Hot Spots And Top Tables

Keep these splurge-worthy restaurants on your radar because nothing rings in the new year quite like a magnificent feast.

- Anton D. Javier

RESTAURANT EUPHORIA

Curiosity, delight, and surprise are at the heart of Restaurant Euphoria, which is the latest milestone for Chef Jason Tan, one of Singapore’s most popular culinary alchemists. Located in a conservation shophouse along Tras Street, the restaurant embodies the concept of Gastro-Botanica, a culinary philosophy dreamt up by Chef Tan that celebrates carefully sourced and prepared premium vegetables, as well as meats and seafood.

Chef Tan’s artistry is immediately apparent as soon as the dishes arrive. The expert combination of colors and textures makes it hard for the diner to start eating in fear of destroying a masterpiece. One such dish is the Oignon Jamboree — a pastel-colored confection where onions are prepared in five different ways and topped with Oscietra Prestige Caviar.

Then there is the Bomba Rice, comprised of a lacy fermented rice tuile filled with Spanish bomba rice and plancha-grilled Japanese mirugai that adds depth to an otherwise light-as-air dish. Equally beautiful and delicious is the Maine Lobster, which is brined, steamed, and lightly torched, accompanied by sweet, delicate carrot half-moons flavored with cumin, coriander seeds, and star anise.