Where to eat and drink at Varel Singapore on Selegie Road: Vernacular Coffee, Hathaway Autograph's chicken rice and Deepavali set, and Saga Bar.

HOTEL DINING | FOOD AND DRINK | SELEGIE

Selegie's newest hotel keeps a roastery café at street level, a Southeast Asian dining room upstairs and a spice-led cocktail lounge for the evening. Over two visits, I worked my way through all three.

Vinson Keefe Anggasaputro grew up around Selegie Road. He now owns the hotel on the old Selegie Centre site, at the corner of Selegie Road and Mount Sophia, and the group that runs its restaurant. Varel Singapore is built around his memories of the area, and the menu at Hathaway Autograph is built around what his Indonesian-Chinese family ate.

That makes it a hotel you can spend a whole day in. There's coffee on the ground floor, lunch or dinner on the second, and cocktails after. I went twice, and I'd take them in that order.

Where Is Varel Singapore?

Selegie is a mix of pre-war shophouses, small cafés, supper spots and art schools, with Lasalle, Nafa and Sota a few streets apart. Varel doesn't tower over any of it. FDAT, the architects, kept the building close to the scale of the shophouses beside it.

Arriving is simple. Little India, Rochor, Bencoolen and Dhoby Ghaut MRT stations are all within walking distance.

Vernacular Coffee: The Café at Street Level

The day begins on the ground floor. Vernacular Coffee, the speciality coffee label under The Grange Collective, has made this its street-front flagship. Those who know the brand will remember where it started: a micro-roastery on Guillemard Road with a reputation for well-sourced beans.

The café is bright, with tall windows onto the street and a few tables on the pavement. Dogs are allowed outside.

The coffee is the reason to stop. Vernacular roasts its own beans, and a pour-over costs $8, or $9 iced. If you can't choose between black and white, order the Espresso Flight ($9.50): a single espresso with a small four-ounce white beside it. Non-coffee drinkers can have Fossa's single-origin chocolate, from Malaysia or Vietnam, at $6 hot and $7 iced.

It opens at 8.30am, stays open until 10pm every day, and serves food throughout: pastries, big breakfast plates, a mentaiko pasta. In the evening it turns into a beer garden.

If you're planning a coffee morning around the hotel, Apartment Coffee is about a six-minute walk away. It was named Asia's best coffee shop in 2026, for the second year in a row.

Hathaway Autograph: The Dining Room Upstairs

Hathaway Autograph is on the second floor, next to the lobby, with high ceilings and terraces facing Mount Sophia. Executive Chef Kenneth Loke runs the kitchen.

Hathaway used to have a restaurant at Dempsey, which has closed, and still has one at Capital Tower. Autograph is the flagship.

The food is mostly Indonesian and Peranakan, with a few dishes from elsewhere in the region. There's no pork or lard in the kitchen, which helps if you're booking for a mixed group.

Hathaway's Chicken Rice: My Favourite at Varel

On my first evening I ordered from the regular menu, and the chicken rice was the dish I'd return for.

It is made with AnXin chicken and Thai Hom Mali rice cooked in chicken fat, served with a six-hour bone broth and three condiments: house chilli, ginger-scallion oil and soy.

The rice smells of chicken fat but isn't oily, and the grains stay separate. The chicken is tender. The broth is clear and has real depth. I kept switching between the chilli and the ginger-scallion oil and finished both.

It's an odd thing to order in a hotel restaurant, since most of us eat chicken rice at a hawker centre. Here it's worth it, and it sums up the kitchen fairly: familiar food, good ingredients, cooked slowly.

These are the dishes other diners speak of most warmly, and the ones I have reserved for my next visit.

Heritage Kueh Pie Tee with Shrimp ($9 for three). Three crisp nyonya cups filled with braised jicama and carrot, finished with a shrimp and a dab of chilli.

Signature Beef Cheek Rawon. Beef cheek braised for 12 hours in a buah keluak gravy.

Ah Nya's Fish Curry ($36). Based on a family recipe. Of everything on the menu, it's the dish other reviewers mention most.

