Hathaway Autograph at Varel Singapore brings the best of Southeast Asia to Selegie’s doorstep

If you’ve dined at Hathaway before — whether at its now-shuttered Dempsey outpost or the Capital Tower location — you’ll already know the kind of warmth the brand brings to the table.

Southeast Asian flavours done with care, and a menu that feels personal rather than performative.

Hathaway Autograph, the brand’s newly opened flagship, takes that familiarity and sharpens it into something more intentional. Anchored within Varel Singapore, a Tribute Portfolio hotel, a new design-led hotel along Selegie Road, the setting alone signals a shift.

The restaurant spills across an elegant indoor dining room and two verdant al fresco terraces overlooking the Selegie-Mount Sophia enclave — a neighbourhood that somehow manages to feel both central and quietly removed from the city’s churn.

It’s a fitting home for a menu that draws equally on heirloom recipes and modern precision.

Hathaway’s most ambitious chapter yet

Hathaway started as a neighbourhood favourite in Dempsey before expanding to Capital Tower, building a quiet, but loyal following around its Southeast Asian-leaning menu. With Hathaway Autograph, the brand steps into flagship territory — and the difference is felt from the moment you sit down.

The menu here is more focused, more personal, rooted in the food memories of its Indonesian-Chinese owner, Vinson Keefe Anggasaputro (who acquired Grange Collective, the group that manages Hathaway, and is also the hotel’s owner).

Helming the kitchen is executive chef Kenneth Loke, a Bocuse d’Or Malaysia finalist whose technical pedigree runs deep, spanning fine-dining kitchens across Southeast Asia and Europe.

His approach here isn’t about reinvention for its own sake; it’s about expressing familiar flavours with greater clarity and craft — and all without the use of lard or pork.

Familiar flavours thoughtfully reframed

The menu at Hathaway Autograph spans an a la carte selection alongside structured set menus for both lunch and dinner — a useful way to navigate the kitchen’s range without the paralysis of choice.

Lunch offers either two- or three-course options, with the most accessible being a two-course vegetarian set at S$22.

Come evening, there are three set-menu options ranging from four to six courses, with the four-course Saga set priced at a reasonable S$58.

For a Wednesday lunch, we settled into the Autograph set (S$38), a three-course affair of starter, main, and dessert. First up: Salmon & coconut kinilaw, a Filipino-style dish that works much like a ceviche — citrus-cured cubed salmon, coconut milk, avocado, and sweet potato crisps.

If you’re escaping the midday heat, this is an invigorating way to reset the palate; the fatty, creamy salmon balances beautifully against just the right kick of acid.

For those who want a little more to open with, there are two worthwhile add-ons to consider. The otak-otak mousse & caviar (extra S$5) arrives as a mini charcoal cornet — modest in size, but don’t let that fool you. 

The spiced fish mousse hits with an almost immediate warmth, carrying the unmistakable perfume of otak-otak’s signature spice blend: Red chillies, shallots, turmeric, and lemongrass.

Then there’s the wagyu buntut broth (wagyu oxtail soup, extra S$8) — rich, savoury, and deeply comforting, with a balanced ratio of oxtail meat to fatty, yielding bites. It’s exactly what the doctor ordered on a grey day, or whenever you need something that feels like a warm embrace.

If we had to choose just one top-up, this is the one worth the stomach real estate.

On to the mains, where the Autograph set presents two options: Bebek goreng “berempah” or spicy grilled octopus. With two of us at the table, we did what any self-respecting food enthusiast would — ordered both, and had zero regrets.

The bebek goreng “berempah” is a spiced duck leg confit, first slow-cooked in duck fat, then deep-fried to order, served alongside two varieties of rice: Blue pea coconut rice and Thai riceberry.

There was pleasing resistance when pulling the leg apart — a promising sign — giving way to meat that was moist, tender, and fragrant with spice. The kind of lunch you might daydream about back at your desk.

The spicy grilled octopus, despite its name, lands on the milder end of the heat spectrum — but what it lacks in fire, it more than compensates for in texture.

Woodfire-grilled to tender, QQ morsels, the octopus is lacquered in kicap manis (sweet soya sauce) that draws out its natural sweetness, while the accompanying pineapple-cucumber kerabu (salad) cuts through with a bright, refreshing lift.

To close, the set comes with glutinous rice pudding “pulut tai tai” — Hathaway Autograph’s modern riff on the classic Nyonya kueh. Here, coconut glutinous rice pudding is served with kaya gelato, dusted with blue pea pollen and rice puffs.

It’s a creamier, more luxurious take than the traditional pressed cake, though the kaya’s flavour is somewhat gentled by its gelato form, resulting in a subtler finish than purists might expect.

That said, if you want to venture further into Hathaway Autograph’s kueh repertoire, the Princess of the Straits (S$14) is a worthy addition to the table. Puteri salat — a two-layered steamed dessert of coconutty glutinous rice and a pandan custard top — is paired with aromatic pengat sauce (made of coconut milk, palm sugar, and pandan leaves) and salted gula Jawa (palm sugar) ice cream, elevating the humble kueh into something you’ll want to guard closely.

Keep an eye on the last bite; it has a way of disappearing.

Rooted in memory, served with intent

There’s something quietly assuring about a restaurant that knows exactly what it wants to say.

Hathaway Autograph doesn’t try to reinvent Southeast Asian food so much as it tries to honour it — through heirloom recipes, considered technique, and a menu that feels (and tastes) like it was built from memory rather than what’s popular and hip.

Tucked within the Selegie-Mount Sophia corridor, a neighbourhood that has always worn its cultural identity with ease, it feels right at home. This is food that knows where it comes from, and isn’t shy about it.

This was a hosted tasting.

For more ideas on what to eat, check out Yaorawat Cafe, a Thai spot in the CBD with dishes under S$10, and our Star Vista food guide.