SINGAPORE - When 32-year-old Alvin Lim met four friends for dinner about a month ago, they headed not to a restaurant or a hawker centre. Instead, they went to a four-room HDB flat in Choa Chu Kang, where senior accounts executive Jesper Chia cooked them a nine-course meal and served it to them in his living room.

The private dining scene in Singapore has grown in the last two to three years, with more places opening after the initial flurry. Business is good, with venues booked up for months.