The best Chinese New Year 2024 menus for reunion dinner in Singapore

January 15 to February 25

Step into a world of old-world glamour at Madame Fan this Lunar New Year. While donning your best silk cheongsam, tuck into premium Cantonese dishes by way of a selection of set menus (from $108) that feature the likes of braised giant grouper with beancurd fupi and chu hou sauce, and stewed seafood beancurd rice. For extra luck, kick off your meal with the restaurant’s lobster yu sheng ($238) featuring juicy threads of Australian lobster, homemade bak kwa, crispy lotus root, longan, apples, grapefruit, green mango, and pomegranate tossed in mustard-yuzu dressing.

Now to February 24

This Chinese New Year, a feast awaits at Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant. This award-winning restaurant has a number of accolades under its belt – no surprise, since they only use quality ingredients while serving up fresh seafood and premium meats. For this year’s reunion dinner, choose between a six or eight-course set menu (from $138.80++ per person). But no matter which menu you settle on, gather your closest friends and family to toss together with their Prosperity Yu Sheng. This rendition showcases a bayberry dressing, a Chinese berry that’s known for its sweet but tart notes. 

Here, enjoy dishes like a sauteed turbot fillet and pan-fried lotus root that’s stuffed in minced dace fish. The true star of the show though is the Wan Hao Bird’s Nest Eight Treasures Pot that boasts grand ingredients like bird’s nest, five-head Australian abalone, fish maw, and African premium sea cucumber. Other notable dishes include a barbecued pork char siew made from Irish Hampshire pigs and roast Irish duck marinated with black truffle and wild mushroom. 

Book here.

Now to February 24

With a dragon-shaped yu sheng and exquisite set menus, Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant at PARKROYAL on Beach Road celebrates the Year of the Dragon with much fanfare. The menu starts from $108 per person, with premium dishes such as a stir-fried sea cucumber with Sichuanese flavours, and a braised bird’s nest soup filled with fresh crab chunks. But the star of the show is the yu sheng – not only is it shaped like a dragon, but it also features fugu. Fugu is often thought of as one of the most deadly foods, but this modern Chinese restaurant sources it straight from Shimonseki with careful preparation. 

If you’d rather enjoy your reunion dinner in the comfort of your own home, they also offer a Home Reunion Feast ($588) that includes a Treasure Pot Pen Cai that’s filled to the brim with luxe ingredients like abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, and dried scallop. You’ll also be tucking into Spanish pork ribs that’s cooked with orange peel and pan-fried nian gao. Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant also offers plenty of Chinese New Year goodies that are available for takeaway, such as carrot cake, nian gao, and kueh lapis. Bak Kwa, crafted by local brand Peng Guan, is also available. 

Book here.

January 15 to February 24

At Yàn, the National Gallery’s exquisite Cantonese restaurant, you get to choose from six dine-in Chinese New Year set menus (from $128). The menus are led by the signature steamed live marble goby fish with shredded salted vegetables, Taiwanese cordia tree seeds, mushrooms, ginger, and tomatoes. Other family-style dishes include poached chicken with preserved bean paste, stewed ee fu noodles with crispy shrimp and Australian scallops, braised two-head abalone with noodles in abalone sauce, and wok-fried lobster with egg white, crispy canopy, and broccoli. End your meal with ‘smiling’ sesame balls, a comforting festive classic. Choose from two seatings of 5.30pm and 8pm on reunion night.

January 18 to February 24

This Chinese New Year, dine in Goodwood Park Hotel’s Windsor Ballroom over an extravagant eight-course menu ($188) featuring the likes of salmon and abalone yu sheng, roasted ‘Silver Hill’ Irish duck, steamed sea perch fillet, and slow-braised abalone with sea cucumber, black moss, and lettuce. Wrap up your meal with hasma, a festive delicacy accompanied by red dates, steamed nian gao, and shredded coconut. A special vegetarian set menu is also available ($138) with classics that don’t compromise on flavour such as double-boiled mock shark fin’s soup and deep-fried vegetarian ‘fish’ fillet with spicy kumquat sauce and lychee.

January 22 to February 24

Whether your reunion dinner plans involve a tight-knit gathering or a full-blown party, Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro offers sets that are suitable for all. You’ve got eight themed set menus to choose from, ranging from $158 to $438 per guest. For larger groups of eight guests or more, quality dishes like a whole roasted suckling pig with kaluga caviar or pan-fried A5 Wagyu beef make for a real treat. Smaller groups aren’t missing out either, with specialties like Shisen Hanten’s signature dish, a crab roe and foie gras chawanmushi that’s stir-fried with bird’s nest. Other equally tempting dishes include the wok-fried glutinous rice that’s topped with Hokkaido scallops and a steamed grouper with red pickled peppers. 

With a minimum of two guests, you can choose from menus priced from $158, $198, and $388. 

Whichever menu you choose, you and your guests will delight in a special yu sheng – it makes for a grand start to the Year of the Dragon with its unique red dragon fruit sauce. This is made with pure peanut oil and fresh dragon fruit for a burst of zest, a symbolic way to enjoy a dragon’s prosperity. Make sure to generously drizzle this one-of-a-kind sauce all over included premium toppings such as salmon, abalone, scallop, and lobster.

Book here

February 3 to 24

Should you need a break from pen cai and yu sheng this Chinese New Year, head to Rempapa for Chef Damian D’Silva’s curated dine-in menu of ala carte items. Start with the duck croquette ($18) featuring duck leg braised with hoisin sauce, water chestnuts and winter melon enveloped in crunchy taro batter. Then, feast on herbal chicken in lotus leaf ($48) made up of a whole French poulet chicken cooked with conpoy and baby lotus root parceled in lotus leaf. Or opt for the Teochew-style steamed red grouper ($68) accompanied by salted vegetables, tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms, and beancurd. What’s a trip to Rempapa without some kueh? Wrap things up up with Mandarin orange steamed rice cakes ($6.80) that are also available for takeaway.

January 29 to February 24

Usher in the Year of The Dragon in style amid the grounds of a Manchurian-inspired mansion with riverside views. Mimi’s selection of festive set menus range in price (from $98) and feature tantalising modern classics like camphor tea-smoked duck, steamed Australian lobster with garlic, tangy cod fish soup with bamboo shoot, and seasonal vegetables with abalone and goose feet. Vegetarians can revel in equally exciting dishes including mock abalone with sliced bean root and stir-fried wild mushrooms with truffle sauce as part of a separate set menu ($88). Smoked salmon yu sheng features in all but the vegetarian set menu, which instead includes a refreshing snow pear yu sheng.

January 15 to February 29

If you have a relative to impress, Man Fu Yuan will make it easy for you to do so with its premium Chinese New Year menus (from $168), guaranteed to make even the fussiest mother-in-law nod in approval. Once-a-year treats such as braised five-head abalone with tiger prawns, steamed Atlantic cod fish fillet, braised giant river prawns with red wine noodles, and wok-fried Hokkaido scallop with asparagus grace the many set menus available. The yu sheng that kicks off each menu varies in extravagance, with one version even containing Kaluga Queen caviar and sea urchin. All meals end with chilled pumpkin puree with longan, lotus seeds, peach collagen, and nian gao.