Category: Singaporean

The most famous Singaporean dishes are the Chilli Crab and Hainan Chicken Rice. It is mostly influenced by dishes from South East Asia region.

Restaurant Nouri – Crossroads Cooking

When I was working in Singapore last week, I managed to have dinner at one of the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. Sitting at #39, Restaurant Nouri has only been opened for a couple of years. However, they have already had a Michelin star under their belt.

Chef Ivan Brehm and his team gave us this very interesting dining concept called ‘crossroads cooking’. The dining room is also where the chef prepared all of our meals.

They served four pre-dining dishes. They also advised that we could re-order sourdough bread as many times as we want. This is a very good idea as you would want to soak up all of those nice sauce!

The first two that came with the bread was their rendition of silken tofu and vegetable broth. The tofu was more like a dipping sauce for the bread!

The next two was cold kimchi made from abalone with daikon and nashi pear and Chinese bitter gourd salad. I can understand why the two had to be consumed side-by-side as the bitter gourd was really bitter. It accentuated the kimchi cold and sour taste.

The 7-course ‘Omakase’ from Restaurant Nouri

They had an option of 5- or 7- course menu as well as set or omakase. I could see some of the omakase menu was pretty similar to the set menu.

The first course was Hamachi sashimi with caviar and chilled onion consomme. It was a nice and fresh sashimi with very nice vinaigrette… the reason why you should keep asking for bread!

The second course was their rendition of prawn bouillabaisse with saffron jelly. They used the reduction from the prawn head to make the thick soup.

Their rendition of cheong fun (or rice noodles) was one of my favourites on the night. Not only they used black truffle, underneath that green cheong fun there was Alaskan snow crab! Even the foamy bit was very nice!

The second last main dish was kimedai fish with scales and black pepper sauce. Yes, they prepared the fish with its scaled. The scales were very crunchy and almost like crackers The fish was perfectly cooked and went really well with slightly hot black pepper sauce.

I wouldn’t blame you if you think this next dish as a chocolate cake with truffle. They did incorporate chocolate but only as the powder around the plate.

This dish was actually wagyu rib eye with Mexican’s mole sauce. However, they used the traditional ingredients called ‘keluwak’ to darken the colour.

Desserts at Restaurant Nouri

Before we started with the desserts, there was a bowl of Gooseberry granita with peach and champagne. It was very nice and refreshing!

The first dessert looked quite simple but it was actually pretty sophisticated. The dish was Japanese ichigo with azuki beans, sansho pepper and kinome leaf with strawberry sorbet.

The dish was sweet, sour, cold, crunchy… and hot! Every now and then there was this kick from the sansho pepper that made the dish very lively.

The last dish was 48-hour baked orange with assam tea ice cream, cream and some jelly that tasted quite bitter.

I have never tasted something quite like this before.

The final verdict for Restaurant Nouri

Restaurant Nouri clearly deserved its Michelin star and the #39 spot in the Asia’s Best 50 restaurants. They have a unique table arrangement and impeccable service.

Do you think I should go?

Definitely! Chef Ivan will surely treat you well!

Rating:

Nouri

9.5 / 10

Taste: 9.5 / 10

Price: $225 pp for 7-course Omakase

Place: 10.0 / 10

Details:

72 Amoy Street, Singapore 069891

+65 6221 4148

http://nouri.com.sg/

Aug 1, 2019
Ellenborough Market Cafe

Ellenborough Market Cafe Review:

When I went to Singapore last month, we went to a buffet restaurant called Ellenborough Market Cafe in Swissotel Merchant Court. The dining area was nicely decorated with a little pool of water in the middle. We also could see a couple of chefs hand-rolling our dumplings. It was a very nice first impression to the restaurant.

Before I start talking about the food, I just want to say that the review below did not include every available menu on offer at the restaurant. There were just too many of them!

Bain-Marie

The list was quite extensive in the bain-marie section as it tries to cater to almost every demographics in Singapore. The ones in the slide below are: lobster (however it looked more of a Balmain bug in Sydney), otak-otak ( a traditional dish from the region), and babi pongteh (slow braised pork).

Seafood

The seafood options were very extensive. It is probably even more than some Japanese restaurants in Sydney. You can find 2 different sashimi, 4 sushi, baby octopus, seaweed. There are also cold seafood dishes like prawn, crab, mussels and escargot. In addition to the fresh seafood area, they also provided hot and cooked versions.

Others

There is a dish that I’m not familiar about but sit at a very prominent location. The dish is called Kueh Pie Tee. It was more of a DIY station than a complete set. They also have the roast meat section, cheese and salad.

Desserts

One of the most amazing things about this restaurant is the availability of (not just one, but) two durian dishes! I always thought you could not bring durian into the hotel. But then again, the durian in the restaurant wasn’t exuding that lovely (or horrible, depending on whether you are team durian or not) smell.

One was more on a creamy side and the other, deep fried!

