17 best gourmet set lunches to satisfy fussy gourmands in Singapore

Those longing for a European summer can head down to Fleur de Sel, a modern French restaurant helmed by chef Alexandre Lozachmeur, which serves up the vibrant flavours of the southern coast of France on a plate. Head down for lunch and choose between the six-course Fleur de Sel set lunch menu at $78, or the seven-course degustation set lunch menu that goes for $98. Among the abundance of courses, diners can enjoy French dishes like le foie gras de canard (duck foie gras) and le homard (lobster), in which Lozachmeur serves a lobster bisque with the crustacean prepared tartare style. Le calamar (calamari) brings a touch of the southern French charm featuring prawns and capsicum stuffed squid poached in tomato sauce and dill oil.

Fleur De Sel
Address: 64 Tras Street, #01-01, S(079003), +65 6222 6861

Walk off the street of culinary hotspot Keong Saik Road and into Imbue’s intimate and refined restaurant with wood panelled walls and gold accents. At Imbue, chef Lee Boon Seng leans on his heritage to put a modern twist on classic European cuisine with house-made Asian sauces. With the option of a two or three course set lunch at $58 or $68 respectively, it is the perfect spot for a midday meal with colleagues or friends. Before you begin the treats offered in the set lunch menu, be sure to order the “Malai” bread to share. Inspired by the Chinese classic Ma Lai Gou, Lee’s take perfects both texture and taste. The malt extract brushed over the loaf creates the perfect light bitterness that pairs perfectly with the ginseng honey butter presented beautifully in a honeycomb patten. As your appetiser is served, your experience gets even better. Don’t miss out on Imbue’s grilled octopus charred to perfection creating a duality of crisp and meaty tenderness. Lee proves that he has honed refined flavours with his chilled noodles that are flavoured with perfectly tart plum consummé and flaky beef granita, and crowned with seasonal uni. These appetisers are the perfect foreshadowing of the meal to look forward to with Imbue’s set lunch menu.

Feast on other hearty additions, such as the succulent Mangalica pork loin drizzled with caramel char siu brown butter, a grilled Boston lobster with spice oil, mango, ginger beurre blanc and the luxurious Kaluga caviar. Dessert is elevated with an unconventional chocolate shiitake cremeux, consisting of plum sour cream, pied rice sablé and whisky. 

Imbue
Address: 32 Keong Saik Road, S(089137), +65 6223 7266

Maison Boulud offers a carefully crafted menu with a focus on fresh produce and French classics that pay homage to the home-cooked meals that chef Daniel Boulud enjoyed as a child in Lyon. Prepare to be immersed in the charm of the French Riviera when you order the prix fixe set lunches of two-courses ($62), and three-courses ($72). The menus have something for every palate—from the l’oreiller au pistache (pistachio pillow) and boeuf tartare as one of the starters, to courgette gnocchi or moules et frites (muscles and fries) for your choice of main course.

Maison Boulud
Address: 10 Bayfront Avenue, #B1-15/L1-83, S(018956), +65 6688 6088

Craving celebrity chef Tetsuya Wakuda’s delicious modern Japanese cooking but don’t have time to sit for a chef’s menu that lasts for more than three hours? Opt for his quick and easy set lunches instead, which range from $55 to $92. Wakuda is a master at letting the ingredients’ flavours shine through. You will be able to savour this through the four seasonal appetisers, including the velvety chawanmushi topped with avruga caviar, and homemade egg tofu.

Choose your main course from an expanded selection of 11 dishes; popular favourites include the Japanese kurobuta pork cutlet katsu, made with a heritage breed that is famed for its exquisite marbling and flavourful meat, and deep-fried to a golden finish. Of course, it’s best had with the classic accompaniments of sesame paste, homemade tonkatsu sauce and shredded cabbage.

The Singapore outpost of the two-Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant in Kanazawa, Japan is known for its luxurious 13-course lunch and dinner menus. However, chef Akinori Nakano’s $88 express executive set lunch gives those who are pressed for time the option to enjoy Zeniya’s dining experience as well. The repertoire comprises five to six courses that change every season. Diners can look forward to being surprised by the chef when they choose between Yakimono or Gohan courses. Yakimono refers to the grilled, fried, or broiled dishes, while Gohan translates to ‘cooked rice’ but is otherwise used to refer to a meal in Japan. 

Zeniya
Address: 22 Orange Grove Rd, Level 24 Shangri-La Singapore, S(258350), +65 6213 4571

Read more: The best Japanese counter dining restaurants in Singapore

Along the charming Amoy Street lies Nouri, a restaurant known for its exclusive fine dining experience. Characterised by chef-owner Ivan Brehm’s crossroad cooking, in which global food traditions are celebrated, he and his team’s two-course lunch menu, priced at $82, is the perfect teaser for those wanting a taste of the full Nouri experience.

