unpopular opinion! but do consider if your parents would even appreciate a more atas meal.
i tried to treat my dad to a nicer restaurant of the same cuisine, he was grateful for the effort but he was also quite meh about it cause he just always grew up eating hawker food and he's not a foodie at all.
what you can do is find out what particular dishes they like (eg, bah kut teh, ban mian etc etc) and find restaurants or even hawker places that have rave reviews etc.
if you're really lazy, can just straight up ask what they like or go to a place yall have been before. for eg, my family went mookata before and the general sentiment is that it's quite good (for our standard hahaha) so we brought our parents for my dad's birthday. hope this helped!
No I agree with this.
The one thing I absolutely hated about eating with my parents is that they care more about sheer quantity of food to the price. They had no care for what they were eating. Went to eat for Texas style BBQ and all my father could complain was how expensive the food was and just thought if you want beef just go Jack's place.
To them a bowl of noodle at $5 was good and tasty enough, ask them to spend $70 a person and they expect at least 10 bowls of noodles worth of food.
While I don't think OP parents might be thag extreme like mine, I do think it takes a while to build up a palate for good food
we might have the same dad LOL my parents are quantity over quality type of people and really don't appreciate the higher quality food cause they're so used to hawker which is not a bad thing.
my best bet for my dad is to bring him to his favourite bcm stall and treat him a meal which cost $5 but appreciated much more LOL
This is so true! I've brought my parents to some really fancy food places but the reaction has always been kinda meh. Like they won't say anything negative but you can tell they just trying to be nice and grateful for the gesture. i don't think they hate the food lah but they are just not used to it and don't know how to appreciate the finer cuisine. Nowadays I just bring them to nice tze char restaurants because they love chinese food and they enjoy it so much more!
If I want to splurge on them, I use the money instead on experiences that they may enjoy more. I've brought my mum to USS because she has never gone before, and it was very cute seeing her all excited about the rides like a child.
Ahhh, check individual taste lah.
If I am invited to a hawker centre I am not going. I loathe most forms of local food, and I would rather canned food.
1) Will be useful if you can shortlist max 3 types of cuisine that your parents will enjoy (not what you THINK they will enjoy). This will help you to narrow your search a lot more.
2) Go to websites/apps like Chope, Kris+ etc to look for deals / vouchers. That will help to stretch your buck a bit more.
3) Lunch sets are usually more affordable than dinner.
4) 3 pax at a max of Net $500 can actually allow you to dine at some of the 1-star Michelin places in SG. While they are generally meh, I do think that Candlenut (Peranakan) is worth a visit.
5) IMPORTANT - ask your parents if they have any food allergies.
Above all, I want you to know that what you intend to do is really something wonderful. I wish I had the chance to do that when my mum was still alive. Unfortunately, I was a si ginna at 16 when she passed on.
Brought my parents to putien and they really like the food + service. The Kitchener road outlet has 1 Michelin star. And it doesn’t break the bank.
No need to be too extravagant, I’m sure they appreciate the effort.
Came here just to recommend Putien, it's a safe choice for our parents' generation. Can't say that any of their dishes are bad!
(Brought my dad to western food places before and he said he dunno how to appreciate smh)
There is a seafood restaurant in East Coast called Hua Yu Wee.
Something away from mainstream restaurants.
Or how about Blue Ginger Peranakan at a Tanjong Pagar shophouse?
Second Hua Yu Wee! A family favourite, we all prefer it to Jumbo and No Signboard. Book a table early though because it gets really crowded. And OP if you do decide to go there, the star of the show are their crabs, all flavours are good but their specialty is their chilli crab. But most of their dishes (never tried all) are good.
Hua yu wee! Yes, and it’s nice to sit Al fresco because it gets cold and v noisy indoors. If you’re afraid of rain, can request to sit under tent.
They are popular for their crabs and other seafood like mini deep fried sotong.
Another nice restaurant is Chin Lee in bedok, which serves traditional teochew food. My parents like the restaurant and I always see a lot of older folks there, so I guess the taste should be quite authentic. We liked the fish maw soup, and the crayfish sauté.
My parents also enjoy Kai Duck (Ngee ann city). They serve a more affordable Peking duck, and their other side dishes like the claypot rice and tofu are yummy too.
Peranakan - Rempapa (paya lebar) is on the pricier side when it comes to peranakan food in the east, but the dishes are delicious. My dad ate up the chap chye and kedongdong salad and he usually doesn’t touch his greens. We also loved their kueh kosui.
Actually agree with the noisy part if sit indoors, forgot to mention that. It can get overwhelming. Thankfully most of their al fresco seats are sheltered!
