Singapore is a melting pot and everywhere we went on a recent trip sponsored by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), people would be eating.
In tiny tea shops serving little more than teh tarik (pulled tea) and kaya toast, and in restaurants specializing in Hainanese chicken rice or intensely flavored Peranakan dishes, there would always be a queue.
Janice Wong Singapore
The fairly new restaurant, opened only last August by chef Janice Wong, adjoins the National Museum of Singapore (93 Stamford Road). Although the chef is known more for her vividly colored sweets and pastries, she now also serves savory dim sum in this restaurant that seats 40.
Instead of using plain dumpling wrappers, Wong tints them in Crayola-bright hues and fills them with truffles and mushrooms, scallops and prawns, or even chocolate. Her barbecue pork buns look like candies with bands of yellow, pink and white.
The Xiao Long Bao is still a dumpling with soup oozing out at first bite, like any good xiao long bao, but hers is unique in that it is colored either pink (Whiskey Pork), orange (Foie Gras Pork Cherry), white (Shrimp Kombu) or black (Truffle Cheese Chicken).
The dim sum is certainly nice to look at and photograph, but you go there really for the dessert—the chef’s forte whether it’s a peanut butter-flavored scoop of ice cream or a plated one like Cassis Plum with yuzu and passion fruit.
Need more proof? Those Technicolor paintings on the walls and on the tables are actually made of chocolate.
Candlenut
Candlenut (17 Dempsey Road), which is known for its elevated Peranakan cuisine, moved to its current location late last year after receiving its first Michelin star. The move was not a result of the Michelin nod, but one that had been planned two years ago.
It now shares the area with Ippoh Tempura Bar and The Dempsey Cookhouse & Bar by Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
For dinner last month, we sampled some of chef Malcolm Lee’s Peranakan specialties—bite-sized Kueh Pie Tee with crabmeat, curry and laksa leaf, and grilled Kurobuta Satay.
The tartly astringent Buah Keluak (braised local chicken) is an acquired taste, but the hands-down favorite entrées that evening were the Blue Swimmer Crab Curry and the decadent Wagyu Beef Ribs Rendang best enjoyed with steamed white rice.
PS Café
At PS Café (45 Ann Siang Road), the feel is sleekly modern, all black and white with touches of vibrant greenery. The restaurant first opened in 1999 as a cozy café tucked inside a clothing store.
Large tropical leaves arranged in oversized glass vases bring the outside in, while sheets of embossed tin lend texture to the ceiling.
The menu has comfort food in huge portions—Spaghetti Bolognese, Indonesian Gado-gado salad and Nasi Goreng, among others. Arranged on a side table is a selection of decadent cakes covered with glass cloches. Try the appropriately tart Key Lime Pie with its nice and flaky crust.
Chin Chin
Since 1935, Chin Chin Restaurant (19 Purvis St., near Raffles Hotel) has been serving roast meats like char siu and duck in a charming if noisy shophouse. It is famous, however, for its chicken rice. Lunchtime is always a full house so it’s probably best to go before noon or past 2 p.m.
Like other Chinese restaurants, Chin Chin has a plateglass window near the entrance where customers can see all the action: roast chicken and duck are on display, and the meat is chopped on order.
Customers can order their chicken steamed or roasted with the ginger-infused rice and a bowl of hot soup. Alternately dipped in sweet hoisin sauce or minced ginger, Chin Chin’s chicken rice was one of the best we’ve tasted.
Open Farm Community
Set in a large garden with vegetable plots and potted herbs, Open Farm Community (130E Minden Road) is different from most Singaporean restaurants that place a premium on space. The wide tree-lined lot is conducive to strolling before or after one’s meal.
The owners don’t claim to use only greens they grew themselves and they have a fresh unique concept of “uniting local farmers, creative chefs and an innovative spirit.”
Aside from the fish burger served with a mound of fries, which we tried, there were also pasta dishes and fresh salads.
Tourists who equate Singapore with hawker stalls and gleaming malls will be surprised at what else the country has to offer.
