![Coconuts Critic's Table: Una]()
COCONUTS CRITIC'S TABLE—Chef Jean-Philippe Patruno has some serious street cred when it comes to doing Spanish-inspired small plates, having previously worked at Fino and Barrafina, often touted as two of the top tapas spots in London. A couple of years ago he moved to Singapore, where his first attempt to bring tapas to the people, Bomba Paella made plenty of waves, but ended up being aborted when the landlord took back the lease.
We certainly hope his latest venture, which opened in April last year focusing on Mediterranean-inspired small plates and parillas (grill dishes), doesn’t suffer the same fate, because it's pretty special. Sure there’s definitely room for tweaking, but in general this delightful restaurant, in its equally delightful black and white colonial home at the entrance to Rochester Park, is a place with no shortage of star quality.
For starters, there’s the setting: a lovely old two-storey home set in wonderfully leafy grounds. Tables are seemingly scattered around the verdant garden, arranged next to tinkling water features, under glass canopies or beneath pretty gazebos, while the many shimmering lights add to the fairy-grotto vibe. On the flip side, I am not quite sure the ornately scrolled glass chairs quite work, but I guess that’s a personal thing and they do add to the slightly-Alice-in-Wonderland atmosphere. The mosquito zappers standing guard around the place are another slight anomaly, but I’d also let those pass in return for their protection from getting ravaged by the bugs.
The garden layout does also mean that things are a little spread out, which in turn can make service slightly scatter gun. It’s not bad, just in need of a fine tune. I appreciate the inherent difficulties but there’s a little bit too much waving of arms required for a truly relaxing experience. It would also be nice to have been given the drinks menu when waiting for our table to be prepared (to be fair we hadn’t booked), a thirsty reviewer is not a good thing.
Inside the old house, it’s all a little more serious and grownup, with a bar dominating one end of the compact downstairs space and bottles of wine flanking one wall. Una serves over 10 different varieties of Tio Pepe Sherry and some good brandy, too ($10 a glass). If sherry isn’t your thing, don’t worry, there’s also a decent wine list (glass from $12/bottle from $55) and a choice of signature and classic cocktails (from $15) to enjoy with your meal.
Head up the stairs and, aside from the gents, you’ll find a room containing a beautifully-tiled tapas bar, with its small terrace balcony. It’s just a shame that it’s only open for special events, as it’s perhaps the most charming spot in the whole place.
Fortunately, the food makes up for this and other minor shortcomings. While chef Jean-Philippe is from Marseilles, his culinary obsession is clearly the tastes and flavours of Spain and the menu reflects this. There are a choice of over 15 hot and cold tapas dishes and then a brief selection of grills and most of what we’ve tried has been above average or better.
The portions are a decent size, too, like the sizeable, plump prawns in the gambas a la jio ($20), even if the dish was just ever-so-slightly too sweet for my taste. The Ibérico ham croquetta ($14) are a moreish combination of crunchy breadcrumb and gooey béchamel sauce, which works well with the flavorful ham, while the courgette flower (SG19) stuffed full of pungent goat’s cheese is an interesting treat. Special mention should definitely go to the smoked ox cheek ($14) that comes served on grilled toast baguette. The meat really does cut like butter and the rich, tangy jus works perfectly with the sharp horseradish shavings.
We could go on about the tapas but you get the general picture, this is good quality, and sometimes inventive tapas at a pretty decent price. Those wanting a little more from their meal can also explore the selections of mains and grills.
Before I do comment on these a little side note. One of the biggest criticisms I could find online from diners at Bomba seemed to be for the suckling pig ($35 at Una served with mash potatoes and quince jelly), clearly a touchy subject in Singapore but I must confess to not trying it at either eatery. I’ve also never tried the paella either, so can’t comment on that, except to tell you that there are three options seafood and chicken, black rice or Barcelona style with fideua pasta (all $62/82).
What I have tried, though has managed to match the same high standards of the small dishes. Like the ox cheeks, the pork belly chop ($27) is beautifully tender and and has a wonderfully smoky aroma thanks to being cooked over charcoal and apple wood; a smokiness further enhanced by the inclusion of charred rosemary. I would, however, have liked the server to tell me that it came with mashed potato, so I didn’t order an extra serving ($8), especially, as the mash turned out to be a little too creamy. The rump of lamb ($27) shows these guys really do know how to handle a grill with aplomb. It’s another perfectly cooked piece of meat and the accompanying Provencal vegetables are fresh, fruity and tart in equal measure.
