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Time Out
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
5 new restaurants in Singapore to check out this July 2025
New restaurant chatter might have quietened down a little these days, but July is still bringing some seriously exciting arrivals to Singapore's food scene. This month, beloved stalwart Cherry Garden returns as Cherry Garden by Chef Fei, fronted by the two-Michelin-starred maestro from Guangzhou. In Chinatown, Leila is turning heads with its bold Middle Eastern and Mediterranean fare, paired with cocktails that invite you to stay on till late. Over at Marina Bay Sands, feast sky-high at the hotel's newest Chinese fine-dining destination where refined Cantonese dishes meet a full-on Gong Fu tea ceremony led by an acclaimed tea master. Sushi lovers, don't miss Keijo, a serene Edomae-style omakase that puts vinegared rice front and centre. And on Ann Siang Hill, a unique modern Australian bistro concept is the latest buzz in town, thanks to its hidden underground bar. Ready your appetite – these are July's must-try new openings. Explore Singapore's 2025 restaurant openings by month: New restaurants in January New restaurants in February New restaurants in March New restaurants in April New restaurants in May New restaurants in June Find out which are the best new restaurants that opened in Singapore this year. 1. Cherry Garden by Chef Fei After a major glow-up, 38-year-old Cherry Garden at Mandarin Oriental returns with a brand-new identity and a Michelin-starred name behind the kitchen. Now known as Cherry Garden by Chef Fei (behind two-Michelin-starred Jiang by Chef Fei in Guangzhou), the restaurant reopens on July 2 with a refreshed menu that combines the best of Cantonese and Teochew cuisine – think seafood signatures, handcrafted dim sum and the like. Chef Fei hails from Chaoshan, Guangdong, so it's no surprise that his signature dish is wok-fried lobster swimming in a tangy broth of basil and pickled mustard greens – ingredients representative of the region. Other highlights include a fiery toss-up of wagyu beef with Sichuan peppercorns and chilli, or for something milder on the palate, the delicate Crucian Carp congee served with an array of condiments. Cherry Garden's interiors are just as elegant, with wooden details, textured stone walls and design elements that call back to China's traditional courtyards. Address: 5 Raffles Ave, Mandarin Oriental Singapore, Level 5, Singapore 039797 Opening hours: Daily noon-2.30pm, 6pm-10pm Expect to pay: From $138 per person for the lunch set menu. 2. Leila Singapore Chinatown's competitive food scene welcomes a bold entrant. Resto-bar Leila is the newest addition to Teck Lim Road, and the swanky joint promises vibrant plates chock full of flavour, drawing inspiration from Middle Eastern cuisine as well as the Meditarannean and Balkans. Sink your teeth into grilled halloumi skewers with za'atar and honey, or order up a plate of Ku-Bye-Nye, the restaurant's take on Arabic beef tartare with sumac aioli. The kitchen also takes pride in its house-made breads, grilled meats and seafood specialties, but rivalling the food menu is a stacked drinks list that invites you to stay on till late. Mediterranean flavours take over the cocktail menu, and you can either order up a classic tipple or go bespoke. Wine lovers will be pleased to see a sprawling menu with labels sourced from across Southern France, Italy, Spain and Greece. Address: 12 Teck Lim Rd, Singapore 088390 Opening hours: Tue-Sun 6pm-1am Expect to pay: Around $80 per person for sharing dishes and drinks. 3. Jin Ting Wan Marina Bay Sands is home to a couple of sky-scraping dining venues like Spago, LAVO and CÉ LA VI. These all serve Western nosh, but new contender Jin Ting Wan (金蜓湾) is here to bring some fresh variety with its Chinese menu, starting July 23. The restaurant is perched 55 floors up in Marina Bay Sands' Tower 1, and is dubbed Singapore's highest Cantonese restaurant. Helming the kitchen is Executive Chef Albert Li – whose resume includes Michelin-starred establishments across China, like Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine in mainly refined, modern takes on classic Yue (Cantonese) cuisine, with occasional references to Teochew, Hakka, and Shun De cooking styles. Chef Li's signature duck with black pepper is slow-roasted over lychee wood and served atop house-made pandan bread, while his seasonal drunken mantis shrimp are marinated Teochew-style in huadiao wine, citrus peel and preserved plum for a glossy, 'candied' texture. But it's not just about the food. There's a full Gong Fu tea ceremony led by Tea Master Jacky from Wynn Palace Macao and the Grand Lisboa Hotel, showcasing a jaw-dropping spread of Chinese tea – seven categories and 80 varietals to be exact. Address: 10 Bayfront Ave, Marina Bay Sands Singapore, Tower 1, Level 55, Singapore 018956 Opening hours: Open for lunch and dinner daily Expect to pay: A full menu with prices has not yet been released. Check out Jin Ting Wan's website for the latest updates. 