If durian is not your thing, they also have a whole display full of desserts.

The Final Verdict for Ellenborough Market Cafe:

All you can eat lobster and durian? and did you also see that sashimi and fresh snails? I’m sure you know what my verdict is.

Do you think I should go?

When you are ever in Singapore and are in needs of a buffet, Ellenborough Market Cafe will be a good fit for you!

Rating:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: S$68 dinner buffet

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

20 Merchant Road, Level 1 Swissotel Merchant Court 058281

+65 6239 1847

Ellenborough Market Cafe at Swissotel

Jun 3, 2019
Ho Jiak Haymarket

Ho Jiak Haymarket Review:

There is a new-ish Malaysian restaurant opened earlier this year, called Ho Jiak Haymarket. They quickly gained fame in Sydney because of the use of unusual ingredients in their dishes, like ‘Indomee Goreng with lobster’. Yes… it’s not a typo… you get instant noodles with lobster!

One thing to note that compared to the other Malaysian restaurants, their price point is considerably higher. You will find most of their dishes are $20 or more. They also have a couple of monthly specials like the ‘crispy rendang’ below.

Kiam Ah Nui Kay – $12 – Stir-fried with salted egg yolk, butter and curry leaves

I know the description didn’t say it, but it’s basically chicken wings slathered with salted egg yolk. Also, given how rich it is, I recommend you to eat this dish with rice.

Sam Wong Dan – $15 – Silky steamed century, duck and chicken egg

We actually bought this dish for the little one. However, I ended up quite liking its taste. Sam Wong Dan is a Chinese-/Malaysian-version of chawanmushi. What we also didn’t expect was that the portion was big enough to be shared around.

Nasi Goreng Lembu – $25 – Fried rice with house-made shrimp paste. Choose from: Normal, special, Pattaya, Lembu, JUMBO, Lobster and Salted fish.

I guess you can only do so much in terms of presenting a plate of fried rice. However, you could potentially introduce an exotic ingredient into the dish. That’s what they are doing with Nasi Goreng Lembu. It’s a fried rice with wagyu beef!

They have a few other options with the fried rice.

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Indomee Goreng Lobster – $38 – Spicy stir-fried instant noodles with seafood. Choose from: normal, salted duck egg, king prawn, lobster

This is what we were here for. A $38 worth of instant noodles (yes, they actually wrote ‘instant noodles’ in the menu!). Obviously, the main attraction was what’s in the noodles. Lobster is quite a delicate crustacean, but Indomee was not typically known to be delicate. Hence, it took a skilful person to combine the two elements.

Crispy rendang with KFC Chicken – $38

I guess when there was an outcry about chicken rendang should not be crispy, Malaysian restaurants were actually racing to provide what the public was looking for: a crispy rendang. The Ho Jiak’s version of crispy rendang is to cover KFC-like fried chicken with rendang sauce. It was quite an interesting combo and I guess it would be enough to save that contestant from elimination. 🙂

Air Mata Kucing – $8 / $16 (Jumbo) – Luo han guo, dried longan and wintermelon

Air mata kucing is literally translated into ‘Cat’s tears’. It’s one of the famous Malaysian drinks that is very refreshing and cooling.

The final verdict for Ho Jiak Haymarket

Ho Jiak Haymarket is probably one of the best Malaysian restaurants in Australia. They are quite expensive but they backed it up with very nice taste.

Do you think I should go?
Definitely!

Rating for Ho Jiak Haymarket:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $30 – $40 per person with drinks

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

92 Hay Street, Haymarket 2000

+61 2 8040 0252

https://www.hojiak.com.au/

Sep 25, 2018
Kreta Ayer – Ashfield

Kreta Ayer – Ashfield Review:

I have to warn you in advance that the restaurant that we review this week, Kreta Ayer, only accepts cash. It is quite troublesome especially when most of their dishes are in excess of $15. Some of the prices are even marked as “market price”, like those mud crabs. The closest ATM is the Ashfield shopping centre.

Their menu is quite similar to high end Chinese restaurants in CBD with the likes of Moreton Bay bug and coral trout on offer. Being a Singaporean/Malaysian restaurant, they have a different way to cook the dishes. If you are looking for the authentic Singaporean dish, you need to choose their Singapore Chilli, Black Pepper or Salted Egg.

Boneless Hainanese Chicken – $15.8

Hainanese chicken is one of the parameters of a good Singaporean restaurant for me. It goes without saying that when ordering this you really need to order chicken rice as well.

Crispy Noodles with seafood – $13.8

Our family loves eating crispy noodles. Kreta Ayer’s crispy noodles has quite a lot of seafood in the dish. I guess you can see it yourself below.

Being warm and soupy, this dish is a nice dish to have in winter.

Cereal Prawn – $24.8 – Deep fried prawn with sweet cereal

I call this double crunchy prawn. When you coat deep fried prawn with fried cereal, you get this super crunchy prawn. It is so crunchy that you can eat pretty much everything.

