Yeye’s Kari from Candlenut – a white coconut curry of prawns with green chilli padi, green peppercorns, kaffir lime leaf and fried shallots. Essentially green curry prawns given a creamy, indulgent mega-upgrade of coconut. 3.8/5 Candlenut 331 New Bridge Road #01-03 Dorsett Residences Singapore 088764
Nyonya assam pedas fish. The assam gravy is unbelievable – a delirious mix of spicy and tangy that makes your lips purse pleasurably. Can you believe this serving costs just $6.50? You get so many slabs of fresh fish that you can take some and throw them at your mother.…
Nanas Yong Tau Foo – a unique Peranakan-style Yong Tau Foo in pineapple sauce. The titular sauce was tangy, assam-esque and very sweet – the bitter veggies (stuffed with a fish/sotong ball paste) balanced the sweetness out, but the pineapple slices did their job of absorbing the sauce a bit…
Kacang Botol (Wingbean Salad) – classic Peranakan wing bean salad tossed with homemade sambal dressing. Every crunchy bite releases sour juices, and I liked the harmonious blend of grassiness and shrimpiness. If only the wing beans’ appearance reminded me less of….uhm…rhymes with cubic bear? 3.8/5 Peranakan Flavours 11 Jalan Klapa…
Laksa Goreng – stir-fried laksa served with prawn, fish cake, bean sprout and tau pok. Tastes like a dreamy crossover between laksa and Hokkien Mee with its rich, thick laksa gravy and darn good wok hei. 3.8/5 Peranakan Flavours 11 Jalan Klapa The Ardennes Hotel Singapore 199323
Sambal Prawns with Petai. Unbelievably crunchy and fat, and the sambal was amazingly shrimpy and chewy to such a degree that it almost felt like a featured mini ingredient than a mere paste. The petai wasn’t particularly stinko – perhaps thanks to the charms of the sambal, its controversy was…
Bubor Cha Cha Panna Cotta. The equivalent of giving your tongue a luxurious staycation body massage using this cool, fragrant and really smooth cream. You’d be hard pressed to find more pleasant ways to end a meal than this. 4.1/5 Violet Oon’s Kitchen 881 Bukit Timah Road Singapore 279893
Sliced winged beans tossed with dried pounded prawns in a sour and sweet sambal belachan dressing, topped with “kerisik” of dry fried grated coconut and sliced shallots. Essentially grassy, crunchy shuriken cucumber slices invigorated by a chewy, sweet and slightly spicy floss-esque mush. 3.7/5 Violet Oon’s Kitchen 881 Bukit Timah…
Tauhu goreng – fried bean curd on a bed of julienned cucumber and bean sprouts, topped with Vio’s signature peanut sauce. “Vio” plays fairy godmother to the bean sprouts and cucumber who, let’s be honest, have as much individual gustatory swag as the kids from the AVA and Gardening Clubs…