Every few years, a restaurant opens in Singapore that genuinely shifts the conversation about what local fine dining can be. Aubergine, which quietly opened its doors in Dempsey Hill last month, is that restaurant for 2026. Six weeks in and the 32-seat space is fully booked most nights — and it deserves every reservation it gets.

The Vision

Chef-owner Marcus Lim spent a decade cooking in Europe — stints at restaurants in Copenhagen, Lyon, and Lisbon — before returning to Singapore with a clear vision: food that is unmistakably Asian in flavour memory, but liberated from the expectation of replication. "I'm not trying to cook my grandmother's food better," he told us over a pre-service chat. "I'm trying to cook food that remembers her kitchen without living in it."

The result is one of the most interesting tasting menus in the city right now. Nine courses, each plated with the kind of deliberate minimalism that forces you to focus on what's in front of you.

The Menu Highlights

The meal opens with a single bite: a crisp taro shell filled with chilled crab, topped with a dot of fermented black bean cream and a sliver of pickled green mango. It's a statement — complex, precise, and deeply rooted in the region.

Midway through, a dish of slow-cooked wagyu short rib arrives in a pool of reduced laksa broth, with compressed cucumber and a cloud of coconut foam. It sounds like it shouldn't work. It absolutely does. The laksa broth has been reduced to a dark, intense glaze that clings to the beef without overpowering it — a technical feat that takes the team three days to produce.

Dessert is a study in restraint: a bowl of chendol ice, house-made pandan jelly, and a slow-drizzle of aged gula melaka. Simple, seasonal, perfect.

The Details

  • Address: 8D Dempsey Road, #01-01, Singapore 249672
  • Dinner service: Tuesday to Sunday, seatings at 6:30pm and 9pm
  • Price: $198 per person (beverages pairing $95 supplement)
  • Reservations: Via their website; currently booked out through April but cancellations drop regularly

Our Verdict

Aubergine is not a perfect restaurant — the pacing between courses can drag slightly, and the wine pairing leans too heavily on European bottles when local and regional producers would serve the food better. But the cooking itself is exceptional. In a city that already has more than its share of excellent fine dining, Aubergine manages to feel genuinely necessary. Go soon, before it becomes impossible to get in.