8th July 2019

Two of my favourite things in life are dim sum and champagne. I love dim sum, so much. I could eat dim sum every day, just as I could happily plough through a bottle of champagne every day. Due to something called discipline and another thing called money, I don’t. Imagine my exhilaration when I heard about the all you can eat dim sum champagne brunch at Empress at the Asian Civilisations Museum. I could not have been more excited. Where had I been hiding for the last few years?

Champagne brunch is an utterly decadent thing that I swear I never heard of until I moved to Singapore. The idea of stuffing as much food and champagne as I wanted into my face seemed ludicrous, excessive and just a bit gross. Clearly, those thoughts didn’t last long.

Nestled in the colonial heritage building of the Asian Civilisations Museum, Empress is a pretty, smart casual Chinese restaurant that overlooks the towering buildings of the Singapore Central Business District and the little shophouses that line their feet.

Empress offers one of the best value champagne brunches I think you can get in Singapore. While traditional brunches offer everything in buffet format, Empress offer you unlimited servings of dim sum and a few choices of some other mains, meaning everything you get is fresh. The menu is also vegetarian friendly, so you won’t leave your veggie friends out.

At $58 per person, I think this is an amazing deal. Add $45 for free flow prosecco, wine or beer and a further $20 for Mumm champagne. There are several 2 hour sittings at the weekend, though I’ve stayed long past our time ordering more drinks (not included in the free flow price, obviously). The quality of food you get is outstanding, I haven’t had a single bad dish.

The stand out dishes for me (this’ll be a long list) are their sliced fish congee, the pork and chive dumplings, xo turnip cake, crispy eggplant, the roast pork, the angus beef tenderloin cubes and the custard buns. The last time I went I ate 6 custard buns after I’d devoured everything else. I couldn’t move afterwards, but it’s too hard not to order more and I could hear my mother in my head telling me I can’t waste food.

The service can sometimes be a little slow for top ups, either that or they just aren’t used to how quickly some people can drink their champagne! It is an excellent place to go especially if you have visitors in town, the setting and quality of food cannot be beaten.

Waddle across to Smoke & Mirrors on top of the National Gallery for a lovely post brunch tipple (if you can make it).

Saturdays & Sundays
Lunch: 11am – 4pm (last order 3.30pm)
(Dim Sum Brunch last seating 2pm)

1 Empress Place, #01-03
Asian Civilisations Museum
Singapore, 179555

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