For desserts, it’s pretty hard to look past the signature Churros and chocolat ($12). I can see why they’re such a hit, as they manage to achieve that perfect balance between crisp coating and fluffy. My fellow diners have swooned over them before but I personally found them just a tad bitter, even with the indulgent chocolate sauce and honey ice cream. The Panna cotta with popcorn ($12) is less wow-worthy, even with the addition of the sherry apricot puree, but decent enough, though we’re not sure that the fluffy popcorn adds that much to the dish.
But we don’t want to dwell on the negatives. They’re really a case of minor grumbles: a tweak to the service and little stumbles on certain dishes, but from our experience Una easily avoids any big missteps with its food. And when you consider the stunningly romantic setting—book for Valentine’s Day and we guarantee you’ll get lucky—classy tapas (especially those divine ox cheeks) and often sublime mains, then Una makes for a pretty unique and very charming dining destination. One that’s well, well worth the trek out West.
Coconut’s Critics Table reviews are written based on unannounced visits by our writers and paid for by Coconuts Singapore. No freebies here.
Una is at 1 Rochester Park, 6773-0070. Open Mon — Sat 6 — 11pm.
Read other Critic's Tables:
Marukyu: Functional, not fireworks
Sweet treats and croc meat can't disguise desperate mood at Table@Pip's
Black Swan: An American Beauty that can leave you wanting more
As the annual Thaipusam season falls on Singapore, the streets of town are alive with the hustle and bustle of Hindus across the nation witnessing the procession of devotees carrying their ornate, colorful kavadis through Serangoon Road, Orchard Road before their final stop at Sri Thandayuthapani Road.
During hectic times such as these, it is inevitable that tempers flare up, and this year's procession was no different.
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In a video posted on The Alternative View Facebook page, Shiva Shanker documents footage of Thaipusam revellers getting into a right scuffle with the authorities. According to a witness, the incident started when the police confronted a group of people who were playing on the urumee — which breached the ban on musical instruments during the event.
Allegedly, a group of 15 policemen were involved in the confrontation and used abusive language during the ordeal. The situation was not aided by the fact that one of the officers allegedly roughly handled a woman's neck. Officers immediately formed a human cordon around the place.
Another video uploaded by Mickey Vikieboy shows another angle of the altercation, as things heat up when members of the public got hurt during the scuffle with the police and security officers.
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Post by Mickey Vikieboy.
Netizens expressed their horror over the unwarranted police brutality and remarked on the preposterous restrictions that has sucked out the vibrance and excitement out of the once-captivating Thaipusam celebrations. Many called out for Hindu's rights to culture and open celebration, which has been severely suppressed following the riots in Little India.
The Singapore Police Force has not commented on the incident.
Photo: William Cho via Flickr
The stretch of Orchard Road will be closed off to vehicles once again this Saturday for the February edition of Pedestrian Night.
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Post by Orchard Road.
Traffic will be prohibited from accessing the stretch of road between Scotts Road and Bideford Road, along with the carriageway of Mount Elizabeth in the direction of Orchard Road. Buses travelling along that route will be diverted.
This month's iteration of the event will feature Chairs in Squares and Play Space by PubliCity, HDB's SG Heart May and street busking from 6.30pm onwards.
Photo: Orchard Road Facebook page
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has launched a whole new class of tickets for their flights — the premium economy class.
Travellers flying to Sydney on selected flights will be the first to experience the new cabin class, which is now open for booking. It will progressively be made available to other destinations including Beijing, Delhi, Hong Kong, Mumbai, New York and more in the latter part of this year and early 2016.
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Post by Singapore Airlines.
The new class of cabin features spacious seating, foot and calf rests, 13.3-inch HD screens, USB charging slots, and additional stowage space for personal items.
Other than specially designed seats, there'll also be a more extensive range of food and beverage offerings, including champagne and wine throughout the flight.
Priority check-in and baggage handling will be offered to customers travelling in Premium Economy Class with a baggage allowance of 35kg.
