This month’s list of restaurant openings reads like a roll-call of big names, and all eyes are on whether they can live up to their hype. Two steakhouses from abroad have chosen Singapore for their very first international outposts – Parisian-style La Vache! from Hong Kong and Japan’s number one beef restaurant, Nikuya Tanaka.
Closer to home, we see some familiar faces like Chef Vincent Pang of private dining outfit Pun Im opening a standalone Thai restaurant, while Chef Drew Nocente of Cenzo debuts Il Toro, an Italian woodfire grill with Australian soul. Meanwhile, the team behind Meadesmoore and Fat Belly introduce modern Asian bistro Yara in a quiet, breezy location near the Botanic Gardens.
There’s clearly no shortage of culinary talent this month, but whether these new joints manage to prove their chops, only time will tell. Here are five restaurants worth checking out this month.
Explore Singapore’s 2025 restaurant openings by month:
- New restaurants in September
- New restaurants in August
- New restaurants in July
- New restaurants in June
- New restaurants in May
- New restaurants in April
- New restaurants in March
- New restaurants in February
- New restaurants in January
Discover the best new restaurants in Singapore this year.
1. La Vache!
You know a restaurant is confident about what it serves when there’s only one thing on the menu. At Parisian-style steakhouse La Vache!, trimmed entrecôte steak is the sole star dish – your only choice in the matter is the level of doneness. The Hong Kong-born restaurant has four thriving outlets in its homeland, and now, its first international branch in Singapore. At $68 per guest, an entrecôte steak set here includes a baguette basket, La Vache!’s salad with walnuts and unlimited servings of its famous golden fries, often praised for being delightfully crisp and warm. But don’t be too quick to load up on the fried ‘tatos just yet, for a dessert trolley piled with sweet treats like mille-feuille and lemon meringue will be wheeled tableside as the grand finale.
Address: 40 Gemmill Ln, #01-03, Singapore 069269
Opening hours: Tue-Wed 6pm-10pm; Thu noon-2.30pm, 6pm-10pm; Fri-Sat noon-2.30pm, 6pm-10.30pm
Expect to pay: $68 for the entrecôte steak set
2. Im Jai by Pun Im
Chef Vincent Pang might be more known for his private dining concept Pun Im, but this month, he’s debuting a full-fledged restaurant at Icon Village. Run by him and his mother, the eatery will focus on serving bold, punchy Thai flavours, interspersed with creative touches from Pang’s own culinary journey. Take the crispy cloud egg ($16.80) for example. The dish is inspired by a signature menu item from Wana Yook, a Michelin-starred establishment in Bangkok where Pang trained. And short of buying a ticket to Thailand for Here Hai’s jumbo river prawns, you can enjoy the same tender flesh and prawn roe at Im Jai ($39.80). For those who want variety, the Im Jai bento ($18.80) is a wallet-friendly option that gives you taster portions of the kitchen’s best.
Address: 12 Gopeng St, Icon Village, #01-78/81, Singapore 078877
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 11am-3pm, 4pm-9.30pm
Expect to pay: $18.80 for the bento and more for sharing dishes and sides
3. Nikuya Tanaka
This kappo-style restaurant from Ginza, Tokyo has been rated Japan’s number one in the 101 world’s best steak restaurants for two years running. In the most recent edition of the awards, it was also named the 27th best steakhouse in the world and one of the top three in Asia. Now, you can taste Nikuya Tanaka’s binchotan charcoal-grilled beef cuts right here in Singapore. At the original outlet in Tokyo, seating is kept intimate with just nine coveted counter spots in front of an open kitchen. The Singapore outpost – also Nikuya Tanaka’s first international opening – mirrors this with only 10 counter seats, and five in a private dining room. Diners can also look forward to slurping up a bowl of refreshing chilled citrus-infused noodles, served in hand-carved bowls fashioned out of pure ice.
Address: 1 Teck Lim Rd, Level 2, Singapore 088379
Opening hours: Mon-Sat noon-2pm, 6pm-8pm
Expect to pay: $280 for omakase lunch and $420 for omakase dinner
4. Il Toro Woodfire Grill
The folks behind the viral, wallet-friendly pasta joint Chicco Pasta Bar and Australian-Italian bistro Cenzo bring us Il Toro, led by Chef Drew Nocente. The new mod-Italian diner specialises in fresh cuts of meat and seafood grilled over woodfire. Expect a large majority – about 90 percent – of the menu to have elements that are flame-kissed. The restaurant uses Australian ironbark wood and small amounts of apple and orange wood for a more unique smoke, with signatures like the Blackmore wagyu tri tip ($78) with a marbling score of nine – a cut exclusively supplied to Il Toro by an Australian full-blood wagyu producer. Next, try the raw sea bream ($22) dish, doused in a sauce made of smoked fish bones. And to end, sample the Mint Slice ($16), Chef Nocente’s favourite Australian biscuit featuring smoked chocolate ganache.
Address: 18 Gemmill Ln, Singapore 069255
Opening hours: Tue-Sat noon-2.30pm, 5.30pm-10.30pm
Expect to pay: From $118 per person for the Chef’s Feast
5. Yara
Nestled in a quiet residential apartment along a winding stretch of road next to the Singapore Botanical Gardens, the new Yara presents a menu as unexpected as its location. The restaurant is the latest project by the team behind wildly popular steakhouses Fat Belly and Meadesmoore, except this time, it specialises in modern Asian comfort food. Some interesting picks include the yu tang clam bowl ($24), with rich seafood flavours from wild-caught Balai threadfin and clams, as well as the soul-warming koshikari rice porridge ($14). Flavours of Malaysia are brought out in the vegan and gluten-free haricot vert keerabu salad ($18), drizzled with a fragrant ginger flower and fermented chilli dressing. And fans of kueh will definitely be eyeing the chilled kueh talam pudding ($10) for dessert – an elevated take on the Indonesian pandan coconut kueh.
Address: 26 Evans Rd, The Initial Sama Serviced Residences, Singapore 259367
Opening hours: Thu-Tue 11am-3pm, 5pm-10pm
Expect to pay: Around $40 per person for sharing dishes
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