Boston Lobster Noodle. Steamed lobster and noodles in a crustacean bisque scented with laksa spices.

The drinks list holds a small curiosity: two house-fermented beverages made to accompany the food.

For those who prefer to be guided, the set menus are sensibly priced. Lunch offers a two-course vegetarian set at S$22 and the three-course Autograph set at S$38. Dinner brings three set menus of four to six courses, beginning with the four-course Saga set at S$58. For the festive season there is also a Deepavali set; the details are at the end.

Saga Bar: Cocktails After Dinner

Both nights ended at Saga Bar, a small cocktail lounge in the hotel. The drinks use Southeast Asian spices, so they follow on easily from dinner at Hathaway.

It's dark and quiet enough to talk without raising your voice.

For a late arrival or a light supper, Hathaway Autograph's menu can be ordered at the bar, and the Beef Cheek Rawon and a Chilli Crab Dip both sit well alongside a cocktail. The bar opens from 3pm to 11pm, with last pour at 10.30pm.

The Rooftop Pool Bar

One address remains on my list. The rooftop pool bar serves drinks against the city skyline, and I intend to see it at sunset.

A Day at Varel, From Morning to Night

If you want to do it all in one day: coffee and a pastry at Vernacular, a walk around the shophouses and galleries of Selegie and Bras Basah, lunch or dinner at Hathaway Autograph, then a drink at Saga Bar.

On my second visit, I left the bar a little after ten. Downstairs, Vernacular was still lit, a few pavement tables still taken, and Selegie Road was quiet. I walked toward Dhoby Ghaut and took the train home.

Need to Know

Address Varel Singapore, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, 189 Selegie Road, Singapore 188332

Vernacular Coffee Ground floor; daily 8.30am to 10pm; pour-over from $8, Espresso Flight $9.50

Hathaway Autograph Level 2; breakfast 7am to 10.30am, lunch 12pm to 2.30pm, dinner 6pm to 10pm

Executive Chef Kenneth Loke

What I had Vernacular Coffee; Hathaway's Chicken Rice (first visit); Deepavali set menu (second visit)

Also on the menu Heritage Kueh Pie Tee with Shrimp $9 for three; Ah Nya's Fish Curry $36; Beef Cheek Rawon; Boston Lobster Noodle

Set menus Vegetarian lunch $22; Autograph lunch $38; Saga dinner set $58

Deepavali set menu Vegetable Pakora and Kachumber; Charcoal-Grilled Lamb Rump with Pilaf Rice or Masala Chicken; Daal Halwa with Gula Jawa Ice-Cream. 6 to 8 November 2026; $58++ lunch, $78++ dinner

Saga Bar 3pm to 11pm; last pour 10.30pm; Hathaway menu available

Dietary No pork or lard at Hathaway Autograph

Reservations +65 6450 3416; varel.dining@tributeportfolio.com

Corkage $35++ per bottle

Getting there Little India, Rochor, Bencoolen or Dhoby Ghaut MRT

Instagram @varelhotel

Frequently Asked Questions

What restaurants and bars are at Varel Singapore? Vernacular Coffee on the ground floor, Hathaway Autograph on level 2, Saga Bar, and a rooftop pool bar.

Is Vernacular Coffee worth visiting if I'm not staying at the hotel? Yes. It's a street-front café open to everyone from 8.30am to 10pm, with beans roasted in-house and a dog-friendly alfresco area.

What should I order at Hathaway Autograph? Hathaway's Chicken Rice. Diners also recommend Ah Nya's Fish Curry and the Beef Cheek Rawon.

Does Hathaway Autograph have a Deepavali menu? Yes, from 6 to 8 November 2026, at $58++ for lunch and $78++ for dinner.

Is Hathaway Autograph pork-free? The menu is prepared without pork or lard.

What time does Saga Bar open? 3pm to 11pm, with last pour at 10.30pm.

Can I eat at Saga Bar? Yes. Hathaway Autograph's menu is available at the bar.

What's the nearest MRT to Varel Singapore? Little India, Rochor, Bencoolen and Dhoby Ghaut are all within walking distance.