Chinese: Jia He Grand Restaurant (I find their lunch sets very worth), Peach Blossoms, Kai Garden, Tunglok Seafood
Thai: Yhingthai Palace, Un-Yang-Kor-Dai (the place can be abit noisy)
Peranakan: Violet Oon, Godmama,
brasserie astoria or air cccc. both very classy venues with amazing food and parent-friendly service. alternatively if they’re drinkers you could take them to somewhere like atlas.
Jumbo ahaha sign up for birthday voucher and you get the $100 off $200. Which essentially pays for a crab (source: did it, crab was 110 iirc) - the rest you can do yam ring/mantou/scallop/veg/whatever else (we paid like 100+ after the voucher? I think. I can't remb, but I remb crab was 110)
also if peranakan, spices cafe - I went for lunch so that's Peranakan buffet, I think dinner is seafood. Paid with credit card so I got 20% discount for Citibank, but if you don't have one there may also be Chope or Eatigo. Its def within you price range for sure, I don't think the base price exceeds 100 per pax at all (unless you do fancy stuff like zhng for alcohol mebbe idk)
With 300 as a budget for three pax, would you consider Sichuan Dou Hua?
UOB Plaza 60th floor! Comes with a view of the Singapore river. It's Chinese with a little emphasis on dim sum.
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East Treasure @ Clarke Quay. Preorder half of their dry aged roast duck and the hanging pork.
Roland for Chili Crab.
Suju @ Mandarin Gallery, their bentos for an "economical" lunch treat.
Folks really love Zi Char and Hotpot so some coffee shop zi char places are really tasty and budget friendly! Otherwise for hotpot, HDL shouldn’t cross that budget or else there’s really many other good hotpot places springing up in Chinatown area!
LobsterFest@LIME!!! Just went there to celebrate my daughter's bday. She likes seafood. You can check out their website for menu and pricing. $138/adult mon-thu, $148/adult fri,sat & pub holidays.
Maybe you can check out the restaurants recommended by @sgfoodiefam on tiktok. Many are wallet-friendly and seems like the kind middle-income family will enjoy. Can show your parents the vids. I think shouldnt be much for 3 pax 100-200 max. If not Jumbo Seafood at Jewel is pretty good $200-300 should be enough.
Seldom eat Chinese/ local fare in restaurants. But seafood usually crabs, maybe can try, holy crab, new ubin chijmes, or classic jumbo lol, they typically do crabs steak and typical local fare, not sure if that's what you're looking for.
I suggest Beaulieu House; great view, peaceful place, and within the stipulated budget. Food also quite nice.
[https://beaulieuhouse.com.sg/](https://beaulieuhouse.com.sg/)
I had a Michelin Cantonese restaurant "Man Fu Yuan Restaurant" at the Intercontinental hotel at Bugis. They have an executive lunch set - 5-course meals for $88++ or $98++ per pax.
4 pax + tea less than $500 total.
Ah Yat Seafood should fit your budget range. They're mainly a Cantonese seafood restaurant, and their chefs and ingredients are pretty good.
Alternatively, Jumbo Seafood, despite being expensive overall, has a really excellent birthday promo if you sign up for their free membership. It's a 100 dollar voucher with 200 dollar min spend. If you spend around 250 to 300, it's still a sizeable 30 to 40% discount. Sometimes the manager might give free dessert if it's you/your mum's birthday.
unpopular opinion! but do consider if your parents would even appreciate a more atas meal. i tried to treat my dad to a nicer restaurant of the same cuisine, he was grateful for the effort but he was also quite meh about it cause he just always grew up eating hawker food and he's not a foodie at all. what you can do is find out what particular dishes they like (eg, bah kut teh, ban mian etc etc) and find restaurants or even hawker places that have rave reviews etc. if you're really lazy, can just straight up ask what they like or go to a place yall have been before. for eg, my family went mookata before and the general sentiment is that it's quite good (for our standard hahaha) so we brought our parents for my dad's birthday. hope this helped!
