Restaurant Review: Folklore - Hearty Singapore Heritage Cuisine

The UTW (“Under Ten Words”): Singapore heritage cuisine offering hearty, home-style comfort.

The must-orders (if any): Sambal Buah Keluak Fried Rice, Babi Assam

Summary: Situated within the Destination Singapore Beach Road near Nicoll Highway MRT, Folklore is a new Singapore heritage cuisine concept (essentially dishes with Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian and Peranakan influences) headed by Singaporean chef Damian D’Silva, and you can expect hearty, home-style comfort in every dish. The 4 Angled Bean Salad plays a spicy, prickly, raw and tropical game, whilst elsewhere the sweet Babi Assam evokes thoughts of salted vegetable pig organ soup and the Kueh Kosui is akin to a kosong ondeh ondeh crossed with soft, chewy mochi. The massive headline star of the meal is indisputably the Sambal Buah Keluak Rice, a happily oiled tour de force that delivers Heart Attack Fried Rice-esque thrills with an earthy buah keluak twist.

4 Angled Bean Salad – green mango, 4 angled bean, green and red chillies, ginger flower, kaffir lime leaves and dried shrimp tossed in a sweet sour, sambal belachan sauce ($12).

Masak Lemak – spinach, sweet potato leaves and kang kong in a lightly-spiced gravy enriched by fresh coconut milk ($14).

Sambal Juliana with Fried Brinjal – sambal made with shallots, shrimp paste, shallots and chillies enhanced with fresh lime juice, gula melaka and dried shrimp ($14).

Peranakan Chap Chye – classic Nonya Chap Chye made with pork and prawn stock and braised till all the flavour has been absorbed by the ingredients ($16).

Chilled Tofu with Pidan – tofu with pickled radish and century egg ($12).

Singgang – deboned wolf herring cooked in a non spicy paste ($20).

Babi Assam – belly pork braised slowly with cinnamon and star anise in a tamarind gravy till tender then fried before serving ($22).

Oxtail Stew – Singapore Heritage style stew cooked the old way with potatoes and carrots in a thick and rich gravy ($26).

Hati Babi Bungkus (4 pieces) – minced pork and liver marinated with coriander, tamarind, soya sauce and shallots, wrapped in caul fat then grilled, served with pickled mustard leaves ($18).