Lolla Singapore

Last week I posted a review—an Uninvited Opinion—about Lolla, with its easy going spirit and capable, crowd-pleasing dishes that just delighted. It is a neighbourhood restaurant for which I had to travel almost 4000 miles.

Uninvited Opinion? A few weeks back I shared that I will segment reviews calling out more clearly those which are not invites, not because this changes the way I write, but it may change the way you interpret that writing. (NB I’ve always declared when I’m invited because it’s the right thing to do.).

Back to Lolla.

Singapore gives you many reasons to eat out, but few speak as clearly as the menu at Lolla. Tucked inside a conservation shophouse in Chinatown, Lolla is the sort of place where you sit at a bar counter upstairs watching two chefs quietly turn out chocolate-pistachio tarts and corn ribs with the kind of calm competence that makes you lean in. It’s casual, confident and completely uninterested in theatrics.

The dishes read simply but land with intention: burnt cabbage with crispy capers; toasted sourdough with kombu butter and koji-cured quail with an egg yolk. There’s pan-fried lemon sole, a cheese menu (dangerous), plus specials like brioche layered with herbs and anchovies, and *the* called crab, crab, crab.

Downstairs, ropes and warm lighting hang over a communal table that feels designed for groups, solo diners, and anyone who enjoys the low hum of a busy dining room. The service is friendly without fuss and knowledgeable without reading from a script. It’s the sort of team that simply gets on with it — much like the capable kitchen.

Lolla isn’t trying to be a scene. It’s trying to be delicious. And it succeeds. The kind of place you choose not because it’s the hot reservation in town, but because the food is grounded, thoughtful and quietly joyful. A restaurant you return to because the menu and team pull you back.

Thank you to @alanquah522 and @vickieeeee1109. Read more through the links in my profile. Would you go to Lolla?

#itsliamcollens #lollasingapore #singaporeeats #sgeats #eatgosee Less