibrant rooftop bar, 1-Altitude Coast at Sentosa, ask for the Festive Coast Platter (S$78), which comes with a generous spread of 1824 MB3 sirloin, honey baked ham, roasted turkey breast, seared barramundi, and spinach and mozzarella arancini. From Dec 8 to Dec 26, 1-Alfaro — set on the 34th storey of Labrador Tower — is serving a Communal Menu (S$88, minimum two diners) that begins with an indulgent bread service and a procession of appetisers including stracciatella cheese with Parma ham, cold cuts and cheeses, and offerings like fried lasagna and tuna and Hokkaido scallop tartare. 

Book Christmas Eve dinner at Australian Japanese wood-fire grill and bar Kaarla, perched on the 51st floor of CapitaSpring, and you’ll get a five-course menu (S$138 per person) of dishes like char-grilled wagyu tri-tip and a platter of Christmas sweets with your view.

At Artemis Grill and Sky Bar, pre-order the Christmas Mixed Grill Sharing Platter (S$388, feeds five), a smorgasbord of F1 wagyu cote de boeuf, turkey breast wrapped with chicken sausage stuffing, Souvlaki lamb chops, grilled brussels sprouts with bacon, and roasted cauliflower with Comte bechamel. There’s a four-course Christmas Sharing Menu (S$128 per person) at sky-high microbrewery LeVel33, available on Dec 24 and Dec 25. You’ll sup on the restaurant’s popular beer-glazed Parker House rolls, which you can slather in truffle butter and sea salt, oysters with blond lager mignonette, Westholme wagyu sirloin, and stout and chocolate log cake. 

EASY DOES IT

The holidays are a great excuse to head to a restaurant you’ve been eyeing or meaning to go back to. If you haven’t found your way to Le Pristine at the Grand Hyatt, this is a good time for it. Among the most underrated big-name-chef restaurants in town, Le Pristine serves Italian fare crafted through the lens of chef Sergio Herman’s New Zealandic roots. The festive set (S$190) and a la carte menus (from Dec 3 to Dec 19) come with many of the restaurant’s popular favourites, including the seafood orecchiette and pizettes.

Another easy favourite is Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s The Dempsey Cookhouse and Bar, whose four-course menu (S$128) is satisfyingly light with dishes like sesame-crusted cod with yuzu and shiso. TWG Tea’s Festive Set Menus (from S$65) features a main course of pan-seared wagyu tenderloin served with truffle sauce, chestnuts, potato mousseline, onion cream and carrots glazed with Red Christmas Tea. Wash that down with a hot mug of fragrant Noel! Noel! Tea or an iced Festive Night Tea.

Holiday dishes at the Le Bon Funk include cured trout with persimmons and horseradish (S$24), duck and foie gras pie with green salad ($64), and pain d’epices ice cream with roasted chestnuts (S$14). Or you could order a good old Yule Log (S$16) that’s served by the slice.