The best gift for mum isn't a mug that says "Best Mum Ever" (although she'll use it forever). It's time. Yours, preferably spent eating something fabulous together.

So whether your mum's a brunch-and-bubbles kind of girl or the elegant steak-and-quiet conversation type, here's where you might take her for that special meal to say thank you for putting up with you.

Verandah Rooftop Rotisserie @ Momentus Hotel Alexandra

Spoil Mum at this breezy rooftop spot with views from an infinity pool and a sensational menu.

The Mother's Day Brunch Buffet on May 11 ($108 per adult) comes with a Premium Sea Treasures Platter laden with rock lobster, live mud crab, and king prawns slathered in golden pumpkin crab roe sauce. There's also everything from Balinese grilled cuttlefish to truffle rotisserie chicken at the live stations.

For a hands-on experience, join the Pistachio Strawberry Tart Masterclass where you can make a dessert for mum with mum. Bonus: She gets a complimentary glass of bubbly.

Butcher's Block

Chef de Cuisine Jordan Keao's five-course Mother's Day Lunch menu ($138 per person) blends wood-fire cooking with his Hawaiian heritage.

That translates to fresh-from-the-grill seafood and meat dishes like wagyu pipikaula — Blackmore rump and chuck roll cured in aged garlic shoyu before it is dry-aged for 25 days and served with beef fat fried rice. There's also Big Eye ahi tuna poke and succulent Little Joe tenderloin paired with English pea puree and chimichurri.

Dessert is a twist on haupia, a coconut pudding with gula Melaka ice cream and fermented Ichigo strawberries. If you're dialling up the pampering, opt for the wine pairing ($98) and raise a toast to the most special lady in your life... even if, just for today, that's not your wife.

The Masses

Chef Dylan Ong's casual bistro has been serving easy-on-the-pocket Franco-Asian comfort food for years.

For Mother's Day, he's running a Mum-dines-free promotion when you book the Farm-Style Communal Brunch for four adults ($68.80 per person).

What's on the 10-dish sharing menu? Scrumptious dishes like hay-smoked hamachi crudo, crispy chicken leg, cold cuts, roasted veggies, a haricot vert salad, black truffle scrambled eggs, and his signature caviar sour cream dip with house-made chips, among other things.

The Dining Room @ Sheraton Towers

With a spread that includes lemak chilli api ribeye, dry-fried bak kut teh, curry chicken chee cheong fun, and Grandma's pandan kaya cake, Mum's response to The Dining Room's Mother's Day Lunch Buffet ($108 per adult) could go various ways.

She might say, "What a great idea! I'm going to cook this next week" or compare the pandan cake to her mother's. Whichever way it goes, it's her day and the proper response would be an enthusiastic, loving smile.

The spread is inspired by dishes cooked by the mothers and grandmothers of the culinary team members, so expect familiar flavours that will warm the heart.

The Black Pearl

This rooftop Chinese restaurant helmed by executive chef Dee Chan, formerly from Mott32, is the new darling of Chinese restaurants in Singapore.

For Mother's Day, Chan has created a six-course modern Cantonese spread that starts with a trio of appetisers featuring baby abalone, black truffle crystal dumplings, and aged black vinegar jellyfish head with black and white fungus.

Also expect a red grouper in a black garlic sauce, Iberico char siew, and longevity noodle soup with seafood.

The Mother's Day Dinner menu ($128 per person) is available throughout May.

Xiang Xiang Hunan Cuisine

It feels like Hunan food is the latest "it" cuisine in town, and if Mum is a fan, then Mother's Day is an excuse to indulge her love of spice with new dishes at Xiang Xiang Hunan Cuisine.

Head to the Parkway Parade outlet for new offerings like stir-fried spicy squid tentacles, sizzling pot chicken, and slow-braised luffa.

Alas, Mum doesn't eat free or get a discount when you dine here on Mother's Day, but she does get a free tote featuring Xiang Xiang's adorable ambassador Xiang Du Du. Lest you forget, the real gift is spending precious time together, ok?

This article was first published in Wonderwall.sg.