AN ODE TO HOME

Christmas is usually celebrated with Western favourites such as ham, turkey, roast vegetables and log cakes. But those looking for something a little closer to home for their fesivities this season can check out these four restaurants and bars that are honouring Singaporean cuisine and local flavours

- JAMIE LEE

NATIVE

The Story 

First launched in 2016, Native was born out of founder Vijay Mudaliar’s love of foraging and his belief that a bar can be sustainable and reuse commonly discarded items to make drinks. It hopes to highlight what Singapore and Asia has to offer by integrating the region’s ingredients, crafts, and wares into their menu offerings, while pioneering a blueprint for other culinary ventures to adopt mindful food and drink practices.

The Menu 

Native is committed to the concept of locality — so its menu features local and regional flavours, ingredients and techniques. Signature cocktails reference flavours from Singaporean favourites, like Sarapa which evokes kaya toast and the Peranakan, which makes one think of kueh salat. On the food side, Native reinvents our beloved chicken rice with their Nose-to-Tail Chicken Paofan, a roasted chicken wing soup with rice, accompanied by Ah Moy’s chilli sauce.

The Experience

The team taps into nostalgic classics and childhood favourites to create dishes for guests to easily identify with, in hopes of finding the perfect balance between being creative and relatable, without ever becoming pretentious. The team says, “There’s a lot of intention in creating dishes that we love to eat, while at the same time paying homage to our own roots.” It is important for guests to connect through stories and tradition, and create memories of their own at Native.

The Interior