Food

Dumpling Festival 2025, also known as Dragonboat Festival or Duan Wu Jie (端午节) in Chinese, will occur on the 31st of May 2025 – the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Although the Dumpling Festival is not a public holiday in Singapore, this is the time that families and friends come together to enjoy exquisitely handmade sticky rice dumplings or zongzi (粽子) or bak chang in the Hokkien dialect. Traditionally, there are 3 types of rice dumplings: 

• Nyonya – Often has a blue tip. The interior features minced meat.
• Hokkien – Juicier than the Nyonya rice dumpling due to the presence of pork belly brimming with fat. The juices get absorbed by the rice.
• Sweet – Filled with various beans, nuts, dates or simply just the sticky rice and nothing else. Also called kee chang. Vegetarian-friendly.

If you were to choose to buy your rice dumplings from hotels and Chinese restaurants, expect luxurious ingredients such as scallops, abalone and even duck. This year, a couple of outlets have introduced some unique flavors. Many of the bak chang listed below for Dumpling Festival 2025 are available not just for takeaway but also for delivery. Here is a list of the best rice dumplings being sold this year.

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There is a new Chinese restaurant in town. The Black Pearl occupies the rooftop space of Odeon 333 along North Bridge Road. It is one of the concepts of Gaia Lifestyle Group, a chain that also includes Social Place and Gyutan-tan. The Black Pearl is helmed by Executive Chef Dee Chan. 

The space is impressive and features panoramic views of Singapore’s skyline, including the iconic Marina Bay Sands. The 80-seater main dining hall is inspired by the beauty of the pearl and evokes the spirit of the Qing imperial banquet.

Aside from the main dining hall, there are also private rooms as well as a chef’s table with a particularly noteworthy ceiling. Overall, it is quite an enchanting venue – one that I’d imagine suit business lunches and family gatherings. 

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One of the longest standing omakase restaurants in Singapore, Ki-Sho has been around since 2012 which is quite a feat considering the highly competitive dining scene here. Set in a colonial black-and-white bungalow, Ki-sho offers a contrast to the squeezy omakase joints elsewhere. Although the main dining hall is of a regular layout, Ki-sho boasts of an elegant entrance and waiting area as well as a second floor. 

Ki-sho has recently brought in a new chef – Kawaii Hideki – who possesses close to 40 years of experience. With him, he brings a new kappou-style omakase experience in Ki-sho. During my dinner, I found him to be rather quiet – with not a single hint of theatrics and leaving the entirety of the explanation to the wait staff. 

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 A new addition to the growing ensemble of restaurant options in Joo Chiat is the Ebb and Flow group’s Spanish restaurant, Carlitos. 

Conceptualized as a casual tapas joint, Carlitos is a diminutive form of Carlos, a nod to Chef Carlos Montobbio who started the restaurant as a collaboration with Antonio Miscellaneo, from La Bottega which is just 2 doors away. 

Carlitos occupies the space that used to be Tigerlily Patisserie, an Ebb and Flow concept that closed down earlier this year. The style of Carlitos is relatively informal – a bit family-style if you will and in fact, the space reminds me more of an Italian restaurant than a Spanish one. Perhaps the most obvious suggestion that is a Spanish restaurant is the presence of booth seats surrounding a bar (the way Spaniards usually take their tapas). There is also a table dining option.

Although relatively authentic, the food in Carlitos is meant to cater to what Singaporeans perceive Spanish food to be. This means you will find dishes from all over Spain in the venue’s menu of 30+ items – from Catalan to Andalusian and even Basque specialties all under one roof. 

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Golden Peony at Conrad Centennial Singapore has just launched a new menu, focusing on nostalgic and time-honored Cantonese recipes. Launched on the 11th of October, the Chinese restaurant which is helmed by Chef Ku Keung makes a deliberate nod to the 28-year old restaurant’s storied heritage. 

I returned to Golden Peony recently for lunch to try out the new menu. It has been a while since I have been to the restaurant.

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There seems to be great interest from chefs overseas to leave their imprints in Singapore. I am not just referring to those large franchises of well-known names. Even the independent ones are eager to set up an outlet here due to the strong foodie culture of the Lion City.

Recently, I got to try Sushi Zen which is located along the Keong Saik area, in Teck Lim Road to be precise. Sushi Zen is founded by Chef E Ran who has developed a loyal following over the years.

Sushi Zen is actually the offshoot of a popular sushi restaurant in Beijing which has the same name. In the 8-seater Singapore outlet, ingredients are sourced fresh from Toyosu Market, four times a week.

Sushi Zen offers both a lunch and dinner omakase. The lunch omakase starts from S$150 which comes with 10 pieces of sushi, miso soup and dessert while the higher-tier S$258 lunch omakase comes with additional appetizers. For dinner, one can order between the same S$258 omakase or higher-tier S$388 and S$588 which more premium sushi.

For this occasion, I tried the S$258 omakase which featured a combination of cooked items and sushi.

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