· BURPPLE

New Restaurants, Cafes & Bars In Singapore: March 2021

Can you believe it's already March? New restaurants and cafes continue to pop up around Singapore like mice, but we're not complaining. Here are the hottest spots to check out this month, including a steampunk-inspired lounge with insanely spicy wings!


Nusantara Singapore

For Authentic Nusantara Cuisine
Travel ban blues got you feeling down? Perk up with some authentic Malay and Indonesian food from Nusantara at Frasers Tower! With recipes hailing from generations before, Nusantara uses traditional techniques to create their dishes. Offering both vegetarian and vegan options as well, Nusantara has something for everyone. Their Belimbing Lamb Bowl ($15.90) comes with fork-tender charcoal-grilled lamb, coated in a rich belimbing sauce that's just sedap! Remember to get their flavour bomb sambals with your meal. Don't sleep on their Tempoyak sambal, a fermented durian sambal sure to surprise!

Fat Belly Social Steakhouse
Photo by Burppler Joe Yang

For Communal Steakhouse Dining
Serving up unconventional cuts of steak, Fat Belly Social Steakhouse lives up to its name and offers large format plates perfect for sharing with your friends! Located conveniently in the CBD along Boon Tat Street, it's the perfect setting to wine down after work with your mates. Burppler Jia Yue Toh has "nothing but praise for the Zabuton steak - rich flavour, tender... Each bite was an absolute delight". Finish your meal with an Eton Mess ($16), which Sarah Koh said "was truly a work of art, a perfect balance between taste and aesthetic." Or try their Burnt Stilton Cheesecake ($16) made with Stilton blue cheese, perfect for true blue cheese lovers!

Lil Tiger

For Mexican & Drinks
Start your night with a roaring good time at Lil Tiger, a cocktail bar and restaurant located at Robertson Quay. They'll guarantee you a good time with grilled meats from their Binchotan Fired Inka Oven, paired with creative and tropical cocktails. Raw bar lovers will love their Scallop Tartare ($20) served with a refreshing lime vinaigrette. Try their Hanger Steak ($30), a flavour-packed cut cooked to perfection with a smoky char from their Binchotan grill! Finish (or start) your night with their Hampton Sunset ($19), a tropical cocktail with pineapple, apricot, lime and rum, which is sure to give you vacation vibes.

Rails Bar & Lounge

For a Steampunk Era Bar Adventure
Step into Rails and immerse yourself in a 19th-century steampunk enclave, shaking up era themed cocktails and delicious bites! Located in Tanjong Pagar, Rails proves all you need to escape the mundane is your imagination (and a cocktail or two). Solve your own Murder on the Orient Express ($25), a smooth and sneaky mix of absinthe, coffee liqueur, pineapple and pear juices. Not to be outdone, their food menu boasts punchy and spicy flavours, serving up Nashville style hot chicken sliders and wings. Go for their Wakie Brekkie Wrap ($12.90), packed full of breakfast foods and lovingly wrapped up in a blanket of crispy cheese. Hot heads have to try their 'Insane' spice level wings, which might leave you needing a cold shower after... consider yourself warned!

Fahrenheit Coffee
Photo by Burppler Xing Wei Chua

For Chill Cuppas in Bugis
Located within SPA CLUB along Beach Road, Fahrenheit Coffee offers a simple and stripped-down menu of the usual coffees and a small selection of light bites, perfect for a quick peck between meals. Unwind with your choice of coffee and enjoy some of their pastries. Burppler Xing Wei Chia particularly enjoyed the Cardamon Bun, which he felt replicated the taste of cinnamon, albeit with more punch. Another pastry worth trying is their variety of caneles, ranging from local Kaya to well-loved Cookie Butter.

Geylang Drip City
Photo by Burppler Nobelle Liew

For the Hippest Coffee Joint in the City
Pouring up a mean cup of coffee is Geylang Drip City, the first speciality coffee bar in Geylang, complete with a monochrome interior decor that showcases an edgy side of them. Their coffee packs a punch in flavours and their baristas are real serious about coffee education as well. Boasting beans from The Community Coffee, they've got a carefully selected variety of beans to cater to all types of tastebuds. Burppler Nobelle Liew tried their Soul Plane (a piccolo + a single shot of espresso on the side) and said "Their exceedingly complex shot was very bold, boasting very distinct notes of citrus and chocolate, with a solid fragrant crema and a good hit of acidity too."

Equate Coffee
Photo by Burppler Cassie Ong

For Literal Hole-In-The-Wall Coffee
From the masterminds behind Habitat Coffee, Equate Coffee is bringing a fresh energy to old school Tanjong Pagar Plaza. With a minimalist decor dotted with subtle emblems of mathematical symbols alluding to their name, Equate is a stripped-down coffee place focusing on pouring quality cups of joe and serving light bites and pastries. Burppler Cassie Ong says their Flat White is "low in acidity and smooth in body." Their Ondeh Mountain ($7) is "drenched with Gula Melaka, the cake is soft and fluffy, whilst encasing a filled cream cheese core within to give the cake an added moisture and richness; adequately sweet, slightly tangy and with a slight hint of Pandan" as described by Burppler Xing Wei Chua.

CARNE
Photo by Burppler Julius Lim

For Sustainable Burgers
After much hype and fanfare, Carne is finally here in Singapore! The casual burger joint located in Telok Ayer is the passion project of Chef Mauro Colagreco, who clinched the title of the World's Best Restaurant in 2019. It focuses on the freshest ingredients coming together to make an amazing burger experience. Think top-quality grass-fed Classic Burger ($19.50) which Burppler Nobelle Liew loved, and said it was "densely packed, juicy, succulent, perfectly medium, wonderfully seasoned". Their fries are thick cut and fried not once, but thrice to become "exceptionally crisp with its shattering golden brown batter on the exterior", as Burppler Xing Wei Chia described them.

Marcy's

For Contemporary Seafood Fare
Marcy's is changing things up on Duxton Road with its unique Latin American and Italian inspired plates. With a cosy and welcoming interior, their menu comprises mostly of seafood dishes, save for one or two, much to the delight of seafood lovers. Start with their Clams, with Calabrian Chilli, Harissa and Sichuan Oil ($16), from their small plate section, which is a collision of spices across continents that results in a bold explosion of flavours. Their Rigatoni, served with Wine Braised Octopus and Beef Tendon ($31) is downright comforting and hearty, and sure to satisfy. Don't miss their cocktails that put small twists into the usual classics. Their Melakatini ($23) is a variant of an espresso martini, complete with luscious Gula Melaka.

Friends BKT

For Singaporean Bak Kut Teh
Brought to us by the same people behind Zaffron Kitchen and Prata Wala, Friends Bak Kut Teh at 100AM Mall showcases two signatures renditions of broth - herbal and the peppery Teochew style. To cater to local palates, the former uses more herbs than the typical Klang-style Bak Kut Teh, and is thus sweeter. Their menu also offers a unique take with the Lamb-Kut-Teh, which also blends both styles of soup. Other local favourites include Braised Pork Leg and zi char favourites like Thai-style Steamed Sea Bass, Prawn Paste Chicken and Salted Egg Prawn!