Lantern

Went to this bar a lot while I was living in Singapore! It has one of the best atmospheres and views of all of the rooftop bars in the downtown area.
A lot of people took off stars for pricing, but liquor is heavily taxed in Singapore and all nice bars will have similar prices.
Pro-​tip: Wednesday nights are ladies night and women drink for free, but make sure to double check the hours before you go.

The only reason why I am giving Lantern a 3* instead of a 4 is because I wasn’t entirely blown away by the view. Boohoo.
Friends have been raving non-​stop about their Truffle Fries and being a huge fan of those fragrant, potato sticks, I finally (yes, finally!) decided to give it a try after a night out at the Asian Civilization Museum. A friend mentioned that without prior reservation, she waited for quite a while being she was seated on a weekend night.
I decided to try my luck nonetheless.
Upon arriving, we were told towards the bar area to wait for our turn. Somehow or other, I had the impression that if we were hotel guests, we would be given immediate priority. Hmm. Anyway, we headed to the bar and it seemed like they didn’t have a proper system of a queue or ‘who comes first’. Everyone was just haphazardly standing around. Being a typical Singaporean who doesn’t want to miss out on my turn, I made myself known to the waiter and he just said to wait there. OK, so I spotted some empty tables for two but unfortunately, there were other peeps ahead of us (I had no idea where they came from! Maybe they were lurking around somewhere by the pool). I really wonder how the staff takes note of who comes first.
Luckily for us, we waited for around 20 minutes before we were given a table. Yay!
Our Order:
— Lantern Truffle Fries: Each inch of a fry was meticulously coated with truffle oil. You know how some fries smell deliciously immediately after being served but whittle down to a fragrant-​less soggy version after a few minutes? This doesn’t. The truffle fries really rock my boat.
— Watermelon Juice: Who orders juice at a bar on a Saturday Night? Me of course. I had to be fully alert the next day so I opted for a safer choice instead of my usual IPA. I wasn’t disappointed though; the juice was refreshing and absolutely thirst-​quenching.
— Peppermint Tea: My partner opted for another ‘safe’ version. (Whatever happen to the good ‘olé pairing of fries and beer?!) However, this is really an over-​priced version of Twinings Peppermint Tea which you can get for a few bucks per box at any supermarket.
What can I say, the truffle fries rock. However, the view was passable to me because of the height of the hotel. Still prefer the stunning view from 1-​Altitude.

I love the view and the location!
Love the drinks — just not the prices. The one with watermelon and tequila was delicious. Had 2 :)
Food is also overpriced but I was really hungry that day so I ordered and ate whatever on their snacks menu.
I want to try their monthly pool brunch or something, but reservations fill up quickly. I think that one is worth trying if you do go to Lantern. Otherwise, it’s more of a work people meet up kind of place. Also, we went on a Monday night and it was packed. Better to make reservations or if you don’t mind standing you can start drinking while waiting for a table.

It’s Grand Prix weekend, we are happy to spend a little more to get a better experience and so our wanderings found us here, sipping expensive but delicious cocktails and enjoying a pretty stellar view out across the bay to the Marina Sands complex.
The table service was prompt, the range of cocktails was good and some nice unique ones (apologies, I can’t quite recall what I had but I think it was a Gin based Singapore Sling…) and the view is great. As we hadn’t booked a table, and were four reasonably scruffy looking guys, we didn’t get a seat right at the edge of the seating area on the water, but hey, it’s Singapore!
The hotel itself looks very nice, but not sure my budget will ever stretch to staying there, although it might be worth it for the small hot tubs they have that look out over the bay as well. Maybe it will feature in that decadent round the world trip I’ll take one day!

I really liked Lantern when I first came to Singapore. It has a fantastic view and nice seating area around the pool at night. I felt that the view justifies the relatively high prices of the drinks and I love taking my visitors there.
However, service was very very slow on my recent visits. First, the place would always be full (even though it looks half empty) and we are forced to stand around. Even after we got a table, it took an extremely long time for the waiters to notice our existence despite constant signalling. Drinks also took a long time to arrive. It’s just a pity when nice places go down like this. And there are still plenty of other choices around Singapore with good view and drinks so I don’t think I will be returning any time soon.

I just wanted a place to have a cocktail with somewhat of a view. This place is alright for that, but if you’re by yourself, you probably won’t get a front table with view of the MBA (see my photo)
I came here at 6pm on a Wednesday, service was good and the mojito was pretty decent (though I was so thirsty that probably cat piss would’ve taste like glory).
Yes, it’s pricey, $ 25 for a cocktail it’s expensive IMHO. But alas, the chilled environment and the view make the price tag OK.

Always love the view and ambience in this place, food constantly good, nibbles are various and yummy. Im not a fans of cocktail, i stick on champagne or wine, and they have nice selection for this, even by glass.
Service is good and fast, but they always full, so make sure u make reservation before u come.
One thing i dont like, they use plastic glass, its just doesnt feels right.

Impressive view and décor.
So it seems that everyone has touched on how wonderful the location is. Roof top, nice pool, good music. I will have to disagree with the majority and say that service is wonderful here as well (maybe due to the timing of our visit). We came on a Sunday evening and was seated quickly at one of the table closer to the pool. A few minutes later a pretty waitress came and suggested that we moved closer to the water to have a better view. I was pleasantly surprised since we didn’t ask for it at all.
I took one star off for the expensive drink. A cocktail completely filled with ice for $ 24. I could barely tasted the content of my drink. Still I will come back for the view and atmosphere. $ 24 is less expensive than the entry fee to many bars/​clubs and sightseeing attractions.

