Even before the Singapore Botanic Gardens was awarded the UNESCO World Heritage Site status, we had considered it to be the nicest public space in Singapore. Since then, the Gardens have been improved and expanded. More restaurants and places to eat have been added. To help our readers plan a day out at the park, here is our list of Botanic Gardens Restaurants.
Botanico at the Garage in Singapore Botanic Gardens is the restaurant located above the casual diner Bees Knees (read about our visit here). Still relatively new, Botanico had previously only opened for dinner. They recently started serving lunch. They have set lunch options which looked interesting and so we made a beeline to Botanico for lunch recently.
It has been two years since Crown Bakery and Cafe opened in Crown Centre along Bukit Timah Road. Yet its popularity is still going strong. On a Saturday morning, brunch business was brisk. All the tables – indoors and outdoors were all taken. We dropped by for a quick breakfast and were fortunate to be able to secure a table without too long a wait.
The Spruce Fire Station Restaurant at Bukit Timah is a restaurant that has one of the most prominent locations in Singapore. It is situated in the former Bukit Timah fire station at the junction of Old Jurong and Upper Bukit Timah Road, a major thoroughfare where thousands of cars pass by everyday. Spruce restaurant takes up the space where the fire engines used to be parked. Spruce’s former space in Phoenix Park, Tanglin Road is now used by Coyote, a sister Tex-Mex restaurant.
The newly opened cafe, Bee’s Knees Botanic Gardens, is housed on the ground floor of a small building called The Garage. A more formal restaurant, Botanico at the Garage, lives upstairs. The Garage’s location may be quite hard to find for those who are not familiar with the layout of the sprawling Singapore Botanic Gardens. It is located right at the end near Bukit Timah Road. Those driving should enter by the Cluny Road Gate. This Garage building looks like it was part of the old University of Singapore Bukit Timah Campus.
Today, we take you with us to our set lunch at Acqua e Farina Singapore, the Italian restaurant at Rail Mall in Upper Bukit Timah. This restaurant was formerly known as Galbiati Gourmet Deli until late last year. ” Acqua e Farina” means water and flour in Italian – essential ingredients which go into making pizza and pasta. Always popular with folks working in this part of town because of the free parking available, Rail Mall now gets even more human traffic with the opening of the new Hillview Station on the Downtown Line which is a 5 minute walk away.
