Frieda Restaurant at Capitol Kempinski exudes Teutonic charm

Frieda Restaurant at The Capitol Kempinski is a taste of feminine Teutonic hospitality complete with an outdoor beer garden and an elegant dining room.

German-themed beer restaurants are dime a dozen in Singapore these days, thanks to the rather prolific chain restaurant group that is Brotzeit. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t space for a similar concept – and Frieda Restaurant may just be it.

Freida Restaurant, located within the shopping environs of The Capitol Kempinski, is a contemporary German eatery specialising in authentic German comfort food coupled with a range of German beers and other tipples. If that sounds like every other German themed restaurant you know, well, thankfully it isn’t quite like any other. Frieda Restaurant is named after the only daughter of Kempinski hotel’s founder Berthold Kempinski and wife Helene, and the restaurant exudes an irresistible feminine charm that its peers don’t quite possess.

Frieda Restaurant is split into three sections. There’s Frieda’s Day Bar, Frieda’s Garden, and Frieda’s Dining Room. The latter is the restaurant’s most formal area, equally suitable for a serious business luncheon or a romantic date. Frieda’s Day Bar and Frieda’s Garden are far more casual – it was previously Taps Beer Bar, which dispensed all manner of craft beers to thirsty patrons. Frieda’s Day Bar continues that practice, if limited to a smaller number of mainly Teutonic brews.

But it’s Frieda’s Garden that’s perhaps the most inviting space; a wide, airy – if air-conditioning under the building’s glass enclosure can be considered that – biergarten-like area that’s as welcoming and comfortable as any. When we were there one early afternoon, some fellow patrons were comfortably banging away at their laptops as studiously as they were hammering at their pints of German lager.

The selection of beers available at Frieda isn’t the widest – just four beers on tap, and another half dozen in bottle. But what it lacks in options is amply made up for in terms of affordability; most of its draught beers, including the white label Frieda Lager is priced at $8++ for 300ml and $11++ for 500ml, making them some of the cheapest you can find in the area that’s not your usual Tiger or Carlsberg.

Even its wines are well-priced – the Tempus Two Silver Series Pinot Gris and Tempus Two Silver Series Cabernet Sauvignon are $8 per glass, and just $35 per bottle, while the St Urbans Hof Riesling is $12 per glass and $50 per bottle. The most expensive bottle here is just $80++; the Weingut Hüls Pinot Noir.

Like its drink offerings Frieda’s food menu isn’t as comprehensive as, say, the one at Brotzeit across the road over in Raffles City Shopping Centre, but it’s actually rather well curated to showcase various Bavarian specialties. Unfortunately the Oven Roasted Pork Knuckle ($49++) – the classic schweinhaxe – was already sold out when we arrived, but the Platter of Grilled Sausages and Meatloaf ($54++ for two persons, $105++ for four) was not only a massive portion of food, but the sausages – a mix including bratwurst and knackwurst – were of premium quality. Unfortunately the Veal Wiener Schnitzel ($22++ for half, $37++ for full) didn’t fare as well, with the meat stringy and dry, while the breading anaemic from under-frying.

If you love your carbs – or are vegetarian – the Pretzel Dumplings with Creamy Mushroom Ragout ($15++ for half, $26++ for full) will hit the spot; it’s a take on the Bavarian semmelknodel made with squished leftover pretzels – yes it’s a proper thing – that’s absolutely gut-busting and delicious to boot.

All said and done, if you’re in the area Frieda Restaurant is actually a really cosy and comfortable place to lounge over lunchtime beers, or for indulging in a glass of wine or two after dinner. And if the restaurant is anything to go by, its namesake – the Frieda it’s named after – must be a paragon of hospitality and charm.

Frieda Restaurant

Address 15 Stamford Rd, Arcade @ The Capitol Kempinski, #01-87, 01-K1-K2 Singapore 178906 (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 12nn to 3pm and 6pm to 10.30pm daily
Web www.kempinski.com/en/singapore/the-capitol-singapore/dining/frieda/
Facebook frieda.restaurant.kempinski
Instagram @frieda.restaurant