Aerin’s
This eatery comes from the people who brought us Whitebait & Kale but don’t expect the same level of food creativity, or W&B’s laid-back vibe. Aerin’s is slap-bang in the middle of Raffles City’s basement, but it is a convenient spot for a bite of modern bistro cooking if you happen to be there shopping. Food generally arrives swiftly although service can be unreliable.

Bar & Billiard Room
Raffles was arguably the first hotel to get Sunday brunch down to a fine art, and they know that their gourmet buffets always prove popular. The evening international seafood buffet now does such a roaring trade that it doesn’t really operate as a bar any more, and you have to sit outside and contend with smoke from the buffet’s barbecue if you just want to have a drink here. This is a real shame because while the food is impressive, this used to be a wonderful spot to kick back with a G&T to the languid strumming of the resident band.

Barnacles
The setting is about as waterfront as you’ll get in Singapore (which means it’s better at night, when the lights from the petrochemical plants sparkle on the water), and the name gives the game away when it comes to cuisine. Fortunately the décor is not (quite) as cheesy as the name, and the seafood is actually rather good. Eat alfresco to avoid the arctic conditions, blue uplighting, and wave-patterned ceiling inside. There are European and local chefs, so authentic eastern and western seafood dishes are the order of the day. There is categorically no relationship to The Simpson’s Barnacle Bill’s Home Pregnancy Test.

Café 2000
Serves Western and Asian fare. It is equally suitable for a quick sandwich at lunchtime or dinner à deux after the sun goes down.

Café Brio’s
Located at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Café Brio’s offers a choice of indoor dining or alfresco by the river. The choices continue when it comes to the food: Buffet or à la carte? Notable for its Sunday brunch too.

Café Les Amis
It’s hard to believe this little gem is nearly 10 years old. The open-air seating allows you to take in the flora and fauna – of the animal and tourist variety – and enjoy the splashing fountains. The menu offers both local and western food, and being a Les Amis outlet you know everything is going to taste good. An early morning cappuccino with pastries here is a ritual for many. We love the fact that dogs are not only welcome, but they’ll get your pooch a bowl of water too.

Café Swiss
The bright, airy atrium of the Swissôtel The Stamford makes a pleasant enough hotel dining location. At breakfast it’s mainly hotel guests, but the semi-buffet lunch and à la carte dinners are a different story. The name suggests Swiss cuisine – hence the variety of Swiss specialities to choose from – but there are other items on the menu as well.

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Swissôtel The Stamford, 2 Stamford Road, Level 2, +65 6431-6225

Capers
The Regent’s café, Capers, is renowned for its upmarket buffet. The Sunday brunch may not be as popular as others but it’s definitely worth a visit. The à la carte menu offers a good selection of creative international food. There’s even a supervised kids room.

Coffee Lounge
The cuisine is Asian and western, and the setting is oldfashioned, European opulence. This is a great place for visiting relatives or friends, or just for whiling away a rainy afternoon.

Doc Cheng’s
We wonder why Raffles decided to make changes to the venerable Doc Cheng’s. It was always a favourite of ours for entertaining overseas guests, but we find the menu and décor changes slightly disappointing. The food is still ok, a mix of east and west, but nothing jumps off the menu. We think the old Doc will resume his rounds shortly – there’s a new menu on the way.

Equinox Restaurant
Another top-floor restaurant that’s bound to impress visitors with its panoramic views of the CBD skyline. The cuisine attempts to impress as well fusing eastern and western flavours. Choose a buffet lunch or à la carte for dinner.

Gordon Grill
A wonderfully traditional meat trolley service is the highlight here in a setting reminiscent of the grill rooms of old Europe, thankfully minus the overwrought opulence. No prizes for guessing that the menu features classic grill items; oysters, snails and frogs legs for starters followed by some of the best steaks to be had in Singapore. The meat is cut and weighed at your table then dispatched to the kitchen. Australian wagyu and Kobe beef are a speciality, otherwise try lamb rack or Kurobuta pork belly. The service is as well polished as the silver.

The Greenhouse
The Greenhouse is justly famous for its Sunday brunch – and it does without the locked-away-indoors feeling of many of the other hotel brunches; it is actually light and bright, er, like a greenhouse. And the free-flow champagne of choice on Sundays is vintage Moët & Chandon. It is worth a visit at other times too, when you can choose from the à la carte menu, or the deservedly popular buffets.

Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro
Tucked away in the depths of this bustling fishmongers is a laidback little European-style fish restaurant that has earned a loyal following for its fuss-free, honest, good food. Crowd pleasers include the fruits de mer platter with its chilled, glistening pile of fresh oysters, lobster, scallops, prawns and mussels, soft shell crab, and the simply grilled fresh catch. Even better are Tuesday nights when oysters go for just S$1 each.