The final verdict for Kreta Ayer – Ashfield

Kreta Ayer in Ashfield is a decent Singaporean/Malaysian with premium price. The cash payment method is also a pain to deal with. If they can accept other payment methods, I might be inclined to try their Singapore Chilli Mud Crab.

Did you know?

They have quite a decent package for lunch on weekdays. For the same price, you get a selection of dishes, but you also receive complimentary selection of iced teas.

As you can see from the picture below the lunch special crispy noodles with seafood is actually the same size as its dinner counterpart.

Rating for Kreta Ayer – Ashfield:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $20 per person

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

339 Liverpool Road, Ashfield 2131

+61 2 9797 8688

http://www.kretaayer.com.au/

Jun 7, 2017
Petaling Street | Malaysian Hawker Food

Rating:

7 / 10 Taste: 7 / 10

Price: $11 – $18 main course

Place: 7 / 10

Review:

When I heard that Petaling Street opened in Kingsford, I was so happy. The first time I went to Petaling Street, I tried its Steamed Fish with Radish ($15.80). A whole fish for $15.80 (rice included) was actually quite rare in Sydney! You can actually stop reading here and just order that fish when you go there next time.

They have quite a few options to choose from and luckily I went with quite a big group once. This way, I can showcase what they have. For the entrée, we ordered Vegetarian Spring Rolls ($5.8), Roti Kosong ($6.5) – Malaysian roti with curry dipping sauce, and Chee Cheong Fun ($7.80) – a popular breakfast food that has a combination of rice noodles, fish balls with chilli and special sweet sauce. This is the essence of Malaysian Hawker Food.

If you would like a traditional Singaporean/Malaysian dish, you could always go for Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice ($11.50) – Traditional hawker steamed chicken with chicken flavoured rice and soup. The Hainanese chicken was as expected. We also ordered another traditional Malaysian dish in Petaling Street, the Penang Fried Koay Teow ($11.50).

My favourite dish in Petaling Street (after the fish) is the Mar Mite Chicken Ribs with Rice ($11.80) – Steamed rice served with Chicken ribs in Mar Mite sauce. I tried this dish out of curiosity and it turned out to be pretty good. I love how the marmite actually gave a unique sweet dimension to the ribs. They also gave you the main dish option for $ 16.8.

You could also order Laksa or Mee Goreng ($10.80) but on this occasion, I did not really try them. Unfortunately, just like many other Asian restaurants, service was its weakest element.

The final verdict for Petaling Street: Malaysian Hawker Food

Petaling Street offers plenty of Malaysian food choices. If you can overlook the service, the food they served was actually pretty good and affordable. I love their Mar Mite Chicken Ribs, but I think most would appreciate the $15.80 whole fish more.

Details:

Shop 4, 438-448 Anzac Parade, Kingsford NSW 2032

02 9662 8880

http://www.petalingst.com.au/

Mar 18, 2014
Harry’s Singapore Chilli Crab

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Harry’s has moved to a new venue, please check restaurant website for its new address.

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Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7 / 10

Price: $50-60 per person

Place: 7 / 10

Review:

We conclude our feast-ival January with another Chilli Crab restaurant. Harry’s Singapore Chilli Crab restaurant has quite a confident sounding to its name. It even has the owner holding a mud crab as a picture on its billboard sign. We only ordered four dishes this time, but that was because there were only four of us. Nevertheless, I am still amazed how we could finish those dishes!

Our first dish of the day was (this is what’s written on the menu) Harry’s Pepper and Salt Calamari ($22.50). I think it was the dish flawless dish of the night. It was presented quite nicely and had an extra sauce should you require it. The calamari itself was perfectly crunchy and chewy at the same time. The calamari was quickly followed by Garlic Sauce Kangkung ($15.00). It was very similar to something that you would prepare at home, it looked very boringly green and tasted equally so.

For our next dish, Today’s Market whole fish in Ginger and Shallots ($38.50), the fish was overcooked. It was quite unfortunate because I think the combination of flavours and presentation were spot on! It had all the flavours of a ginger and shallot dish with additional tofu and green vegetables.

Of course our last dish of the day was Harry’s Singapore Chilli Crab (MP $85 per kg). There was quite a messy feel to its presentation, but then again you WILL get messy when eating a crab. From the taste department, this was the hottest crab that we ordered so far (PS: we always asked the chef to cook the crab ‘normally’). It was accompanied by nice-looking buns although it might be a bit too greasy. The crab was quite on par with other mud crab restaurants I have reviewed before.

The final verdict for Harry’s Singapore Chilli Crab

The dishes at Harry’s Singapore Chilli Crab was quite average. Given the pricey nature of the crab, you would expect the accompanying dishes to be quite enjoyable as well.

Details:

198 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills 2010

02 9281 5565

http://www.harryschillicrab.com.au/

Jan 29, 2014