The quiet, sophisticated, and exclusive locale of Tanglin rests confidently in District 10. It lies between the popular Holland Village and the Orchard Road shopping belt. The epitome of residential class, Tanglin boasts magnificent bungalows and other landed properties as well as upmarket condos. It is also where Singapore Botanic Gardens, a Unesco World Heritage site, and unique shopping malls like Tudor Court and Tanglin Mall can be found.
Here is our pick of four dining spots within the Tanglin area, perfect for a family’s night-out, a romantic meal for two, or just a gathering of friends or colleagues.
Photo Source: Corner House
Within walking distance of Botanic Gardens’ Tanglin Gate, this Michelin one-starred establishment is founded on great food and a fresh, verdant atmosphere. Corner House is a protected conservation building, a black-and-white bungalow that was home to Edred John Henry Corner decades ago. Corner cared for Singapore’s nature reserves and plant life, ensuring Singaporeans didn’t lose their scientific and cultural collections during the Japanese Occupation.
Corner House's menu review. Image Credit: Burpple.com
Crafting contemporary cuisine, Corner House has an apt emphasis on botanical elements. Each dish is lovingly prepared from a carefully curated collection of ingredients. Its signature is a four-faceted celebration of the onion, presented in a baked cup, tart, chip, and tea. This dish is complemented with numerous ingredients including black truffle, sous vide egg, and earl grey tea. The five-course degustation highlights ingredients such as white asparagus, guava, and strawberry, each prepared to draw out its best features. The seven-course experience showcases the onion and watermelon, among other meatier dishes such as Patagonian toothfish and Toriyama wagyu (also included in the five-course menu).
The five-course menu comes at S$208++ and the seven-course at S$268++; wine pairing is available at S$128++ and S$188++ per person, respectively. Friday night reservations are recommended.
Address: 1 Cluny Road, Singapore Botanical Gardens, Singapore 259569
Contact No: 6469 1000
Friday night hours: 630pm to 11pm (last order 9pm)
Photo Source: Lafiandra Ristorante
Part of a prestigious suite of dining spots gathered within the upmarket Tanglin Post Office, the 80-seater Lafiandra has plated up homespun, authentic Italian goodness since 2003. Husband-and-wife team Cataldo and Brenda run the restaurant in the same manner other wonderful dining rooms are in Europe — with Italian chef Cataldo cooking and Brenda hosting. Choose charmingly lit al fresco seating surrounded by flowers, or air-conditioned comfort designed to make you feel as if you’re dining in a cellar, with numerous bottles of wine and spirits adorning various parts of the room. The room brings farmhouse charm to mind, with furniture, shelves, and even wall features hewn from wood.
The honest-to-goodness Italian food served here has a rustic touch juxtaposed by the white-table-cloth setting and decadently heavy cutlery. Recommended dishes include the savoury orechiette pasta, with generous bites of firm, succulent prawn, the artichoke pizza studded liberally with plump olives and rich cheese, and the generously portioned tiramisu doused in just the right amount of alcohol. Pastas and pizzas range between S$20 and S$30 per dish. Friday night reservations are recommended. Alternatively, you can YOLO it and swing by — Brenda says she normally has a couple of al fresco seats ready for walk-in diners.
Address: 56 Tanglin Road, Tanglin Post Office, B1-01 (street level), Singapore 247964
Contact Number: 6884 4035
Friday night hours: 5.45pm to 10pm (last order)
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Photo Source: The White Rabbit
Perhaps better known as Dempsey Hill, this village belongs to Tanglin, nonetheless. The word village may sound humble, but enter the gates and be enfolded in an aura of privilege, accentuated by this miniature township’s trademark greenery. SLA has slated blocks 15, 16, and 16A for rejuvenation, with an eye towards brewing a new lifestyle hotspot. Many restaurants have come and gone in the Dempsey district, but one stalwart contender for longevity is undoubtedly the White Rabbit.
Celebrating its 11th anniversary this year, the restaurant has made its home in a restored chapel from 1930s Singapore. Chope decreed it 2018’s diners’ choice for most romantic restaurant, and with its colonial façade, high vaulted ceiling, and stained glass windows, it’s not hard to see why.
Its cuisine is classic European, and the restaurant gives diners the easy choice of picking a set menu in four or five courses, with a wine-pairing option for each dish. Menu choices whet the appetite by name alone, and include gremolata pearl couscous, heirloom sourdough, classic bouillabaisse, and interesting combinations such as lobster and kombu linguine.
The four-course menu starts at S$88++ and the five-course at S$108++; wine pairing is available at S$58 and S$68 per person, respectively. Mains range between S$30 and S$100. Friday night reservations are recommended.
Address: 39C Harding Road, Singapore 247541
Contact Number: 6473 9965
Friday night hours: 6.30pm to 10.30pm
Photo Source: House of AnLi
Tanglin Mall is one of those places that retain a timeless charm through fads and seasons. It could be easily converted into a chic English country home, and its architecture is so deviant from the gleaming glass-and-metal behemoths that shine along the likes of Orchard Road and other shopping belts. The décor inside is dated, but not in an offputting fashion, with mosaic floors and forest-green railing. Its shops hold a small-town charm; a tiny store sells Singapore-themed items, and nudged into a corner is a little bookstore named The Tango Mango. One of the most unusual, however, has to be House of AnLi.
If you’re charmed by the notion of eating in rhythm with the seasons, House of AnLi has a monthly menu dictated by harvest du jour. In March the dishes featured mussels, and asparagus was April’s calling card from nature. The drinks menu is extensive and runs the gamut from wines and cocktails to healthy juices and cheat-day milkshakes. A food recommendation is the moussaka, which, according to a waitress, is cooked according to the founder’s personal recipe, and the desserts are made in-house by a dedicated pastry chef.
Pastas and European mains range between S$20 and S$50 per dish. Friday night reservations are optional.
Address: 163 Tanglin Road, Tanglin Mall, 03-17, Singapore 247933
Contact number: 6235 3851
Friday night hours: Any time to 9pm (last seating; restaurant closes 10.30pm)
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