6 New Makan Spots To Check Out At Dempsey Hill, Like A Supper Club That Opens Till Late

Dempsey Hill is alive — with new eateries setting up shop in the scenic enclave. One is a familiar name: one-Michelin-starred Aussie barbecue restaurant Burnt Ends, which will move from its current Keong Saik digs to a bigger space at 7 Dempsey Road that will also include its popular bakery.

Below are six new eateries to check out while you’re there.

It’s almost impossible to snag a seat at the perpetually booked-out Burnt Ends helmed by Australian chef Dave Pynt, though we hope it wouldn’t be a long wait to dine at its new Dempsey home, which is slated to open this December. Its standalone bakery is already open for business; you can preorder bakes like doughnuts, cookies, scones, focaccia and sourdough bread from the bakery’s website and collect them on-site, or buy ’em on the spot. The friendly staff recommends that we drop by at 9.30am for the good stuff, because a lot of the menu items sell out by early afternoon.

7 Dempsey Rd, S249671. Open Thu-Sun, 8am-3pm. Bakery preorders at https://bakery.burntends.com.sg.

Chef Julien Royer of three-Michelin-starred Odette opens Claudine, a buzzy new casual French restaurant. It’s located in the same restored chapel that used to house mod-European fine-diner The White Rabbit (all the restaurants are owned by the same parent company, The Lo & Behold Group). A meal at the 102-seat Claudine, which calls itself a “French restaurant for the present day”, costs around $120 per head not including libations. It’s a lower price point than at Odette, where a lunch tasting menu starts from $268.

Expect French classics like vol-au-vent, a light, buttery case of puff pastry filled with veal sweetbread and morels, along with mod-Sin nosh that’s a reflection of the chef-owner’s time in Singapore with the addition of prawn heads in bouillabaisse (a Provencal fish stew). Alas, you will have to wait a bit to dine here; the restaurant is fully booked till mid-January 2022. Claudine’s PR rep tells us that they are “able to accommodate a limited number of walk-ins based on availability” for light bites at the bar and lounge area, but “we still strongly recommend reservations”. Join the waitlist and hope it moves fast, we say.

39C Harding Rd, S249541. Open daily except Mon, 11.45am-2pm; 6pm-9.30pm. www.claudinerestaurant.com.

Hokkaido native chef Yuji Sato, formerly from Hashida Singapore, opens his own sushi restaurant at Dempsey. The cosy space, tucked away in a secluded spot on the hill, looks like it’s nestled in a corner of Kyoto, with just six counter seats that are all fully booked till January 2022 (a private room will open after Covid-19 restrictions lift). Diners are greeted by a little zen garden at the door, and chef Sato holds court at a dramatic counter within, made with 200-year-old hinoki wood.

The chef offers omakase menus ranging from the $150 Uruoi course for lunch to $480 for the Kokoro course for dinner. For our Tomi lunch course ($300), he serves 13 types of dishes including a fab, delicately-grilled mackerel brushed with shoyu and ponzu, along with a medley of nine nigiri sushi with standouts like flounder fin, ootoro (bluefin tuna belly), zuke maguro (soy-marinated tuna) and striped yellow jack, plus an uni and ikura rice bowl and a negitoro seaweed-wrapped roll that the chef hands directly to us, stuffed with gleaming, lightly-vinegared rice and melt-in-your-mouth fatty tuna.

6B Dempsey Rd, S247662. Opens daily except Sun, 12pm-3pm; 6.30pm-10.30pm. www.sushi-sato.com.

After helming Ola Cocina Del Mar, Tonito Latin American Kitchen and the defunct Tono Cevicheria, husband-and-wife chefs Daniel and Tamara Chavez’s latest concept is Canchita, which serves “fine Peruvian cuisine” that ranges from tapas, grilled meats, seven types of ceviche with the citrusy chilli-based tiger’s milk marinade, tacos with a wagyu beef option and Peruvian rice dishes like Arroz Chaufa ($36), the country’s version of Cantonese-style fried rice.

9A Dempsey Rd, S247698. Open daily except Mon, Tues-Fri 12.30pm-2.30pm; 6pm-10pm, Sat & Sun 12pm-10pm. www.canchita.sg.

Billing itself as “Singapore’s largest organic store and natural food restaurant”, Terra Madre is made up of a restaurant with an adjoining retail space that stocks mostly Australian organic products ranging from baking ingredients to pantry essentials such as oats and pasta. At the eatery, you can dig into Australian-inspired fare like Smashed Avocado with Vine Leaf Verde on sourdough toast ($24), Grilled Whole Red Snapper ($58) and salads like the organic quinoa-based Fire-Baked Butternut ($28) with your choice of a protein like spatchcock chicken.

#01-02, 71 Loewen Rd, S248847. Open daily 8am-10pm. www.instagram.com/terramadresg.

For every last Saturday of the month, “lifestyle, social and dining space” Siri House has launched an SH Supper Club that opens from 11.30pm till late. The concept works like this: you book a ticket ($24++ per pax) which includes a grilled cheese sandwich, tomato soup and a non-alcoholic cocktail (choose from six types) for your supper, and you can top up for more comfort grub such as lobster mac & cheese, truffle fries and buffalo wings. If you show up in pyjamas from local sleepwear line Rawbought, you also get a complimentary glass of non-alcoholic Gnista Barreled Oak ‘spirit’. The house’s pop-up store in collaboration with Crane Living will also open till late for homeware shopping.

#01-02, Block 8D Dempsey Rd, S249672. www.sirihouse.com.

Additional reporting by Alvin Lim