Our latest monthly recap of the hottest new food and beverage openings from around the world on trendhub is live, spotlighting six highlight openings from May here on the blog.
In no particular order, six highlights from the comprehensive foodwatching and drinkswatching new opening reports are:
Smash Street, Amoy Street, Singapore
Smash Street is a smash burger joint by the people behind Scarpetta that is found just down the road.
The menu is short, offering two burgers of an Australian Black Angus blend made of brisket, chuck, short rib and dry-aged trimmings, plus three sides and two sweets. The Classic burger has two patties, and the House has three, both with cheese, pickles and customers can add extras like bacon, jalapeño and onion relish served in potato buns. Fries are twice fried and sides include chicken poppers with chilli crunch aioli and onion rings. There will be rotating seasonal flavours for their milkshakes including a Cornflake Shake.
Upstairs is Blind Tiger, a speakeasy bar serving eight signature cocktails. Customers can take drinks down to either Scarpetta or Smash Street.
Kaawa, Northern Quarter, Manchester
Kaawa is a speciality coffee shop opened by two doctors that is said to have décor from Morocco with tiles from Marrakesh and touches of Egypt.
The menu is full of speciality drinks including coffee from single origin Peruvian beans. Other drinks include Salted Caramel Date Matcha, Manchester Fog Matcha, Spanish Latte and an evening special of Red Velvet Latte. Sweet treats are a Banana Pudding, Kaawa Coffee Cake and Tiramisu.
Rotate by Jimmy, South Bank, London
Jimmy Garcia is well known on the South Bank for Jimmy's BBQ Club, and he is now opening Rotate by Jimmy.
Rotate is all about rotisserie chicken, the cooking can be seen from outside the building, and will be available as whole, half or quartered portions. They will also have dips such as salsa verde with herbs from the London Herb Company, and a Blue Cheese Dip with Oxford Blue. There are chicken dripping potatoes made with British Pink Fir potatoes, truffle fries and more. They also serve a Chicken Caesar Bap and a vegan 'Wingman' made with charred cauliflower with lemon and herbs.
Rum Kitchen, Camden, London
Rum Kitchen is owned by the Rhumstack Group and is their first dedicated bar.
The bar can seat 110 covers and is said to be a high-energy bar with dancing. The drinks are rum-led, and the food is inspired by the Caribbean. The bar holds one of the biggest menus of rum in London, and they serve cocktails, rum flights, mocktails and tropical smoothies. The food is mainly finger-foods with a dedicated jerk section with ribs, wings and boneless chicken.
There will be DJs and live music on the weekends with a blend of reggae, dancehall and hip-hop being played.
Never Enough, Ann Street, Brisbane
Never Enough is by the team behind Crowbar and is a bar and dining room set over two floors.
The food will be more elevated than they serve at Crowbar and is by Executive Chef Trent Lymn. The food will be refined, seasonal and produce led in the main dining room; in the bar it will be more relaxed based on grazing foods, fresh seafood, charcuterie and light plates.
Cocktail Omakase, Lower East Side, NYC
Cocktail Omakase is by Kingdom Hospitality Group, and they have teamed up with Yujiro 'Kiyo' Kiyosaki and Kazuaki 'Kazu' Nagao who are the owners of Bar Libre in Tokyo Japan.
The bar is a drinks version of an omakase but serving drinks rather than food where the mixologists decides what guests are going to drink. Over an hour seating time slot, cocktails are shaken, stirred and poured all following the philosophy of omakase. The menu includes an opening of woodsy drinks, up to four drinks are served over the time, each drink is between 3 and 4 ounces in size, guests can say how boozy they want them.
Snacks are served with each drink such as a soy marinated jammy egg with tomato crumble, or clams baked with sake, ginger and lemon.
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Every month we compile more comprehensive lists of the most noteworthy openings across both food and drink from around the world over on the tfp trendhub. Subscribers can see these lists for May 2026 in full over on our foodwatching and drinkswatching reports. If you're not yet subscribed but are interested in receiving our regular reporting service, please get in touch.
Image credit - Cocktail Omakase, Lower East Side, NYC