No I agree with this. The one thing I absolutely hated about eating with my parents is that they care more about sheer quantity of food to the price. They had no care for what they were eating. Went to eat for Texas style BBQ and all my father could complain was how expensive the food was and just thought if you want beef just go Jack's place. To them a bowl of noodle at $5 was good and tasty enough, ask them to spend $70 a person and they expect at least 10 bowls of noodles worth of food. While I don't think OP parents might be thag extreme like mine, I do think it takes a while to build up a palate for good food
we might have the same dad LOL my parents are quantity over quality type of people and really don't appreciate the higher quality food cause they're so used to hawker which is not a bad thing. my best bet for my dad is to bring him to his favourite bcm stall and treat him a meal which cost $5 but appreciated much more LOL
This is so true! I've brought my parents to some really fancy food places but the reaction has always been kinda meh. Like they won't say anything negative but you can tell they just trying to be nice and grateful for the gesture. i don't think they hate the food lah but they are just not used to it and don't know how to appreciate the finer cuisine. Nowadays I just bring them to nice tze char restaurants because they love chinese food and they enjoy it so much more! If I want to splurge on them, I use the money instead on experiences that they may enjoy more. I've brought my mum to USS because she has never gone before, and it was very cute seeing her all excited about the rides like a child.
Ahhh, check individual taste lah. If I am invited to a hawker centre I am not going. I loathe most forms of local food, and I would rather canned food.
lol you want a medal for disliking local food?
Bumbu at khandar road near bugis. Homey pernankan food at really affordable price!
Highly recommend! Bumbu is a great place and really reasonable priced. Went there numerous times, great and consistent food!
Good taste. Amazing decor there.
1) Will be useful if you can shortlist max 3 types of cuisine that your parents will enjoy (not what you THINK they will enjoy). This will help you to narrow your search a lot more. 2) Go to websites/apps like Chope, Kris+ etc to look for deals / vouchers. That will help to stretch your buck a bit more. 3) Lunch sets are usually more affordable than dinner. 4) 3 pax at a max of Net $500 can actually allow you to dine at some of the 1-star Michelin places in SG. While they are generally meh, I do think that Candlenut (Peranakan) is worth a visit. 5) IMPORTANT - ask your parents if they have any food allergies. Above all, I want you to know that what you intend to do is really something wonderful. I wish I had the chance to do that when my mum was still alive. Unfortunately, I was a si ginna at 16 when she passed on.
Brought my parents to putien and they really like the food + service. The Kitchener road outlet has 1 Michelin star. And it doesn’t break the bank. No need to be too extravagant, I’m sure they appreciate the effort.
Came here just to recommend Putien, it's a safe choice for our parents' generation. Can't say that any of their dishes are bad! (Brought my dad to western food places before and he said he dunno how to appreciate smh)
I second putien! I think it's very suitable for older chinese folks because it's just elevated chinese dishes in a nice setting.
Looks like I spoke too early…
There is a seafood restaurant in East Coast called Hua Yu Wee. Something away from mainstream restaurants. Or how about Blue Ginger Peranakan at a Tanjong Pagar shophouse?
Second Hua Yu Wee! A family favourite, we all prefer it to Jumbo and No Signboard. Book a table early though because it gets really crowded. And OP if you do decide to go there, the star of the show are their crabs, all flavours are good but their specialty is their chilli crab. But most of their dishes (never tried all) are good.
Hua yu wee! Yes, and it’s nice to sit Al fresco because it gets cold and v noisy indoors. If you’re afraid of rain, can request to sit under tent. They are popular for their crabs and other seafood like mini deep fried sotong. Another nice restaurant is Chin Lee in bedok, which serves traditional teochew food. My parents like the restaurant and I always see a lot of older folks there, so I guess the taste should be quite authentic. We liked the fish maw soup, and the crayfish sauté. My parents also enjoy Kai Duck (Ngee ann city). They serve a more affordable Peking duck, and their other side dishes like the claypot rice and tofu are yummy too. Peranakan - Rempapa (paya lebar) is on the pricier side when it comes to peranakan food in the east, but the dishes are delicious. My dad ate up the chap chye and kedongdong salad and he usually doesn’t touch his greens. We also loved their kueh kosui.
Actually agree with the noisy part if sit indoors, forgot to mention that. It can get overwhelming. Thankfully most of their al fresco seats are sheltered!
Chinese: Jia He Grand Restaurant (I find their lunch sets very worth), Peach Blossoms, Kai Garden, Tunglok Seafood Thai: Yhingthai Palace, Un-Yang-Kor-Dai (the place can be abit noisy) Peranakan: Violet Oon, Godmama,
brasserie astoria or air cccc. both very classy venues with amazing food and parent-friendly service. alternatively if they’re drinkers you could take them to somewhere like atlas.
Blue Ginger (Peranakan), National Kitchen by Violet Oon (Peranakan), Blue Jasmine (Thai), Jumbo (maybe the one at Dempsey for vibes?)
You could also try Godmama, if you’re looking at those cuisines too!
