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Singapore has no shortage of restaurants and bars with great views, but there is one scene we find particularly charming: the rooftop view from the National Gallery, overlooking the Padang and the city. It's high enough to feel special, and low enough to get a good glimpse of everything happening below – come Formula One season, and you'll have front-row seats to cars roaring past beneath.
Milli, the museum's new rooftop dining and entertainment venue, has been the talk of the town lately, mostly because of its all-star cast. It starts with the masterminds of Bae's Cocktail Club – one of the most popular nightlife destinations in the city right now – who lead the music and entertainment programme. Chef LG Han of Michelin-starred Labyrinth handles the food, and award-winning bartender Vijay Mudaliar the cocktails.
The menu is a playback of familiar local dishes, given a glossy finish to match the setting. Still, it is no stiff, unintelligible fine-dining, but creative and contemporary takes on local flavours. The result, however, is a mixed bag. On the one hand, there are superb dishes like the cereal corn ribs ($24) – zi char distilled into the format of fun, snackable finger food. Understandable, tasty, very moreish. On the other hand, there are head-scratchers like the popiah tartlets ($18) and chilli crab ice cream parfait ($32), the former a confused medley of too many ingredients, while the latter lacks, well, the iciness that ice cream should have.
Bigger sharing plates fare much better. The grilled British cod's head ($36) will look slightly terrifying to the average tourist, but it offers surprising bang for your buck. The meat is fleshy with plenty of bite, and the accompanying prata is splendid – flaky, doughy and crispy in all the right places. 'Curry' here is swapped out for a milder assam beurre blanc, which still retains the robust, rich flavours that we know and love. Additions of pickled eggplant and lady's fingers are appreciated too.
The Mil-ly smashed burger ($28) is essentially a Ramly burger that went to university. Double-smashed wagyu chuck patties are paired with caramelised onions and cheese. But what gives it that uncanny 'Ramly' touch is the fried egg – goopy yolk included – and iconic sweet-savoury sauce. Decent, but not four times better for four times the price. There's also the Alaskan king crab leg ($108 for two) with white pepper and salted egg sauce. It is as gratuitous and excessive as it sounds, but at the same time, annoyingly good. The brown butter wash, smoky notes from the charcoal grill, and natural sweetness of the crab do most of the heavy lifting.
But if there is one dish you must order, it is the chicken rice paella. At $24, the value is hard to beat. Japanese glutinous rice – on the softer side – is cooked in chicken stock and pandan leaves till it achieves a mouthwatering, glistening sheen. It is then served with grilled chicken tails and cartilage, and paired with the familiar trio of chilli sauce, ginger scallion and dark soy sauce. The scorched rice (fan jiao) beneath is worth fighting over. Think of this as the richer, bolder cousin of Labyrinth's famous chicken rice course. Dessert comes in the form of a bandung kakigori ($28) that has none of that rosy, syrupy sweetness. It is as elegant as ice kachang gets, with pickled dragonfruit, raspberries, sake kasu, ispahan sorbet and crispy meringue shards at the very top.
The cocktails at Milli are equally compelling. This is no stuffy gentleman's bar, nor is it Native, where drinks lean experimental and dive deep into providence and ingredients. Vijay keeps it flavour-forward, light and dangerously crushable. The cocktails are unashamedly colourful, but not to the point of being flashy. Peranakan Spritz ($26) is a lovely purple concoction of gin, prosecco, calamansi, coconut and ginger flower, arriving with a cube of kueh salat on the side. The whisky green tea ($26) pairs sencha distillate and clarified yuzu with Chivas Regal Crystal Gold and a lip-smacking matcha foam. It is also our favourite drink of the evening.
The Milli ($28) is a revival of the forgotten Million Dollar Cocktail, created by the same bartender behind the Singapore Sling. Here, it is reimagined with mandarin grenadine, yuzu, pineapple, fino sherry and dry vermouth, for a dry finish that keeps you going back for another sip. And the Singapore Breakfast ($26) is espresso martini with a very local accent, starting with the all-too-recognisable – if slightly kitsch – rooster mug. Within it, Martell Noblige is blended with Nyonya kaya, coffee liqueur, soy gula Melaka and coconut to create a drink that's boozier than it looks.
Time Out's rating: 4/5
Milli Sky Dining & Bar is the kind of place we'd bring an overseas friend to on the last night of their trip, after they've completed their mandatory rounds around our hawker centres. It's Singapore on a plate, in a glass, behind the decks, and with a great view to boot. If the night's still young, head downstairs to Milli Lounge to groove to pop, disco, funk and house tunes, plus a playlist of throwback anthems that Singaporeans loved through the decades. There are even shuttle buses running to and from Bae's Cocktail Club from 1.30am onwards – do with that information what you wish.
Milli is located at 1 St Andrew’s Road, National Gallery Singapore, Level 6, Singapore 178957. Opening hours are Sun-Tue 11am-1am, Wed-Fri 11am-3am and Sat 11am-4am.
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