More details available on the SIA Premium Economy Class website.
A lucky (or unlucky, depending on your perspective) man was just waiting for his wife to finish work when his Nissan Cefiro sedan spontaneously caught fire.
The man had parked his car at a carpark along Balestier's Lorong Limau, turned off the engine and sat on a bench at a void deck, waiting for his wife to end her shift at a National Kidney Foundation centre nearby. He was looking down on his phone when he realized that his car was engulfed in flames, The New Paper reported.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force was alerted and their personnel quickly put out the fire with two water jets. A van parked beside the car was also damaged during the blaze; nobody was reported injured.
Photo: Quennie Tai / The New Paper
Searching for appropriate, cost-effective healthcare services are a pain. I should know: my grandma has Alzheimer’s disease, and as we watched her mind and body weaken, we struggled to find the right people to help her — and us — cope with the new problems that surfaced on a weekly basis.
So when Caregiver Asia launched their online portal yesterday, I couldn’t help but give a tiny sigh of relief.
The concept is a straightforward one: the portal works as an online marketplace, where healthcare professionals can list their services and pricing, as well as information such as their personal profiles. At the same time, people looking to engage the help of these professionals can access the portal to select from the list of services available.
It’s tough enough having to cope with illness in a family, and having to search for reliable, trustworthy healthcare professionals only adds to the stress. To ensure that users of the portal will receive quality services, Caregiver Asia screens the certification of the healthcare professionals listed on their site.
According to TODAY, the pricing of the services are determined by the healthcare professionals themselves, and clients must pay for the services within three days after the service has been offered. Clients will also pay for a 6% booking fee, which will go to Caregiver Asia.
A quick visit to the portal showed that only 8 services have been posted. However, Caregiver Asia chief executive, Yeo Wan Ling, told TODAY that up to 8000 professionals have already signed up on the company’s database. She assured visitors to the portal that more services will be available once the healthcare professionals activate their accounts.
I, for one, am definitely pleased with Caregiver Asia’s new portal. It’s a convenient way to match healthcare professionals with those most in need of their help, and in an ageing society like Singapore’s, we definitely need all the help we can get. I can’t help but wonder why such a platform was not available before this, and can only hope that more services will be listed soon.
Photo: Jnzl's Public Domain Photos via Flickr; Caregiver Asia website screengrab
Story: Vulcan Post
Hoarding is truly a severe issue among HDB apartment dwellers, and residents at Block 222 Toa Payoh Lorong 8 should know — they've been putting up with a hoarder mother-son duo at their estate for nearly 10 years.
According to The New Paper, their hoarding malady got to the point that the piles of rubbish they've accumulated at their 20th-storey flat have overflown into another unit two storeys below. The unit on the 18th floor, which belongs to the woman's 91-year-old mother-in-law, have also become the storage space for their magpie habits with rubbish packed from floor to ceiling.
The 55-year-old mother and her 20-year-old son have also racked up a reputation for their hyper-aggressive behaviour, yelling at neighbours who dare to even look at them. They often had shouting matches that would carry on till late at night. Residents living next to the hoarders have it especially bad, experiencing the foul smell and the pests that infest the trash-filled flat.
The hoarders' family members have even reportedly given up persuading them to clear the mess.
Following numerous complaints by residents, the area's Member of Parliament initiated a clean-up operation on Monday and sent in cleaners to the 18th storey unit — but they were met with hostile refusal from the mother-son duo. They created such a ruckus that the police had to brought in, and they were later arrested and brought away in a police car.
Despite the town council's cleaners' best efforts, they only managed to clear a part of the living room that day, and are still conducting the clean-up operation as of yesterday.
The hoarders have been released on bail, and were seen rummaging through the items discarded by the authorities as they tried to salvage whatever they could.
Photo: davidd via Flickr
Local theatre company W!ld Rice is doing their part for SG50, by launching five productions this year inspired by the stars — each representing a Singaporean ideal — of the national flag.
The ImagiNATION series is also part of W!ld Rice's own 15th anniversary celebrations and will run from April this year to the same month in 2016.
Celebrating democracy is Public Enemy, an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's powerful and timely classic, which will star W!ld Rice founder Ivan Heng, as well as Lim Kay Siu.
Writers and actors from Malaysia and Singapore will work together on and in Another Country, a play exploring the neighbours and former sibling's relationship in terms of history, culture and peace, another Singaporean ideal.
Hotel, a stirring epic written by Alfian Sa'at is a Singapore International Festival of the Arts commission that observes the nation's progress through the prism of one hotel room and its inhabitants over 10 decades.
The Emperor's New Clothes is a cheeky local version of the Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale that discusses equality, while the final production — expected to address the final star symbolising justice — is still a work-in-progress.
Another severe oil spill has occurred on the roads near town and it's best that you avoid the affected area.
The spillage occured on the City Expressway in the direction towards the Ayer Rajah Expressway before the exit to Outram. According the the Land Transport Authority, the entrance to Merchant Road and the Chin Swee tunnel is closed off to traffic.
Traffic congestion along CTE(AYE), Chin Swee tunnel is closed. Motorists please avoid the CTE and use alternative routes. #sgtraffic
— LTA (@LTAsg) February 4, 2015
Update: CTE (AYE) oil spill, Merchant Rd partially open. Traffic still congested, motorists pls travel slowly along the affected stretch.
— LTA (@LTAsg) February 4, 2015
Channel NewsAsia reports that the incident has affected three lane of traffic on the expressway, causing severely heavy congestion. Motorists are advised to use the Balestier exit to divert away from the road closures, and not spend your Wednesday night in tears of frustration.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The Singapore Police Force today released their statement on the altercation that occurred on Feb. 3 during a Thaipusam procession: "During the Thaipusam procession on 3 February 2015 at about 6.50pm, Thaipusam organisers requested a group of people to stop playing drums at the junction of Serangoon Road and Desker Road, as doing so contravened the conditions of the police permit for the event. However, the group was not cooperative and police were called in.
When police officers were speaking to the group, a 33 year old man from a separate group came forward and confronted the police officers in a rowdy manner. Despite numerous warnings to calm down, he persisted with his disorderly behaviour and was placed under arrest. While one of our officers was effecting the arrest of the man, another two men, aged 32 and 28, came forward to stop the arrest, with the 32 year old assaulting three officers in the process. The three men, all Singaporeans, also used vulgarities against the officers. All three men were believed to have been drinking earlier as they smelt strongly of alcohol. They have been arrested and investigations are ongoing. One injured Police officer was conveyed conscious to TTSH and is in stable condition.
The prohibition of musical instruments during processions is not a new requirement and has already been in place since 1973. Police have disallowed the use of music during procession to deter public disorder which may be caused by rivalries between groups and to minimize the impact of the procession along the procession route.
Police would like to appeal for witnesses of the incident to come forward to provide more information."
Read Also:
Videos of police and Thaipusam revellers clashing over musical instruments
A year after we predicted she would, Katy Perry has finally announced she's bringing The Prismatic World Tour to Singapore.
The 30-year-old singer will be promoting her already platinum album Prism, filled with top hits like "Roar" and "Dark Horse".
The concert will be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Ticketes go on sale Feb. 10 via Sports Hub Tix and Singapore Post, priced at $128, $188, $228, $248 and $328.
Citibank cardmembers can buy tickets during the presale period from 9am on Feb. 6 to 11:59pm on Feb. 9.
Perry has already made sold-out stops in the UK, North America, as well as Australia and New Zealand, and recently performed the Super Bowl half-time show. She's also slated for another live spectacular at this weekend's Grammy Awards.
A group of doctors broke the hippocratic oath when they decided to make some quick buck and sell cough syrup medication to drug syndicates and addicts.
As a cheap, obscure way to get high — through codeine, an active ingredient in cough mixtures with sedative properties — drug addicts obtain and consume cough syrup exceeding the recommended dosage as a substitute for other drugs. Alarmingly, doctors are one of the main sources for the drug syndicate's supply of cough syrup.
According to The Sunday Times, six doctors were among 10 medical personnel caught selling cough syrup to unsavoury customers — and they've been raking in a lot of money from the rising black market price.
A 3.8-litre canister of cough syrup from pharmaceutical companies will cost doctors $40 to $50, but it can sell for up to $1,100 on the black market today. In 2009, it would have only fetched $650.
Since 2012, one doctor has been jailed, two have been fined, another two have been charged in court while investigations are ongoing for the sixth.
Their profits ranged from $30,000 to $500,000, and all ill gains were made in a very short time.
Personnel working in the health-care industry have also been caught selling cough syrup — two clinic assistant were jailed for stealing the medication from employers. Another individual set up a clinic and continued purchasing codeine, even after his hired doctor quit working in the establishment.
Reportedly, the Health Sciences Authority have seized almost 12,000 liters of black market cough syrup, containing a street value of $2.5 million between 2009 and 2013.
Photo: whiskeyandtears via Flickr
COCONUTS CRITIC'S TABLE—Chef Jean-Philippe Patruno has some serious street cred when it comes to doing Spanish-inspired small plates, having previously worked at Fino and Barrafina, often touted as two of the top tapas spots in London. A couple of years ago he moved to Singapore, where his first attempt to bring tapas to the people, Bomba Paella made plenty of waves, but ended up being aborted when the landlord took back the lease.
We certainly hope his latest venture, which opened in April last year focusing on Mediterranean-inspired small plates and parillas (grill dishes), doesn’t suffer the same fate, because it's pretty special. Sure there’s definitely room for tweaking, but in general this delightful restaurant, in its equally delightful black and white colonial home at the entrance to Rochester Park, is a place with no shortage of star quality.
For starters, there’s the setting: a lovely old two-storey home set in wonderfully leafy grounds. Tables are seemingly scattered around the verdant garden, arranged next to tinkling water features, under glass canopies or beneath pretty gazebos, while the many shimmering lights add to the fairy-grotto vibe. On the flip side, I am not quite sure the ornately scrolled glass chairs quite work, but I guess that’s a personal thing and they do add to the slightly-Alice-in-Wonderland atmosphere. The mosquito zappers standing guard around the place are another slight anomaly, but I’d also let those pass in return for their protection from getting ravaged by the bugs.
The garden layout does also mean that things are a little spread out, which in turn can make service slightly scatter gun. It’s not bad, just in need of a fine tune. I appreciate the inherent difficulties but there’s a little bit too much waving of arms required for a truly relaxing experience. It would also be nice to have been given the drinks menu when waiting for our table to be prepared (to be fair we hadn’t booked), a thirsty reviewer is not a good thing.
Inside the old house, it’s all a little more serious and grownup, with a bar dominating one end of the compact downstairs space and bottles of wine flanking one wall. Una serves over 10 different varieties of Tio Pepe Sherry and some good brandy, too ($10 a glass). If sherry isn’t your thing, don’t worry, there’s also a decent wine list (glass from $12/bottle from $55) and a choice of signature and classic cocktails (from $15) to enjoy with your meal.
Head up the stairs and, aside from the gents, you’ll find a room containing a beautifully-tiled tapas bar, with its small terrace balcony. It’s just a shame that it’s only open for special events, as it’s perhaps the most charming spot in the whole place.
Fortunately, the food makes up for this and other minor shortcomings. While chef Jean-Philippe is from Marseilles, his culinary obsession is clearly the tastes and flavours of Spain and the menu reflects this. There are a choice of over 15 hot and cold tapas dishes and then a brief selection of grills and most of what we’ve tried has been above average or better.
The portions are a decent size, too, like the sizeable, plump prawns in the gambas a la jio ($20), even if the dish was just ever-so-slightly too sweet for my taste. The Ibérico ham croquetta ($14) are a moreish combination of crunchy breadcrumb and gooey béchamel sauce, which works well with the flavorful ham, while the courgette flower (SG19) stuffed full of pungent goat’s cheese is an interesting treat. Special mention should definitely go to the smoked ox cheek ($14) that comes served on grilled toast baguette. The meat really does cut like butter and the rich, tangy jus works perfectly with the sharp horseradish shavings.
We could go on about the tapas but you get the general picture, this is good quality, and sometimes inventive tapas at a pretty decent price. Those wanting a little more from their meal can also explore the selections of mains and grills.
