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Soaring rents and expensive dinner bills might be what’s causing diners in Singapore to eat out less, turning weekly splurges into a monthly affair. But there are other reasons why foodies are shifting their attention towards new experiences, such as dining in a stranger’s house. Yes, we’re talking about private home dining.
There’s the allure of exclusivity, the surging pride and excitement when you finally secure a table after months of being on the waitlist. But beyond that, people are increasingly drawn to private home dining because it offers a kind of authenticity, both in the cooking and the connections made, that’s hard to find in restaurants these days. Not only do the chefs take time to get to know you, they also get to cook what they truly want, and not just what rakes in the dollars.
This month, we speak to three owners of private dining concepts in Singapore, who are doing something different apart from the Peranakan tok panjang feasts and barbecue cookouts we usually see in the space. From a newly opened spot in Joo Chiat and an upcoming launch in Fernvale, to a hidden gem in Woodlands, here are the private dining names to know right now and book a table at — before everyone else does.
Solstice Experiences: Multi-sensory dinner parties in Joo Chiat that evolve with the seasons
Dining at Solstice Experiences feels like attending a dinner party at the home of your super stylish and tasteful friend, who also happens to be really sociable and likeable. They’ll even curate a banger playlist, pore over which candle to light and ensure all placemats and decor pieces are on point, just to make you feel welcome. This is the version of hospitality you’ll be greeted with at Darren and Patricia’s chic loft in Joo Chiat, which they’ve opened for dinner reservations just two months ago. The couple also co-runs a popular boutique hotel, Tika, in Lombok, Indonesia.
The menu and ambience here are loosely based on the solstice cycles and the changing moods they bring – florals and light flavours for Spring, bold and punchy flavours for Summer and so on. Darren, a Shatec graduate who trained in pastry, sees himself as less of a cook and more of a jack of all trades in F&B, having dipped his toes in the alcohol scene with Limchiu, and picked up the skills to run a home business with his tiramisu brand Classic D and his stint at the famous home dining concept No Burn No Taste.
Despite not identifying as a cook, he whips up quite the feast at his first private dining project. Most of his creations are Asian classics with a Western – often North American – twist, or the other way round, drawing inspiration from chefs like New York-based Esther Choi. Expect seafood carpaccio tarts dressed with homemade shiso oil; bread paired with homemade roasted seaweed butter; and barramundi with homemade beurre blanc and laksa leaf oil. For the finale, Darren brings out his signature Classic D tiramisu, which he serves tableside.
Where possible, Solstice Experiences also works with local brands, such as sourcing bread from an artisanal bakery in Joo Chiat and partnering with bartenders like Josiah Chee of Bar Bon Funk to develop seasonal cocktails for each menu. And there are still more ideas in the pipeline. The couple has just started introducing coffee tasting sessions where guests get to sample a range of beans from different countries, and they plan to experiment with more workshop formats like candle-making in the future.
Seating capacity: 8 pax
Expect to pay: $158 per person for a six-course menu
Find out more here.
Journe: A borderless, ingredient-led experience in Jalan Kayu by two professional chefs
At Journe, husband-and-wife duo Guah Lih and Ethel Koh swap their professional aprons for their personal ones. The pair trained at the Culinary Institute of America (Singapore) before flying off to California for careers in Michelin-starred restaurants – Lih at O’ by Claude Le Tohic and Ethel as Pastry Sous Chef at Quince. Their journey continued when they returned to lead the opening of Ittoryu Gozu, followed by Lih’s stint as the chef to the United States Ambassador to Singapore from 2022 to 2025.
Now, they’ve finally decided to do their own thing. Journe, an upcoming private dining concept in the couple’s new Fernvale flat, is slated to launch at the end of June. The menu will change every few months as they move through different “chapters” of exploration, beginning with Singapore and the surrounding region. Sake and rice-based alcoholic pairings by Lih, who is also a certified sake sommelier, are in the works as well.
“At its core, what we do is about discovery. We’re not tied to a single cuisine, but instead take a more intuitive, ingredient-led approach, working with what’s at its best. We learn from tradition, then build on that understanding to create new flavours, textures and experiences,” says Ethel.
This thoughtful, reflective approach to cooking has already earned Lih international recognition before Journe opens its doors. Earlier this year, he clinched second place in a truffle competition, with a brown butter and truffle steamed egg dish, featuring fermented radish, black garlic, aged black tea, Jamón and dates. It won hearts with its aromatic, earthy depth, only achievable when each ingredient is given time to blossom. Even the custom-made bowls, shaped like halved truffles, were part of the storytelling.
The dish will make an appearance on Journe’s first menu, alongside plates that incorporate Southeast Asian ingredients in unexpected ways. Think roselle molasses folded into a rojak-inspired salad with Thai pink guava, peanut sprouts, jambu (water apple) and a blend of different types of hae ko (prawn paste). Elsewhere, lesser-seen produce like pako (a kind of fern), ice plant, fermented green mangoes and cornmeal might find their way onto the table, all sourced from local markets like Geylang Serai and Tekka.
Seating capacity: 8 pax
Expect to pay: $178 per pax for a six-to-seven-course menu
Find out more here.
Sudu: Modern Malay feasts in a Woodlands flat, by a former MasterChef Singapore contestant
For someone who once disliked cooking because he hated cleaning up, Ilya Nur Fadhly has come a surprisingly long way. The former education consultant turned food delivery rider joined Season 3 of MasterChef Singapore despite having neither formal nor informal kitchen experience – only memories from the cooking shows his mum used to watch, and the home-cooked meals from his childhood.
But when guest judge Gaggan Anand spoke about Singaporean cuisine without mentioning Malay food during the competition, something snapped for Ilya. “I got triggered,” he recalls with a laugh. Soon after, he started developing his own definition of Modern Malay cuisine, which features traditionally used ingredients as a base for applying modern techniques of cooking and plating. “It’s not the same as fusion food,” he stresses.
This journey eventually became Sudu, Ilya’s home dining concept that has quietly built a following since 2022, welcoming diners from all around the world, including countries like France, India, Spain and the United States. Hosted out of his Woodlands home, the experience is cultural, yet personal and immersive, from his favourite songs that play in the background, to napkins folded into the shape of a keris – a traditional Malay dagger.
Sudu’s latest menu draws from peribahasa, or Malay idioms and proverbs. And if it is anything like previous editions, you can expect lesser-known dishes rarely seen outside the kitchens of Malay homes, like laksa tenggiri (laksa with Spanish mackerel) and telur masak kicap (soy sauce egg).
The latter is one of Sudu’s signatures. At first glance, it looks nothing like the humble soy sauce egg dish, arriving instead as a delicate tart with caramelised onions, a soy confit egg yolk, burnt onion cream and caviar. But once guests take a bite, the flavours are instantly recognisable – sweet, bitter, acidic and umami all at once. “Looks different, tastes the same,” Ilya quips. Though with other dishes, he sometimes does the reverse: “Looks the same, tastes different.”
His goal is to eventually open a brick-and-mortar restaurant, but there’s more to it than that. “Malay food is still misunderstood – people think it’s just spicy, creamy, fattening or deep-fried,” Ilya says. “I want to win an award that showcases and puts it on the map.”
Seating capacity: 8 pax
Expect to pay: $140 per pax for a nine-course menu
Find out more here.
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