Corner House is one of those restaurants which you would want to save for special occasions because of the beautiful setting facing lush greenery (rare in Singapore, even though we are technically a “garden city”) and because it’s not very accessible so you won’t come by here every other day. I found a good enough occasion to dine here (a birthday!) finally, after hearing so many good reviews about the food for quite a while. This restaurant has been recently listed as one of Asia’s 50 best restaurants.

Do note that there’s only ONE way to get here – through the big entrance to Botanic Gardens on Nassim Road. The Botanic Gardens is an annoying location where if you try to enter from another side and you can’t, you can’t drive through it. You need to go around the perimeter of the whole gardens to get to the other side. Do be clear with directions before coming.

The restaurant is housed in a small, conserved(from 1910!) black & white bungalow. The dining areas are on the second storey and there are 3 areas – The Verandah, Whispering Corner and Claret Corner. I requested for the Whispering Corner because it seems more private than the other areas and the view and light is great. As there was only two of us, we had to share the area with another table but it wasn’t that bad since the other diners only came in later so we pretty much had privacy for half the meal.

Intrusion of privacy for the second half aside, the ambiance was lovely. Having a garden view in the comfort of air conditioning is like the best of both worlds. If photos are important for you, the selfie lighting and background you’ll get here is amazing (if you dine while there’s daylight). This makes a good restaurant for special occasions since you’ll me more likely to want to take pictures on special occasions as compared to normal meals.

For lunch you can choose between 3 courses ($48.00++), 4 courses ($58.00++) or a 5 course discovery menu ($98.00++). 4 courses gets two appetisers from the Business Luncheon menu and that’s what we opted for.

Japanese kingfish tartare Fennel, grapefruit, mentaiko, basil, home-made cracker

Foie gras (SUPPLEMENT $6) Cured duck, hazelnut, burnt orange, arugula, honey mustard coulis

Soft shell crab tempura Harissa, 62 degree egg, butternut squash

Atlantic cod Savoy cabbage, smoked bacon, shellfish emulsion

Chocolat “Earl Grey yin zhen” (SUPPLEMENT $6) 40% Jivara, 70% Guanaja, yuzu, pistachio, kumquat

I was satisfied with the food in general, nothing specifically was my favourite. The food had both quality and aesthetics and I was pleased with the meal. However, it’s priced slightly higher than what you’ll find else where, so part of the value goes to the ambiance. That’s why I said, this place worth coming only for special occasions where ambiance matters.

Food: 8/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Value: 7/10
Overall: Beautiful place, good quality food. Great choice for special occasions.

Corner House
1 Cluny Road, E J H Corner House
Singapore Botanic Gardens
(Nassim Gate Entrance)
Singapore 259569

Tel: 64691000

TUESDAYS – SATURDAYS
Lunch: 12 pm – 3 pm
(last order 2.30 pm)
Dinner: 6.30 pm – 11 pm
(last order 10 pm)

SUNDAY
Brunch: 11.30 am – 3 pm
(last order 2.30 pm)
Dinner: 6.30 pm – 11 pm
(last order 10 pm)