The Grill at Hillcrest
Despite a name change (it was formerly Coq & Bull), things seem to be pretty much the same as ever here. The chef used to work under Justin Quek at Les Amis, though the food doesn’t attempt to be in that league. Expect more of what made the former Coq & Bull popular in the first place: chargrilled cuts of quality meat such as Australian wagyu, USDA prime rib and Kurobuta pork.

$$ - $$$
2 Greenwood Avenue, +65 6468-9262

Halia
Another one of Singapore’s little secrets and a very pleasant spot to spend a few hours. Tucked away within the Botanical Garden’s ginger garden, Halia serves up buffet breakfast (weekends and public holidays), lunch, traditional English tea service or dinner. Great setting amongst all that greenery, and a mix of western and Asian cuisine. It’s great for visitors, but try and talk them into sitting outdoors. Live music Sunday nights.

$$ - $$$
Singapore Botanic Gardens, Ginger Garden, 1 Cluny Road, +65 6476-6711

The Line
We reckon that The Shang’s gleamingly modern take on marketplace dining is one of the best in town. There are 16 different stations; all are good but the seafood and Indian food are stellar. If you go for a family meal you will have enormous difficulty dragging the kids away from the chocolate fountain, candy floss stall and ice cream counter. Service is usually impressive.

Melt
The Oriental’s contemporary café continues the trend for marketplace dining – essentially a more sophisticated take on the international buffet concept where all the food stations are on display and your meal is prepared before you. A la carte dining is also available during lunch and dinner.

mezza9
The open concept kitchen was a novel idea when it opened and everyone seems to be following suit, but mezza9 still has the edge. The Sunday brunch is legendary, but mezza9 has succeeded (where others have failed) in packing them in all through the week as well. The menu covers all eventualities and if you sit at one of the food stations your meal is prepared right before your eyes.

Oasis
The Grand Hyatt pool area has received a similar makeover to mezza9 and Straits Kitchen, and it now makes a pleasant alfresco dining area, albeit without mezza9’s sophistication. The highlight is the barbecue buffet in the evenings on Friday and Saturday, and the same again Sunday afternoons, with a small selection of sausages, chops, and seafood that is barbecued to order – the ribs are exceptional.

One-Ninety
As with anything Four Seasons, One-Ninety does it all with understated elegance. That doesn’t mean it’s fine dining, it’s simply that whether you’re here for the Sunday brunch or a sampling of the contemporary à la carte menu, you’re guaranteed prime ingredients prepared in meticulous fashion. The new shared-dining concept, available at dinner only, allows you to sample a range of scaled-down dishes. Service is seamless.

Orchard Café
International buffet with western and local flavours. Look out for the barbecue buffet in the Beer Garden from Thursday to Saturday if the combination of meat, beer, and sports is your idea of a top night out. There’s an à la carte menu too.

Oscar’s Café & Terrace
One of Expat’s favourite haunts for Sunday brunch. The freeflow Veuve helps, but the food selection is also very good. Mind you, we haven’t had anything except the seafood, but the rest looks very good. If you’re into the whole buffet thing, you can get your fill for breakfast, lunch and dinner with supper served from 10pm until 6am. That’s 24 hours of food!

Pool Grill
The Marriott Hotel has dramatically spruced up its pool-area, creating a resort-style oasis in the city complete with a rather good new grill restaurant. The chef was poached from a top spot in the Hunter Valley and has created a simple but tasty seafood and fish-focused menu (which is changing as we go to press). Great for lunch with the girls and charming by night.

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Singapore Marriott Hotel, 320 Orchard Rd, +65 6831-4627

PS Café
This place is very nice – if you can get a table. The pretty spot in the jungle environs of Dempsey Road – sorry, Tanglin Village – is arguably one of the best alfresco venues in town. Sunday Brunch is excellent, but bizarrely you can’t book. Also, there are two dinner seatings, so book after 8pm, otherwise you’ll be finishing dessert at the bar. Cuisine is best described as modern Australian. It’s related to the Project Shop Café in Paragon – where at least you don’t have to sell your first-born to get in.

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PS Café, 28B Harding Rd, +65 6479-3343
Project Shop Café, Paragon #03-41, 290 Orchard Road, +65 6735-6765

The Pump Room
This new kid on the microbrewery block is a good spot for a boisterous meal with a group of friends. The décor is having a bit of an identity crisis and can’t decide if it’s a bar or a club, with a sports screen and live band thrown in for good measure, but never mind. We thought the spruced-up pub grub was a lot better than the beer, and would order the caramelised onion and goats cheese soufflé, fish and chips, and braised veal cheek and kidney pie again.

Rivercafé
It’s a shame the formal upstairs restaurant here has closed. Even though the atmosphere was a tad flat, the food was spot on. But the more casual Sydney-style bistro downstairs is still going strong, and sitting alfresco on the terrace over brunch is one of our favourite pastimes. The chic, mod-Oz à la carte menu shouldn’t be missed either.

The Terrace
Agreat Sunday brunch on offer here. Not only is the food and free-flow champagne (Old and New World wines, too) tip-top, but partaking entitles you to a dip in the hotel’s pool. The weekday lunch buffet is also worth a visit and makes you feel a long way from the mainland. We hear that the à la carte menu is vastly improved.

Top of the M
A tasty dose of Continental food from foie gras with fig and apricot chutney through to nostalgia-inducing dishes such as snails, pepper steak, lobster bisque and crêpes Suzette. But, oh my, the setting. The first and one of only two (can’t think why) revolving restaurants in Singapore is stuck in a time warp. Yes, the view is pretty sensational but it comes at a price – a band of roving musicians except Mondays.

Town Restaurant
Town has one of the most popular Sunday brunches around. The selection of food is excellent and the wine is free-flow – what more could you want? The atmospheric, shaded alfresco seating on the banks of the Singapore River is unbeatable. Apart from Sunday brunch there are two buffets during the week (International from Monday to Friday and Asian on Saturday) as well as à la carte options for those who can’t be bothered with the walk.