Where to eat & drink: Lady M Champagne Bar, contemporary Seoul cuisine & more

Always on the hunt for new dining spots? We bring you sound bites on where to eat, including new restaurant and eatery openings, the best places for your after-work tipple, and what’s new in the food scene.

With the newly lifted dining-in restrictions, here are the newly opened places to check out: Lady M’s new champagne bar, mod Japanese resto Iko, contemporary Korean restaurant NAE:UM, and more.

1.  Lady M Champagne Bar

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Cake boutique Lady M has unveiled an open-concept 44-seater champagne bar at Ion Orchard where you can toast to the lifting of dining in restrictions together with its array of delectable dishes and cakes.

Sink your teeth into boutique exclusives like Chilled Caviar Angel Hair ($40) with house-made Shio Kombu dressing and European caviar, and Creamy Lobster Fettucine ($32) that has Maine lobster chunks with velvety Alfredo sauce.

Or dig your fork into the exquisite Champagne Mille Crêpes ($25), previously a holiday seasonal special.

Champagne’s the focus here, of course, and you’ll find a curated range (from $19++ per glass) on its beverage menu.

You can also go for the Champagne Cake Set ($32) pairing, or indulge in the Weekend Afternoon Tea served with a pot of tea and a glass of champagne ($60 per set, available from July 17 for a minimum of two people).

2. Ebi Bar

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Got a love affair with classic local dishes? You’ll want to give Ebi Bar’s elevated take on well-loved Singaporean dishes a whirl.

Take its signature “Chao Da” or Charred Ebi Noodles ($14.90) for instance, which adds charred prawns to a bowl of noodles swimming in a rich and flavoursome broth – and you can even customise yours with Broth Boosters (from $1.90) that add flavours like Mala, Miso, and Truffle to your soup.

For sides, there’s also the Salted Mackerel Fried Chicken ($6.90), head chef Jeff Tong’s take on the ubiquitous Prawn Paste and Salted Egg Yolk Chicken, and a crispy Ebi & Vege-Crispy Fritter.

Ebi Bar is at #B1-21 Cuppage Plaza, 5 Koek Road, Singapore 228796.

3. Iko

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For mod Japanese cuisine, the newly opened Iko is one to check out. Iko means ‘let’s go’ in Japanese, And spelt backwards, it’s ‘oki’ as in okinami, meaning ‘offshore waves’, which explains the wave motifs on the walls of the contemporary interiors with neon lighting.

It’s hard to pick favourites here, but if we do have to, it’d be the Japanese Black Cod ($38), cured in miso for 72 hours. Fork tender, and brimming with flavour, we couldn’t help but go for seconds.

Uni lovers will want to go for its parfait-style starter of bafun uni and caviar ($28), which rest atop dashi jelly and cauliflower pudding.

You can also start with the Asari, with clams in an umami broth that we wished we had bread to mop up with. Or if you’re up for Somen ($29), you’ll like the refreshing ume-infused strands accompanied by a light bisque foam, torched botan ebi (shrimp) and ikura.

For meats, the binchotan char-grilled Iberico Pluma ($38++) with carrot puree, raisins and mustard jus dishes up delightful mix sweet-meets-savoury flavours. Accompany your meal with a selection of Japanese-inspired cocktails as well as vegan sake.

Iko is at 65 Neil Rd, Singapore 088897. Visit its website for more information.

4. Casa Restaurant by Remy Lefebvre

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There’s a new restaurant in Chijmes for an elegant lunch or dinner date. Previously at Raffles Hotel’s Butcher’s Block, chef Remy Lefebvre is now behind the kitchen at Casa Restaurant by Remy Lefebvre.

Get comfortable in the dining hall, which seats 35, and is dressed in hues of blue, ivory, and sage with natural textures.

Here, he serves up what he bills contemporary wood-fired gastronomy, with a focus on ingredients that are line-caught, responsibly sourced, traditionally farmed, organic and wild-foraged, and bio-dynamic.

Seafood and vegetables are the star players here, with one land animal served each day, and cooked using classic woodfire methods. Think smoked Mediterranean prawns with a Japanese influence, a chawanmushi-inspired dish with blue mussels, line-caught cod and dry-aged wagyu. Lunch and dinner are priced from $118++ to $258++ for four to eight courses, and there’s a multi-course weekend brunch with champagne ($198++).

Casa Restaurant by Remy Lefebvre is at #01-20 Chijmes, 30 Victoria Street, Singapore 187996. Open from Wednesday to Sunday. Visit its website for more information.

5. NAE:UM

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It isn’t hard to find Korean barbeques or cuisine across the island, but the newly opened NAE:UM celebrates Korean flavours with what chef and founder Louis Han calls ‘contemporary Seoul cuisine’.

Here he weaves his heritage with international elements, influenced by his years of working in kitchens around the world.

The casual and elegant vibes of the restaurant, nestled in Telok Ayer, are reflected in the food – familiar yet layered with modern touches.

His menus are episodic, and Episode One features his favourite ingredients such as ‘gochujang’, a conventional Korean sauce that he uses to marinate an in-house dry-aged Challans duck.

There’s also ‘hwae’ (sashimi), an inventive take on a popular cold spicy raw fish soup, which he serves with a yuzu chilli sauce instead.

And you can even pick the number of courses you want. The dinner menu starts from $148++ for five courses, with supplementary dishes as add-ons.

NAE:UM opens on July 1, and is at 161 Telok Ayer Street, Singapore 068615. Visit its website for more information.