The UTW (“Under Ten Words”): Japanese kushiyaki bar with good tempura batter. The must-orders (if any): Special Tempura Don, Kawa Kushiyaki Summary: Situated at The Sail @ Marina Bay, the very misleadingly-named Kimoto Gastro Bar is decidedly traditional in its Japanese kushiyaki bar aspirations, offering an extensive variety of tanned, delectably charred…
The UTW (“Under Ten Words”): Laidback second-storey Peranakan-inspired bar with a dose of naughty funk. The must-orders (if any): Tuna Tartare Bruschettas, Respite Summary: The group behind Taiwanese bar concept Five Ten launches a Peranakan-inspired bar along Boat Quay, named after their mother. It’s all purple paint-splattered walls, watermelon floats and…
Years ago, I had a meal at a Spanish restaurant called Esquina, and I had this little nasi-lemak inspired seared scallop dish which left such an impression on me that I remarked that it was”(q)uite marvellous and one of my most memorable and startlingly good mains ever”, ending my review with a…
Salmon Don from the lunch menu of the newly-opened Big Sake Bar at The Concourse Skyline. Whilst the salmon sashimi portion would fully satiate your inner tabby cat, the presence of the spurtfully sour cherry tomatoes and bitter arugula in a Japanese sashimi rice bowl felt as comfortably natural as…
Maguro Akami from Nobu-ya at Fortune Centre, one of the essential izakaya experiences around. You are paying not for a plate of sashimi but for a Bukit Merah (that’s “red hill”, folks – Social Studies Consultant) of clean, baby buttock-tender tuna flesh, and at the baffling price of $10 it…
Salted egg yolk pasta from the criminally underrated The Rawr Kitchen. The curry leaf-fragrant pasta wears its richly thick and creamy salted egg coat with gangster swagger as it rakishly toes without ever crossing the line of cloying pastiness, playing like a carbonara with chilli crab’s thick and eggy texturality.…
Spicy Tuna Don from The Horse’s Mouth. The smooth, gently numbing sauce wraps its coquettishly spicy feather boa around the contours of the cool, clean minced tuna – and indeed, the contours of your inner lips – with professional pleasure strictly on its agenda. 4/5 The Horse’s Mouth 583 Orchard…
Deep Fried Pork Belly from The Rawr Kitchen. As you chew on each chunk of pork belly, you experience a pleasurable release of a gentle yet full-bodied juicy umami saltiness, with the flabbiest bits being luxuriously melty in your mouth like snowy bingsu on Jalan Malu-Malu asphalt (for trivia enthusiasts,…
Brussel Sprouts from Fu Lin Bar & Kitchen – bacon, extra virgin oil, chives. Whilst the brussels sprouts played it like crunchy and very Chinese-seasoned kailan, the bacon fell short of feeling like such, coming across more like salted pork that lacked confidence and a sense of humour. 3.7/5 Fu…