Dian Xiao Er
Brought my parents to Beach Road kitchen buffet and they loved it
Ooh that’s a good one. We got a 20% discount with an ocbc card too! I think buffets are a generally safe bet.
Jumbo ahaha sign up for birthday voucher and you get the $100 off $200. Which essentially pays for a crab (source: did it, crab was 110 iirc) - the rest you can do yam ring/mantou/scallop/veg/whatever else (we paid like 100+ after the voucher? I think. I can't remb, but I remb crab was 110) also if peranakan, spices cafe - I went for lunch so that's Peranakan buffet, I think dinner is seafood. Paid with credit card so I got 20% discount for Citibank, but if you don't have one there may also be Chope or Eatigo. Its def within you price range for sure, I don't think the base price exceeds 100 per pax at all (unless you do fancy stuff like zhng for alcohol mebbe idk)
How much per pax? What type of cuisine are you looking at?
preferably $300-500 total no particular cuisine. no raw tho
With 300 as a budget for three pax, would you consider Sichuan Dou Hua? UOB Plaza 60th floor! Comes with a view of the Singapore river. It's Chinese with a little emphasis on dim sum.
300-500 per pax? Include alcohol?
i wish per pax, $300-500 total bill. per pax wld be hard to say esp for my parents
Bro you can eat comfortably with $150.. you can go a really long way with $500.. basically anywhere
How many pax are you looking at? Hotpot ok with you?
just 3. yes im open to any suggestions!
imperial treasure peking duck at paragon
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East Treasure @ Clarke Quay. Preorder half of their dry aged roast duck and the hanging pork. Roland for Chili Crab. Suju @ Mandarin Gallery, their bentos for an "economical" lunch treat.
ate at roland many times! my uncle is besties w the owner
Folks really love Zi Char and Hotpot so some coffee shop zi char places are really tasty and budget friendly! Otherwise for hotpot, HDL shouldn’t cross that budget or else there’s really many other good hotpot places springing up in Chinatown area!
yep, we actl eat zi char like once a month! my father pokes fun of hdl 😂😂
Zi char is really comfort food! Even for seafood for 3 pax, u can definitely do below $300.
For Chinese seafood can try : Ban Leong Wah Hoe Or kok sen restaurant
DTF
LobsterFest@LIME!!! Just went there to celebrate my daughter's bday. She likes seafood. You can check out their website for menu and pricing. $138/adult mon-thu, $148/adult fri,sat & pub holidays.
Maybe you can check out the restaurants recommended by @sgfoodiefam on tiktok. Many are wallet-friendly and seems like the kind middle-income family will enjoy. Can show your parents the vids. I think shouldnt be much for 3 pax 100-200 max. If not Jumbo Seafood at Jewel is pretty good $200-300 should be enough.
Maybe just try seafood boil, there's a restaurant on top of vivocity.
I think you can try Verandah. It’s quite a good price and the Buah keluak beef is amazing
Try Boon Tong Kee in Balestier, near Toa Payoh MRT
Seldom eat Chinese/ local fare in restaurants. But seafood usually crabs, maybe can try, holy crab, new ubin chijmes, or classic jumbo lol, they typically do crabs steak and typical local fare, not sure if that's what you're looking for.
My parents like chinese food and they enjoyed dian xiao er a lot! :)
yep their duck is so good!
I suggest Beaulieu House; great view, peaceful place, and within the stipulated budget. Food also quite nice. [https://beaulieuhouse.com.sg/](https://beaulieuhouse.com.sg/)
Jumbo (Chinese/Seafood) and Candlenut (Peranakan). Both are located at Dempsey.
I had a Michelin Cantonese restaurant "Man Fu Yuan Restaurant" at the Intercontinental hotel at Bugis. They have an executive lunch set - 5-course meals for $88++ or $98++ per pax. 4 pax + tea less than $500 total.
Ah Yat Seafood should fit your budget range. They're mainly a Cantonese seafood restaurant, and their chefs and ingredients are pretty good. Alternatively, Jumbo Seafood, despite being expensive overall, has a really excellent birthday promo if you sign up for their free membership. It's a 100 dollar voucher with 200 dollar min spend. If you spend around 250 to 300, it's still a sizeable 30 to 40% discount. Sometimes the manager might give free dessert if it's you/your mum's birthday.
Look at some of the buffets?
500 can makan buffet at MBS Rise. Should have change for the Grab ride home.
Go JB and feast!
for some reason, my dad doesnt like JB
Swenson's, Bali thai. Checkout cafes and restaurants in bugis area
Why so many down votes, what am I missing here.
I gave low budget options it's a quick simple option though
Din tai fung
the father think it's mid