Celebrate Singapore’s 60th birthday with these National Day feasts
As Singapore observes its 60th birthday this year, these restaurants are not just serving up local favourites, but also giving tribute to the people, stories, and tastes that have shaped the nation.
Cygnet by Sean Connolly
This August, QT Singapore isn’t just celebrating Singapore’s Diamond Jubilee — it’s throwing a full-bodied party of flavours, stories and a touch of mischief. In keeping with the hotel’s playful spirit and bold aesthetic, its SG60 programme is anything but ordinary. Expect Peranakan feasts that evoke family kitchens, cocktails inspired by hawker favourites, and cheeky birthday perks that reward you just for being born on the right day.
At the centre of the festivities is a culinary collaboration that celebrates heritage and hospitality in equal measure. For three evenings in August, Cygnet by Sean Connolly opens its kitchen to Butterfly Table by Tiap Tiap — the mother-daughter duo known for transforming traditional Peranakan meals into intimate, highly sought-after communal dining experiences. Their Tok Panjang-style menu, available on Aug 17, 24 and 31, is a love letter to the matriarchs who cooked without recipes but with endless heart.
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From left: Nicole, Chef Paul and Sophia
The meal begins on a convivial note: handmade fish keropok and a do-it-yourself kueh pie tee bar ease diners into the evening. What follows is a spread that feels at once nostalgic and elevated: roti bakar with spiced fish, housemade Fuchow fishballs and a centrepiece of rainbow-hued nasi ulam, fragrant with organic herbs and edible flowers. The rice finds its perfect match in robust mains like nyonya curry chicken and buah keluak pork ribs, the latter simmered over two days.
There’s assam pedas made with fresh fish in tangy tamarind broth, eggs bathed in caramelised bean paste, and okra and brinjal stir-fried in sambal, all plated with care and served with soul. Priced at $148++ per person (minimum four diners), the menu offers a generous and deeply personal dive into a culinary tradition often passed down by memory, not measurement.
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Beyond the table, the celebration spills over to Cygnet Bar, where national pride takes a spirited turn. The bartenders have reimagined Singapore’s hawker culture through four whimsical cocktails — each one familiar, yet entirely unexpected.
There’s the Kopi & Kaya, a boozy ode to the breakfast staple made with rum, coffee liqueur, coconut and gula melaka. The Satay cocktail leans savoury with peanut butter-washed gin and a hit of lemongrass and spice, while the Biryani Martini boldly blends masala vermouth, saffron oil and bitters. For a crisp finish, the Char Siu Highball delivers with Cognac, char siu cordial, soda and a dash of sesame oil.
These cocktails are priced at just $10 during “Cygnet Hour” from 4pm to 7pm throughout August. On National Day itself (Aug 9) they’re $9 all evening, with an added surprise: order any four cocktails and receive a flash tattoo on the spot, courtesy of local artist Daphne Flowers from Peony Pink Tattoos. It’s a delightfully irreverent touch that captures QT’s signature flair.
But QT’s generosity doesn’t end there. The hotel has planned a series of SG60 birthday perks, starting with $98 dining credits for the first 98 diners born on Aug 9, redeemable at Cygnet Restaurant anytime in August (excluding nights featuring the Butterfly Table). There’s no minimum spend, just proof of birthday joy. Even more impressively, the first nine guests born on Aug 9, 1965, will receive a $1,965 credit, valid for six months and usable across hotel stays and all dining outlets. The gift can be claimed by emailing the hotel between Aug 1 and 15 to check availability.
Café Quenino
Café Quenino at Artyzen Singapore is celebrating the nation’s journey the best way it knows how — through food. “The Heart of SG60”, a six-month-long culinary campaign running from May to October, is a thoughtful, layered, and deeply local tribute to the people, places and plates that have shaped Singapore’s identity.
With rotating monthly collaborations, the series pairs Café Quenino’s in-house team with some of the city’s most beloved culinary figures from heritage brands to next-gen chefs, in a programme designed to honour tradition while embracing reinvention. Each collaboration is guided by the campaign’s philosophy: “Stay with soul. Dine with purpose. Celebrate Singapore.”
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“We believe that hospitality is about people, about stories, and about shared experiences,” general manager Marcel NA Holman says. “This series gives us the opportunity to honour Singapore’s past while working hand-in-hand with the creators shaping its future.”
The series kicked off in May with a collaboration featuring Inderpal Singh, winner of MasterChef Singapore Season 4 and chef-founder of Meh’r. Known for his bold, expressive approach to Southeast Asian flavours, Singh co-created a seafood stir-fry in black pepper kicap manis, paired with Café Quenino’s catch of the day. The dessert — a crème brûlée infused with Meh’r’s signature bru coffee caramel — embodied the campaign’s spirit: comfortingly familiar, yet strikingly new.
In June, the café teamed up with 100-year-old institution Chin Mee Chin, whose iconic kaya made a rare appearance beyond East Coast, reimagined in a mille-feuille layered with coconut ice cream. Even heartier was a modernised take on Hainanese beef brisket, now paired with creamy mash — a dish that straddles nostalgia and novelty with elegance.
The collaboration with Keng Eng Kee Seafood in July brought wok hei to the table. Co-founder and head chef Wayne Liew joined chef Ma Yee Khang to create a cheeky reworking of hei zho, the crispy prawn rolls typically found in zi char joints. Here, they are transformed into prawn toast served on fried mantou, and laced with salted egg yolk sauce — a dish at once indulgent and deeply Singaporean.
In August, pastry will take the spotlight with a collaboration with Goobybakes, a cult favourite known for its playful bakes. Founder Jie Hui crafted a trio of cheese pãos filled with sambal, bakkwa, and ginger chicken, evoking the flavours of a hawker centre wrapped in a warm, golden crust.
To mark Singapore’s birthday, August will also feature a one-off collaborative menu co-created by all participating guest chefs. Available for both lunch and dinner, the menu brings together the diverse talents of the campaign into one celebratory spread, spotlighting inventive interpretations of Singaporean favourites and showcasing the distinct culinary styles that define each chef’s journey. Guests will also have the rare opportunity to meet the chefs in person during a special appearance on Aug 1 and 2.
Abundance's beef kut teh ravioli
September ushers in a collaboration with Abundance, the Taiwanese-inspired bar and restaurant known for gua bao and gutsy street flavours. Its contribution? A taro pork belly bun with Café Quenino’s spiced lotus root chips, and a bowl of beef kut teh noodle soup — an east-meets-east creation marrying Taiwan’s beef noodles with Singapore’s beloved bak kut teh.
The series wraps up in October with Red House Seafood, a pioneer in Nanyang-style cuisine. Its signature Nonya sauce gets a luxe twist with premium seafood from Café Quenino, bringing the campaign full circle with a nod to the roots of Singapore’s multicultural palate.
Throughout the campaign, two collaborators remain ever-present. Chin Mee Chin’s kaya mille-feuille continues to hold court as a signature dessert, while Cake Inspiration, known for its artful bakes, elevates the café’s high tea experience with floral local-flavoured mousses and reinterpretations of childhood favourites like ondeh-ondeh and spiced carrot cake.
Local flavours reimagined into cocktails
To complete the experience, senior mixologist Sathya offers a suite of SG60 cocktails inspired by neighbourhood nostalgia. Made in Chinatown channels the earthiness of tea and time-honoured rituals, while Kaya Toastini offers a bittersweet tribute to kopitiam mornings, served in a martini glass.