4. Keijo If you're wondering what happened to Shinji by Kanesaka at Carlton Hotel, the one-Michelin-starred joint has since made way for Keijo, which quietly opened back in April. Head Chef Naoya Nakamura and Chef Andrew Lin offer an Edomae-style omakase experience for guests with the usual suspects of sushi, sashimi and seasonal washoku dishes, except they've given themselves an added task: to let the rice do the talking instead. Shari (vinegared rice) plays a revered role in omakase, and Keijo exclusively uses Tsuyahime grains from Yamagata Prefecture, which is fine-tuned to precision for each individual cut of fish. To top it all off, this rice-obsessed philosophy doesn't just stop at the main dishes, but spills over into curated sake flights and rice-based desserts which switch up by the season. Address: 76 Bras Basah Rd, Carlton Hotel Singapore, Lobby, Singapore 189558 Opening hours: Mon-Sat noon-3pm, 6pm-10.30pm Expect to pay: From $98 to $268 for lunch, and from $198 to $398 for dinner. 5. Club Street Laundry Tranquil by day, buzzy by night – Ann Siang Hill and Club Street are home to some of the best-kept secrets of Singapore's food and drink scene. This year, the trendy locale welcomes an Australian bistro and hidden underground bar, taking over the corner unit at the famous three-way intersection beside Ann Siang Hill Park. If you're looking for a place to people-watch, Club Street Laundry fits the bill perfectly. The breezy, open-concept bistro has high tables perched along walkways, staring out at the charming shophouses around the neighbourhood. The menu is positioned as modern-Australian, but really, Chef Justin Hammond (previously from Neon Pigeon and Underdog Inn) works his way around any and every flavour profile just fine, with dishes based off his travels around the world. Think beef cheeks with ahi verde over buttery mash ($33); grilled sea bream in a rich lemon-caper sauce ($31); and charred leeks ($15) inspired by a nostalgic childhood dish of stuffed chicken and leeks. After dinner, head down to Hup San Social Club – a 12-seater bar below the restaurant – for banging cocktails by award-winning bartender June Baek.
Eater
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
A Modern Plant-Based Chinese Restaurant and Tea Lounge Opens in Echo Park
When Minty Zhu and chef Alex Falco moved from Miami to Los Angeles, the husband-and-wife team hit the ground running by scouting locations, initiating pop-ups in Los Angeles's vegan restaurants, and, finally, signing a lease in Echo Park in March 2025. Men & Beasts debuts on June 18 with a modern plant-based twist on Chinese classics and a curated tea program in the former Cosa Buona space. The couple closed their award-winning Miami restaurant, Minty Z, in the summer of 2024, and kept an eye on relocating to Southern California. Six years ago, the couple stayed in an Airbnb just a few blocks from their future restaurant. They finally moved to LA in the fall of 2024. 'We love LA and are very excited to be in this neighborhood and be part of the community,' says Zhu. Zhu and Falco chose their restaurant's name from a quote by the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius: 'Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?' Men & Beasts focuses on reimagining traditional Chinese dishes with seasonal ingredients, a vegan lens, and an all-homemade approach — all of its vegan proteins, doughs, and dim sum are made in house. Zha zhang mian noodles with fried bean sauce and kung pao tofu comprise the wok-fried section, while cold menu dishes include smashed cucumber and spicy tofu. Dim sum options are pan-fried dumplings with shiitake mushrooms, salt and pepper wings made with seitan, baby carrots with black sesame and mint, and a Los Angeles–influenced elote puff with taro, sweet corn, cashew, cilantro, and lime. Only a handful of Los Angeles restaurants offer tea ceremonies in Los Angeles, including Chinatown's Steep LA and Koreatown's Chado Tea Room. Men & Beasts hopes to engage its diners with a Gong Fu tea ceremony. 'We work exclusively with [the Arcadia-based] Yoshantea,' says Zhu. Gong Fu Cha translates to 'making tea with skill' and will follow Taiwanese tea-making traditions. The tea ceremony is $24 per person, or $20 for a pot of jade green oolong, jasmine, and more. They sourced wines from the Angeleno Wine Co. and Moorpark's Friendly Noise, while beers hail from Glendale's Brewyard Beer Company. Non-alcoholic options are Long Beach's Fine Feathers Kombucha, cold brew oolong, and Mexican Coke. The corner of Sunset Boulevard and Alvarado Street is a prime spot for the Men & Beasts. Zhu and Falco spent three months reworking the space by re-exposing the formerly covered bare brick walls, removing the booths, and installing a tea room with a long community table with two- and four-top tables that seat 48. Men & Beasts has a separate tea room lounge that seats 24, plus a private dining area. Echo Park lost a group of vegan (or formerly vegan) restaurants in recent years with the closing of Elf and Sage Regenerative Kitchen. Both changed their menus from plant-based to meat before shuttering to focus on future projects (Elf), or failing to find its footing after adding regenerative meats to the menu (Sage). With Men & Beasts' introduction into the neighborhood, the local community gets a fully vegan option that is betting on itself — and its own unique lens. Men & Beasts is open Tuesday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., with weekend brunch service debuting later this summer at 2100 W. Sunset Boulevard, Echo Park, CA, 90026. Secure a table via Resy . See More:
