SHADES OF SINGAPORE

The colours! The smells! The food! It has to be Singapore.

For Australians, Singapore is a no-brainer of a stop-over, even if it’s just for noodles at the airport.  But it should be a fully-fledged destination instead. So many of us are making those first-for-years steps out of the country, planting those itchy feet on lands far away. For both the tentative and the adventurous, Singapore ticks all the boxes.

• It's easy to get to (five hours from Perth, 8 hours from east coast). And easy to get around, on the MTR.

• The hotels are fabulous (the hotels of Europe are also fabulous, but wow, the demand is so high, prices have imploded).

• The food is great at every level, high and low, from yum cha to zi char to Michelin star.

• There’s a lot happening at any time of the year, in terms of art, music, galleries, museums, gardens.

Here’s what I managed in a 2 night stay. Necessarily limited, and yet… not.

For Zi Char

Had such a fun lunch at Kok Sen, an old zi char (defined as home-cooking/stir-fry/casual/family food) place that has recently uprooted itself and moved five doors along Keong Saik street, and upgraded itself too. 

Thankfully my host did the ordering. Thankfully, too, my host was Loh Lik Peng, my go-to Singapore food expert and founder of the Unlisted Collection of hotels and restaurants that includes the mighty Burnt Ends that just celebrated a magnificent ten year anniversary. It was great to catch up with Burnt Ends’ Dave Pynt, Cloudstreet’s Rishi Naleendra and Marguerite’s Michael Wilson, all of whom live in Singapore, and all of whom have been awarded Michelin stars, woo hoo.

If you get there, I recommend taking a crowd of Aussie chefs with you and covering the table with food; especially with yong tau foo, fermented beancurd with greens, and the Big Prawn Hor fun; a big, sloppy, saucy, soupy extravaganza with, yes, big prawns.

For yum cha

Singapore does great yum cha, very refined, slightly different to that of Hong Kong. Check out those prawn spring rolls at Hai Tien Lo, see what I mean? You could knit with them. If you need air-conditioning and a cold beer and a comfortable chair and table service, book here. It’s in the Pan Pacific hotel, close to Sun Tec City.

If you’re not feeling that refined, duck in to Paradise Dynasty in the basement of Suntec City for some very nice porky brothy xiao long bau (their specialty), and my favourite baked dim sum, that’s all soft grated radish/daikon inside, and crisp pastry outside. If anyone knows what it is called (it’s not ham sui gok or woo gok but different to both), please let us know in the comments so we know what to tick on the menu next time. Moolli puffs? Why do I think they are moolli puffs? I think they are moolli puffs.

For Michelin Star (chef)

Sri Lankan-born Rishi Naleendra worked at Tetsuya’s and Yellow in Sydney, before opening Cheek by Jowl in Singapore in 2016 and gaining his first Michelin star. His fine diner Cloudstreet is a delight, when you want interesting and elevated dining that is So Singapore Right Now. But to me, it’s even more exciting to try his newer restaurant Kotuwa, in the Wanderlust Hotel, where the Sri Lankan menu really rings true.

Great hoppers. All the flavours are deep and rich, yet very clear and distinct from each other. Mutton rolls, the best I’ve had. Jaffna duck curry, so good. Amba (green mango) cooked in turmeric and coconut. Everything was really well balanced.

But most of all, it’s the way of eating, of dipping and diving into sour, sweet and savoury, that makes it so irresistible. Oh, and the Gara cocktail – Colombo Navy Strength gin, Aperol, sweet vermouth and Koththamalli (coriander seed tea)

Going back, for crab cutlets and Sri Lankan mud crab with garlic butter, green chilli and Ceylonese pepper, ooh yeah.

And it’s good to know that back in Sydney we have Lankan Filling Station, where O Tama Carey puts body and soul into her Sri Lankan cooking; so delicious and heart-warming.

PS. Rishi will be in Sydney doing plant-based dinners with his former mentor Brent Savage at Yellow, for the amazing Vivid light festival program in June, check it out. Also Dave Pynt is bringing fire, details here.

For Cantonese fine dining

I was lucky enough to try the tea-tasting menu at the Golden Peony at the Conrad Centennial, where I was staying. I was expecting classic Cantonese – and chef Ku Keung can do that in his sleep – but instead had a fascinating insight into fine dining in a Hong Kong/Singapore style kaiseki with an exquisite tea pairing.

It’s formal, in a good way; and fun, too; when dry ice comes issuing forth from the ceremonial pouring of Snow Chrysanthemum tea at the table. The chef likes to play with fine dining tropes and more Michy presentations, but one of the simpler dishes, where he treated sea perch almost as char sieu, was the highlight. The koi soy pudding looked like actual koi lurking in a pond of aloe vera broth and lemongrass jelly, very artful.  

Also loved the expert focus on gin and tonic in the Lobby Bar.

And the graceful drop of chilled fruit salad on a stick to all those snoring off their jet lag by the pool.

DUMPLING NEED TO KNOW.

I also adore Wah Lok in the Carlton Hotel, Lei Gardens in Chijmes, and Hua Ting in the Orchard Hotel and Yan at the National Gallery, all well worth a visit.  And for a super-chic outcome, Madame Fan, the first outpost in South-east Asia for Alan Yau of London’s Hakkasan and Yauatcha, at home in the NCO Club, the lifestyle destination launched by Marriot in an extraordinary post-war Modernist building on Beach Road.

BUT THE COLOURS!

After the cool grey skies of Northern Europe, Singapore was a riot. Like this view, from outside the Wanderlust Hotel in Dickson Road.

And this, the hotel itself. I mean, really.

Thanks for dropping by! You’ll be pleased to hear I am now home and won’t be spamming you with food snaps from overseas. Damn, it’s been good though. As always, thanks for your comments and opinionated thoughts. And special thanks to Terry for agreeing to head back to Singapore as soon as possible to fulfil my personal need for a great deal of research into biriyani. It’s a mission, I’m on it, and the ideal end result will be a great recipe to share.

I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution. It’s only fair, folks.