Cross-cultural flavours come alive in dishes like şalgam, a traditional fermented Turkish beverage which is given a modern spin and presented as a starter of citrus-cured hamachi, kimchi pear and cultured turnip broth. To put a twist on the classic mango salad, Nouri presents the ‘Not a Mango Salad’ of sea bream, saffron and mango purée, lime leaf beurre blanc. 

As one of the stalwarts of French restaurants in Singapore, Gunther’s new set lunch menus are the perfect way to enjoy a dining experience without costing a fortune. Its Express Lunch is $38 and available from Monday to Friday, while the Chef’s Seasonal Lunch Menu is available daily and offers both three and four courses is $58 and $80 respectively. Chef Gunther Hubrechsen’s famed cold angel hair pasta will be sure to attract, especially when diners see that it is garnished with a generous spoon of oscietra caviar.

With the Chef’s Seasonal Lunch Menu changing each month, guests can look forward to being treated over and over again. That being said, don’t miss out on this month’s menu. The smoked toretama egg with seared toro (fatty tuna usually cut from the belly of the fish) stands out with its sweet and sour taste that alludes to Southeast Asian flavours. After choosing one to two starters, guests will have a choice between the grilled half Maine lobster, roasted iberico pork jowl, and grilled Wagyu beef sirloin for their main course. 

Province captures the beloved Southeast Asian charm with its lunch set menu priced at just $68. By leveraging the strengths of regional and local farmers, growers, fishermen and producers, chef Law Jia-Jun takes classic ingredients to showcase the diversity of the region Singapore sits in. Following an assortment of small bites and marinated Momotaro tomato with tomato confit and refreshing shiso sorbet to start, guests have a choice between aged barramundi and sakura chicken. Law’s philosophy uses simplicity to his advantage. By limiting each dish to only five ingredients, he makes the most of each one’s natural flavours and texture. This intentionality certainly translates into the dining experience. He also makes use of charcoal fire to create a familiar wok hei, so expect balance, smoke, and value when you dine at Province.

Ingleside distinguishes its fine dining experience from other restaurants on the island by fusing fermentation techniques with modern European cuisine. Carrying out all fermentation in-house means that the chefs have full control of each ingredient’s flavour profile, refining it to achieve a perfect balance. Ingleside spearheads fermentation culture in Singapore by pushing the boundaries of raw materials used in the process.

The chefs’ mastery of fermentation techniques is experienced through the $58 lunch menu, featuring unique dishes such as the smoked and slow cooked Hungarian duck leg that is dry-aged for seven days to intensify flavour. It is then garnished with grilled forest mushroom and a bordelaise sauce made with lacto-fermented blueberry extract for a subtle tangy umami note. The benefits of fermentation are harnessed in each dish as seen in the Tajima MBS 6-7 Koji Picanha aged in shio koji, a fermented marinade made with just water, salt, and Ingleside's homegrown koji. Ageing the beef in the fermented marinade adds both sweetness and umami while retaining the meat’s succulence.

Ingleside
Address: 49 Tras Street, S(078988), +65 8839 4393

A feast for the eyes and mouth—that’s how Ce Soir’s dining experience is best described. With a focus on merging the beauty of flavour and flora in each dish, Ce Soir makes its set lunch, ‘Seed’, a full package immersive experience for just $88. With seven courses on the aforementioned menu, guests experience the whole range of Ce Soir’s speciality in putting an Asian twist on French flavours.

With classics like bergamot, marigold and hazelnut foie gras, and spring rolls with hatsu bonito, sesame and wasabi leaves to start off the meal strong, guests can then choose from sakura ebi risotto with smoked daikon and shio koji, or Hokkaido A4 Wagyu with sansho pepper, fenugreek, and spring onion for the main course. French and Japanese meet in the first dessert —Gariguette strawberry with earl grey and lavender bavaroise, pistachio and wasabon.

Ce Soir
Address: 5B Portsdown Road, #01-03, S(13911), +65 9177 9993

Italian tradition meets Australian modernity at Cenzo, where chef-owner Drew Nocente creates a unique dining experience inspired by his Italian-Australian heritage growing up on a farm in Queensland, Australia. Cenzo’s two-course set lunch for $38 allows diners to choose from five starters and five mains. Choices include unique Italian dishes like mafaldine beef ragu with pecorino foam, and gramigna mushroom and pistachio pesto. With Nocente’s philosophy of conscious cooking to produce minimal waste, and focus on creating a congenial environment, Cenzo promises a great meal and a good time.

