Matter of Pride- expat Sg needs a great restaurant recommendation in Singapore!

Hi all, I've been reading Chowhound for years now. As a singaporean, food is my essence/soul but I've always been looking for food abroad. I've not lived in Sg for 6 yrs now and have lost touch with the good western restaurants, everytime I'm back I will had for the old favs I crave my popiah, laksa, pepper crab etc.....

Here's the situation, I've a few friends who've moved to Sg from HK and in their minds think HK western - italian, french, modern food is better than Sg.. i completely disagree and I've eaten at Amber, Robuchon, Caprice , DD etc.. so I think/hope i know what I'm talking about... The price u pay in HK is exorbitant.

I'm going to be back for 1 wk and want to show them Singapore western restaurants but in a nice setting like Rochester, Dempsey. Can u imagine eating outdoors in HK, the pollution will kill you before the food arrives!!!

So I"m looking for a great recommendation for a restaurant in either Rochester or Dempsey...
Keppel and Sentosa are out due to logistics....

I've heard Graze is good but friends tell me standards have dropped so right now i 'm really looking for recent and good recommendations..

I know it might sound silly but living in HK and hearing so many xpats rave about 'high end' quality in HK and then saying Sg lacks it just drives me mad.... We have beautiful lush environments and I think the overall experience is important too...

I dont want to bring them to Les Amis nor Iggy's as I would like to show them modern yet casual fun places..

Hope you can help and sorry for the lengthy post!

julialim in China & Southeast Asia