Beast & Butterflies ⋆ M Social Singapore - hip new restaurant bar

Why eat at boring looking restaurants when you can enjoy a good meal at a space with stylish furniture, alluring lighting and captivating designer decor? Beast & Butterflies is a hip contemporary restaurant bar serving fusion food with Asian and Western influences. The diner and bar of new hotel – M Social Singapore – can be the perfect destination for the first date. Located in the quaint Robertson Quay precinct, Beast & Butterflies M Social can boast of the gregarious and gorgeous interior design of Philippe Starck and a romantic riverside promenade just beyond its bar.

The quirky bronze peanut sculptures and vibrant patterned floor tiles at the exterior of M Social Singapore tell you that it not just another ordinary hotel. There are clear hints that the whole place has been exceptionally designed and yet there is a certain sense of familiarity. M Social and Beast & Butterflies reminded us of The South Beach. We were thus not surprised when we found out that M Social Singapore was also designed by Philippe Starck, who first introduced his colourful tongue-in-cheek design to the Singapore hotel scene at The South Beach Singapore.

Beast & Butterflies Bar ⋆ M Social Singapore

Beast & Butterflies M Social is a very well dressed-up hotel diner and bar, with an open-concept kitchen. It has bar tops which are digital screens, portions of floor which are lit up from underneath, functional digital tablets on the walls as moving image exhibits and a red top billiard table serving as a divider between the main dining area and the bar.

Beast & Butterflies Kitchen ⋆ M Social Singapore

Beast & Butterflies Restaurant Singapore

The furniture and lighting are also fascinating. There are book lamps (literally), lava lamps and chandeliers with in-built projectors to flash images so that the colour and intensity of the light are constantly changing.

Beast & Butterflies Restaurant ⋆ M Social Singapore

Walking around Beast & Butterflies M Social can feel like a visit to an upscale furniture shop. However, Beast & Butterflies is a place with beautiful designer furniture on display where you are encouraged to eat and drink. It offers reasonably priced buffet breakfast, affordable set lunches, interesting cocktails with live music on some nights. The a la carte menu offers items which you would normally expect in all day hotel dining menus but with fusion dishes of East and West, or “borderless cuisine” as the restaurant calls it.

Below are pictures of random pages of their digital menu.

Beast & Butterflies M Social Restaurant Menu

We went to Beast & Butterflies M Social for dinner and ordered Tomato Latte ($10) and Crab Patties ($12) as starters. We chose the Earthen Rice ($18) and Cody Mee ($28) for our main course. The psychedelic lights must have affected us somewhat as we also ordered their Dessert Extravaganza ($25). That was more food than we needed. Service charge and GST would be added to the bill.

The service was efficient and friendly. Iced water was offered. The wait for the food was not long.

The Tomato Latte was cold tomato juice with capsicum foam. It was smooth, very pleasant and refreshing. The Crab Patties had thin crispy crust and curry crab meat filling. They were enjoyable; they should go very well with cold beer. The serving consisted of six pieces.

Beast & Butterflies Singapore Crab Cakes

The Earthen Rice was Claypot Chicken Rice with Chinese Sausages. The black sauce was served separately. The portion was quite generous. The claypot rice was ordinary and we found the sausages to be slightly overcooked and too soft for our liking.

The Cody Mee was Crispy Egg Noodles with Baked Cod Fillet. The presentation was interesting. The noodles did taste like the crispy noodles you could get the neighbourhood zhi char stalls. The baked cod fish with a light sauce had good texture and clean taste. It was the better of the 2 main courses.

Beast & Butterflies M Social desserts Platter

The Extravaganza Dessert was a platter consisting of Mango Sticky Rice, Yam Brulée, Yoghurt & Lime Mousses with Fruits and Chocolate & Banana Crumble.

We liked the Yam Brulée. Beneath the thin caramelized sugar top was rich and delicious traditional oh nee (yam paste, Teochew style). Very enjoyable. The Chocolate & Banana Crumble was interesting – a chocolate sphere melted with molten lava chocolate sauce. Inside the sphere we found banana infused with vanilla sauce. The combination of tastes and textures was delightful.

Some much food, riotous colours and patterns, constantly changing lighting and funky background music – we experienced sensory overload at Beast & Butterflies M Social Singapore, but in a good way. Nathaniel Hawthorn wrote “Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you“. As we ate at Beast & Butterflies, a butterfly alighted upon us.