Cover Milli founders Sheen Jet Leong, Vijay Mudaliar, LG Han (Photo: Milli)
Milli founders Sheen Jet Leong, Vijay Mudaliar, LG Han (Photo: Milli)
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Set atop National Gallery Singapore, Milli is an ambitious new two-storey destination by Han Li Guang, Vijay Mudaliar and the team behind Bae’s Cocktail Club that reimagines the city’s favourite flavours, sounds and rituals—from laid-back lunches to 4am dance floors—into one seamless, all-day experience
There are rooftop bars, and then there are places that attempt to capture the way a city actually lives. Milli—opening atop National Gallery Singapore on May 31—is firmly aiming for the latter. Conceived by nightlife outfit Bae’s Cocktail Club founders Sheen Jet Leong, Dharma Wang, Tora Widjaja and Benjamin Aryanto alongside Han Li Guang of Labyrinth and Vijay Mudaliar of Native, it’s an ambitious, double-storey space that moves seamlessly from day to night, and, more importantly, from one mood to another.
The idea, as managing partner Leong explains, began less as a restaurant and more as a continuation of what Bae’s has always done best: entertainment rooted in collective memory. “We’ve always wanted to create a space that pays homage to Singaporean culture, especially the sounds and music people across generations have grown up with,” he says. When the opportunity arose to take over the former space at the National Gallery Singapore, it came with a catch: both floors, or nothing. “It’s a 6,000-square-foot commitment. We needed more firepower.”
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Above Milli's chicken rice paella by chef Han Li Guang
Above Milli's lobster laksa by chef Han Li Guang
Milli's chicken rice paella by chef Han Li Guang
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That firepower came in the form of Han and Mudaliar, turning what could have been a straightforward rooftop bar into something far more layered: an all-day, all-night destination that tracks the rhythms of the city. Lunch flows into sunset drinks, which give way to dinner, before dissolving into a late-night lounge that runs till 4am on weekends. It is a rarity, particularly within a national monument.
The name itself—Milli, short for millennium—offers a clue to its intent. It’s less about nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake, and more about using it as a springboard. “We talk about novelty and nostalgia,” says Leong. “Referencing memories through flavours and sounds—whether it’s pandan or songs from 30 years ago—but reinterpreting them so it feels relevant now.”
That philosophy plays out most clearly in the food. For Han, Milli marks a deliberate shift away from the cerebral precision of Labyrinth into something more immediate and convivial. “It’s the food I want to eat with friends,” he says simply. Lunch is designed with the Gallery’s daytime crowd in mind. Thus, it is accessible, with the pared-back sets hovering around the $40 mark. Come evening, the tone changes: larger, bolder and unapologetically Singaporean. Think oyster omelette reworked into a soufflé, chicken rice recast as a paella with crisp socarrat, or lobster cheong fun slicked in laksa gravy. Even his once polarising chilli crab ice cream makes a return—this time, less provocation, more party trick.
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Above Peranakan Spritz at Milli, crafted by Vijay Mudaliar
Above The Milli cocktail, crafted by Vijay Mudaliar
Peranakan Spritz at Milli, crafted by Vijay Mudaliar
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Mudaliar approaches the bar with a similar instinct for familiarity, though never at the expense of craft. The cocktail list is tight with six to eight signatures, but each one carries a distinct sense of place. A Peranakan-inspired spritz arrives laced with blue pea and coconut, alongside kueh; a reworked Milli Dollar Cocktail nods to one of Singapore’s earliest bartending legacies. Elsewhere, the everyday ritual of kaya toast and kopi finds its way into a slushie that shifts effortlessly from afternoon refresher to late-night pick-me-up. “A drink has to make sense at 2pm and 2am,” he notes. “Time and place are everything.”
If the rooftop is where things begin, the lower level is where they unravel. Here, the DNA of Bae’s Cocktail Club comes into sharper focus, though not in the way regulars might expect. Where Bae’s leans heavily into hip-hop and R&B, Milli casts a wider net: disco, funk, house, throwback pop, all calibrated to draw a broader, more intergenerational crowd. “We wanted something more inclusive,” says Wang. The setup reflects that ambition, from a Funktion-One sound system to a sprawling LED installation that shifts with the tempo of the night.
Above Sky high dining at Milli, located at National Gallery Singapore
Sky high dining at Milli, located at National Gallery Singapore
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Despite its scale, Milli resists the exclusivity that often defines rooftop venues. There’s no cover charge, and the menu is deliberately tiered with cocktails from $26 and dishes that range from casual bites to larger-format sharing plates. It’s designed, above all, for repeat visits. A place you might drop into for a quick lunch, linger over sunset drinks, or find yourself hours later, still there, as the music swells and the city flickers below.
Opening a project of this scale within a heritage building has not been without its challenges. “You have to be incredibly sensitive,” Han admits. “You can’t just come in and change things.” A year of planning went into navigating the constraints, from operational logistics to ensuring the late-night energy doesn’t encroach on the sanctity of the museum above.
But that tension—between old and new, restraint and release—is precisely what gives Milli its edge. It isn’t just another rooftop with a view. It’s an attempt to bottle something far less tangible: the way Singapore remembers, reinvents and ultimately enjoys itself.
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Images: Milli
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Dudi Aureus is the senior dining and travel editor at Tatler Singapore, covering the city’s most exciting restaurants, global travel trends, and the personalities shaping the culinary and lifestyle scenes. She also serves as co-jury chair for the Tatler Best awards in Singapore, celebrating the very best in hospitality. When she’s off duty, she can often be found at a favourite hole-in-the-wall Thai spot, savouring a perfectly balanced pad thai.
