Gastropub Near Me at Dempsey Hill: RedDot BrewHouse's Green Lager and Satay

RedDot BrewHouse brews its own beer inside the old Tanglin Barracks at 25A Dempsey Road, #01-01, Carpark A, Singapore 247691, and it has been doing so since 2007. If gastropub near me led you up Dempsey Hill, the order is the house Monster Green Lager, tinted by spirulina, and twelve sticks of chicken or pork satay at S$29, eaten in an open-air beer garden from 10am on weekdays.

Ernest Ng, a home-brewing enthusiast, founded RedDot in 2007, and it remains a family business. His daughter Crystalla Huang, who trained at the VLB brewing institute in Berlin, is now the second-generation brewer and distiller. The brewhouse describes itself as a pioneer of Singapore's craft brewing scene for 18 years, which puts it among the first wave of local microbreweries, long before taprooms became a fixture of Tanjong Pagar and Keong Saik.

The setting does as much work as the beer. Dempsey's low colonial barracks blocks sit among rain trees and lawns, and RedDot's dining area is laid out like a Bavarian beer garden, open to the air and naturally ventilated rather than sealed behind glass and air conditioning. The same garden doubles as a venue for weddings, solemnisations and company parties, so on some weekend evenings part of the space will be closed for a private booking.

The beer everyone photographs is Monster Green Lager, a 5.5 percent lager infused with spirulina, which gives it a startling pond-green colour and a clean, slightly grassy finish. The rest of the core list is more conventional: a Czech Pilsner, a Summer Ale, an IPA, a Dream Stout and a Belgian Golden Ale, plus seasonals such as a Tropical Ale, a Session NEIPA and a Smoked Märzen on the menu dated September 2026.

Timing changes the price a lot. On weekdays before 4pm, during what the menu calls promo hours, a 550ml pint of a house beer drops to S$9, and a three-quarter pint to S$7; seasonals are excluded. Happy hour then runs until 6pm at a smaller discount. Groups can order a 1.5-litre jug or a 3.5-litre tower, and bottled house beers can be taken home at S$7 each. All prices carry 10 percent service charge plus GST.

The satay is the dish diners keep praising: twelve sticks of chicken or pork with peanut and pineapple sauce for S$29, sized for a table to share. Smoked Pork Ribs, slow-cooked for six hours and served with fries, cost S$32, and the home-cured Crispy Pork Belly with Thai lemongrass chilli sauce is S$18. The RedDot Guava Salad at S$16 mixes guava, turnip, cucumber, pomegranate and torch ginger in a lemon plum dressing.

An honest warning: the Pork Knuckle, marinated in RedDot beer and served for two to four people at S$42, is the showpiece, but two Chope reviewers in September 2026 called the food mediocre, and one said the knuckle arrived dry and the pizza dough tasted frozen while the satay was done well. The menu itself says pizzas are thin crust rather than Neapolitan. Order satay, ribs and the salad, and let the beer carry the meal.

Weekend mornings belong to families. Brunch, branded AM @ RedDot, runs 9:30am to 2:30pm on Saturday and Sunday and 10am to 2:30pm on weekdays. The Big Breakfast with a RedDot beer sausage costs S$23 and Eggs Benedict with pulled pork is S$19. On weekends the brunch menu lists children's activities: pizza making for S$20 that must be booked two weeks ahead, fish catching for S$12, a potting class for S$18 and face painting.

RedDot calls itself a proud pet-friendly location and welcomes dogs into its open, ventilated dining area, so expect a few retrievers under the tables at Sunday brunch. The usual crowd mixes dog owners, young families, couples on date nights and friends catching up after work. On Friday nights the resident band, The Parachutes, plays from 7:30pm until late, which turns the garden from a quiet brunch spot into something closer to a neighbourhood pub.

Dempsey has no MRT station of its own. The nearest is Napier on the Thomson-East Coast Line, roughly a fifteen-minute walk through the edge of the Botanic Gardens, or you can take bus 7, 75, 77, 105 or 106 to Holland Road and walk about ten minutes uphill. Most visitors simply take a Grab to Carpark A. Tables can be booked through Chope, linked from the brewhouse website.

Plan B if the garden is full or closed for an event: Huber's Butchery and Bistro at 22 Dempsey Road is a short walk away for a steak or a sausage, and Candlenut at 17A Dempsey Road, the Michelin-starred Peranakan restaurant led by chef Malcolm Lee, serves lunch from noon to 3pm and dinner from 6pm to 10pm. Both turn a beer at RedDot into a longer Dempsey afternoon.

A good route starts at the Singapore Botanic Gardens in the cooler morning, walks out toward Napier and up into Dempsey, and lands at RedDot for a late brunch before the 2:30pm cut-off. On a weekday, arriving at about 2pm means you can finish brunch and roll straight into the promo-hour pint price before 4pm, which is the best value on the whole menu.

Evenings work differently. Arrive around 6:30pm on a Friday to get a table before the band starts at 7:30pm, order satay and ribs to share, and try a flight of the Pilsner, Stout and Green Lager by the three-quarter pint. If it rains, the covered veranda tables go first, so book ahead during the November to January monsoon months rather than hoping for a walk-in seat.

Address: 25A Dempsey Road, #01-01, Carpark A, Singapore 247691. Hours: Monday to Thursday 10am to 10:30pm; Friday and public holiday eves 10am to 11pm; Saturday 9:30am to 11pm; Sunday and public holidays 9:30am to 10:30pm. Bookings via Chope. Dogs welcome, family friendly, live band on Fridays, prices subject to 10 percent service charge and GST.

Who it suits: dog owners, families with children who need room to move, and beer drinkers curious about a locally brewed lager. Who it does not suit: diners chasing a destination meal, since the kitchen is a supporting act, and anyone who needs air conditioning on a humid afternoon. Ask in the Karpo APP for more Dempsey Hill stops if you want dessert or coffee after the beer garden.