The view is amazing out to MBS, the pool is nice and the music usually creates a cool but relaxed atmosphere.
However, the last couple of times I’ve been here the service has been awful– anything but welcoming, and once seated, very very slow. Also everything is extremely expensive and the cocktails are watered down and use poor quality base spirits as standard which you probably wouldn’t expect in a $ 29 drink.
That said, thanks to the view and proximity to home, I’ll be giving it another go in the hope of a better experience. Not many chances left though.

Located on the roof of the 7 star Fullerton Bay hotel and offering no drama for entry. Beautiful outdoor space, solid sound system, above average DJ, tasty drinks (like the Berry Mojito and Spicy Margarita), good looking people and absolutely spectacular views of Marina Bay Sands and surrounding Singapore high rises. The cons are it’s super hot and muggy and extraordinarily expensive.

We like this place and are regulars. But as in life, one bad egg can ruin the visit. A waitress was too busy to help, and ignoring patrons, only to help a select few. Yet we all pay money here.
So if you want a good experience don’t go here, but if you wanted to be treated unfairly, do go here.

Beautiful rooftop bar! I would defi take someone to impress them with the view… but the service was horrible all three times I’ve been there, mediocre drinks for a high price. You’re better off ordering a bottle of wine here, the cocktails are not worth it.

Having visited this place twice previously as a tourist, I was pretty excited to share this place as a resident (well, employment pass holder) with my own visitors — my parents and (adult) siblings.
However, with a year between drinks, I do believe this place has gone downhill.
Yes it is a 5-​star view of the marina bay sands, however its service was poor and drink quality even poorer.
It took a LONG time to get attention/​service, so we had to go up and get the waitress to come over. Granted we didn’t have a booking, but the place was not overly-​crowded.
We ordered 3 cocktails, 1 red wine, 1 iced coffee and a coke. See you later $ 150… yes, the price tag is to be expected, but the poor quality was the let down. All three cocktails were watered down, full of ice, lacking flavour beyond sugar, and just an overall disappointment given the benchmark for cocktails here in Singapore is pretty high. All my visitors were less than impressed, which was a let down. I was do disappointed I was tempted to write an email to management… however I“ll just settle for a critical review instead.

expensive drinks in a pretty roof-​top bar above the gorgeous fullerton bay hotel. here’s one for the weekend — I’m not much of a drinker, and pretty much teetotaler in all. I do like going to beautiful places though, and when it gets dark, that usually means a bar or what not. the rooftop bit isn’t a misnomer so much as misleading: it isn’t very high up, and barely looks over the river over to marina bay sands, but it’s gorgeous — draped fabric ceilings, a large seating area with well-​spaced tables, and a relaxed vibe about it all.
it’s a quiet place — more of the post-​work crowd sitting down to some really expensive drinks rather than the crotch-​baring rambunctious bunch, and I like that. I also like the complimentary traditional battered peanuts they served here — you don’t get these very often.
I can’t vouch for the quality of their drinks so much — I had a juice that came tall and much larger than you’d expect at these places — but the menu didn’t strike me as being particularly impressive or extensive. this place I think better serves as a convenient meet up with friends on a friday night.
p. s. photos on the blog!

Eine der besten Rooftop-​Bars der Welt. Hier werden auf höchstem Niveau gutes Essen und ausgezeichnete Cocktails serviert. Nebenbei ist der Ausblick auf die Marina und das Marina Bay Sands Hotel sensationell. Nicht billig, aber definitiv einen Besuch wert.

my husband and i came here last year on his bday. we reserved a sofa, which was basically a huge round sofa that faced marina bay sands. the view was amazing, and on a warm night (which is every night in singapore), it is perfect. we ordered some mezze and fries and had drinks here. they also brought out a cake for us, which was a nice touch.

Lantern’s at the roof of a really nice new hotel and has the potential to be a nice after-​work hang out venue. I can also see how it makes for a great hotel bar. Drink al fresco, under a fancy shelter, in a laid back atmosphere and with a great view of the Marina Bay Sands light show at night.
A close friend decided to pop the question here and we made a big night of it. In the days leading up to D-​day, the restaurant manager and team were really great about helping us out for the recee and set-​up.
While waiting for the moment to happen, we ordered some finger food to share; Lantern only serves snacks, no mains here so come well-​fed. The calamari and sliders were both luke warm and lack flavour, drinks were okay but doesn’t seem to justify the high price tag (corkage is also on the high side).
Swing by after dinner if you’re in the area and look for a place to laze at with friends, but otherwise I wouldn’t specifically return.

Lantern has a great location on the rooftop of the Fullerton Bay Hotel overlooking Marina Bay. It’s nice and windy and there’s a rooftop pool to add to the ambiance. It definitely feels like a chi-​chi spot, and is priced like one too — drinks there are kinda pricey compared to your usual cocktails. The signature cocktails are quite unusual and taste quite good, but whether you think they’re worth paying for is another matter. I would probably come back only on a special occasion when I’m more willing to spend, but that view is really something spectacular.