Cenzo
Address: 81 Club Street, S(069449), +65 9155 8374

The flavours of the Celtic nation have found their way to Singapore. At Cure restaurant, diners embark on a culinary journey through the rugged Irish coastlines, enjoying authentic dishes made with ingredients sourced from local farms. Cure, located in Keong Saik Road, invites diners to a unique, wholesome lunch experience. With a two- or three-course set from $78 to $108 per person, take your pick from seafood to warm, comforting pies. Start with an Irish brown crab with seaweed or an Irish duck. The North Sea, which boasts the freshest salmon, is also served up in the kitchen. Diners can pick between a salmon with beetroot tartlet and a salmon en croute with roe butter sauce. Also on the menu is an Irish Gallagher oyster with almonds and dill. For something simple yet satisfying, try the Caife Gaelach—an Irish coffee—and truffle sandwich.

Cure
Address: 21 Keong Saik Rd, S(089128), +65 9338 4207

A car showroom and restaurant may seem an unlikely pair, but not for South Korean restaurant Na-Oh, whose infusion of traditional Korean cuisine with modern culinary techniques will have its gastronomers revved up for seconds. Located in the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore, the restaurant by chef Corey Lee has a four-course Autumn menu starting from $78 per person. The seasonal special is a refreshing combination of healthful fare, with plenty of options for vegetarians. For starters, get a taste of royalty with the tanpyeong-chae jellyfish. Rooted in 18th-century court cuisine, the dish features two seaweed varieties—tot and gamtae—and Swiss chard. For a palate cleanser, try the mungbean jelly salad and balance off the cold dishes with a comforting seolleongtang (long-simmered beef soup with fresh noodles). Alternatively, dig into charcoal-grilled pork bulgogi or hwe-dupbap (assorted raw seafood and vegetables over rice).

Na Oh
Address: 2 Bulim Ave HMGICS, Level 3, S(649674) +65 6263 1548

Authentic Italian cuisine makes for a sophisticated dinner date and is sure to appease fussy gourmands. At Art di Daniele Sperindio, a neo-Italian rooftop restaurant and bar at National Gallery Singapore pairs panoramic views of Marina Bay with a good lunch deal. Try a three- or four-course set for $68 and $88 respectively. For extra indulgence, a special three-course set lunch on Saturdays is priced at $98. 

From the set lunch menu, tuck into a crudo di pescato, a combination of ricciola amberjack, scallop carpaccio and primo olive oil with roasted clementine and nigella. The meat of the meal is corvina invecchiata, a dry-aged sardinian sea bass, galletti mushrooms, trout roe and riesling; or filetto ai 5 pepi, charcoal roasted Angus beef tenderloin with five-pepper brandy sauce and an endive supplement. A hearty Italian fare is not complete without pasta, so dig into piemonte, a 32-egg yolk taglierini with pecorino cremosa, piedmont hazelnut and truffle. For desserts, end the meal with a pesca affumicata, perfumed with binchotan meringata, rosemary peach and timut pepper.

Art di Daniele Sperindio
Address: 1 St Andrew’s Road, 06-02 National Gallery, S(178957) +65 9866 1796

Another buzzy contemporary Italian restaurant can also be found at the National Gallery Singapore. Step into an interior of warm oranges at Gemma Restaurant, which also functions as a 68-seater event space. A three or four course lunch set is available, at $38 and $48 per person. The menu selection, which caters to carnivores, consists of a zucchini salad with roast beef. Indulge in an eliche pasta with osso bucco ragout and aged parmesan. For the mains, a black Angus beef striploin with broccolini drizzled in cream grounds the meal with its succulence and smoked flavour. If you are feeling ambitious, try the swordfish steak with mussel ragout and fennel salad. Round off a meaty meal with a Piedmont bonet, which includes chocolate pudding, amaretto liqueur and hazelnut oil.

Gemma
Address: 1 St Andrews Road 05-03 National Gallery, Singapore 178957 +65 8787 0977

For diners looking to try Nordic foods with Asian influences, they may look no further than Brasserie Astoria restaurant and bar. The charming, Gatsby-esque space located inside Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall also invites gastronomers to a classy dining experience with a two or three course lunch set for $65 or $75 per person. Under the direction of head chef Emil Cecil Ess, the new menu offers a fresh take on brasserie classics. 

Begin with a seafood pepperonata, a hearty stew of yellow peppers and tomatoes, served with seared Hokkaido scallops, Argentinian red prawns, and a zesty galangal aioli. For mains, savour the tagliolini fresca which features Argentinian prawns, grilled squid, fresh tagliolini, cherry tomatoes, and irresistibly rich anchovy butter. Central to the brasserie’s Nordic focus is the seared cod fish with fermented fennel sauce and trout roe, featuring a medley of vegetables cooked a la grecque. Other than unwinding with tipples at the bar, conclude the lunch sweetly with a glazed pecan tart with stout glaze, vanilla crème fraîche, and coffee ice cream.

Brasserie Astoria
Address: 11 Empress Pl, Singapore S(179558) +65 9619 1567

NOW READ

How this restaurant is changing diners’ perception of Vietnamese cuisine

5 fine dining restaurants that also offer à la carte menus in Singapore

The best izakayas in Singapore, according to top Japanese chefs