Before I do comment on these a little side note. One of the biggest criticisms I could find online from diners at Bomba seemed to be for the suckling pig ($35 at Una served with mash potatoes and quince jelly), clearly a touchy subject in Singapore but I must confess to not trying it at either eatery. I’ve also never tried the paella either, so can’t comment on that, except to tell you that there are three options seafood and chicken, black rice or Barcelona style with fideua pasta (all $62/82).
What I have tried, though has managed to match the same high standards of the small dishes. Like the ox cheeks, the pork belly chop ($27) is beautifully tender and and has a wonderfully smoky aroma thanks to being cooked over charcoal and apple wood; a smokiness further enhanced by the inclusion of charred rosemary. I would, however, have liked the server to tell me that it came with mashed potato, so I didn’t order an extra serving ($8), especially, as the mash turned out to be a little too creamy. The rump of lamb ($27) shows these guys really do know how to handle a grill with aplomb. It’s another perfectly cooked piece of meat and the accompanying Provencal vegetables are fresh, fruity and tart in equal measure.
For desserts, it’s pretty hard to look past the signature Churros and chocolat ($12). I can see why they’re such a hit, as they manage to achieve that perfect balance between crisp coating and fluffy. My fellow diners have swooned over them before but I personally found them just a tad bitter, even with the indulgent chocolate sauce and honey ice cream. The Panna cotta with popcorn ($12) is less wow-worthy, even with the addition of the sherry apricot puree, but decent enough, though we’re not sure that the fluffy popcorn adds that much to the dish.
But we don’t want to dwell on the negatives. They’re really a case of minor grumbles: a tweak to the service and little stumbles on certain dishes, but from our experience Una easily avoids any big missteps with its food. And when you consider the stunningly romantic setting—book for Valentine’s Day and we guarantee you’ll get lucky—classy tapas (especially those divine ox cheeks) and often sublime mains, then Una makes for a pretty unique and very charming dining destination. One that’s well, well worth the trek out West.
Coconut’s Critics Table reviews are written based on unannounced visits by our writers and paid for by Coconuts Singapore. No freebies here.
Una is at 1 Rochester Park, 6773-0070. Open Mon — Sat 6 — 11pm.
Read other Critic's Tables:
Marukyu: Functional, not fireworks
Sweet treats and croc meat can't disguise desperate mood at Table@Pip's
Black Swan: An American Beauty that can leave you wanting more
The Credit Bureau Singapore (CBS) reportedly had its website defaced earlier on Monday, and today they've temporarily shut down their online services.
Used to purchase a copy of credit reports, the CBS decided to stop their services temporarily as a precautionary measure to implement stronger security controls.
Consumers will not have to worry about stolen data as CBS assured that there was no data loss nor compromise. Those who still wish to obtain a copy of their credit reports can purchase them at the CBS office, SingPot, CrimsonLogic Service Bureau and CASE office.
Photo: Jansen Chua via Flickr
Chinese New Year is just round the corner. And if you haven’t made reservations for the big day, it’s going to be tough to snag a table at popular eateries. Even if you do finagle yourself a seat, you’ll have to jostle with other diners at the overcrowded establishments. Instead, why not stay in this year? These joints dish out celebration-appropriate grub for takeout or delivery, so you can relax with the family at home.
Cassia (Delivery)
3/F Capella, 1 The Knolls, 6591-5045.
A punchy tossed salad of both salmon and tuna, Cassia’s Traditional Prosperity Lou Hei ($58 for two — four) is a godsend for last minute customers. It’s available from Feb. 2 — March 5, no advance booking required. They even accept walk-ins, so you can just stroll in and take it home in a jiff.
Cherry Garden (Takeaway)
5/F Marina Square, 5 Raffles Ave., 6885-3500.
Stalwart Chinese spot Cherry Garden does a mean Treasure Pot ($338 for six): a warming casserole of 13 super luxe ingredients including sea cucumber and abalone. It’s a one-pot meal. End dinner with their gorgeous Cherry Garden Fortune Gift Box ($58), a 16-piece box of green tea mochi stuffed with lotus paste and macadamias. Give the resto a heads up of at least two days to prep the stuff.
Goodwood Park Deli (Takeaway)
22 Scotts Rd., Goodwood Park Hotel, 6730-1704.
While you’re at the Goodwood Park Hotel, pick up some of their well-made desserts. The seasonal specials: Golden Prosperity Pumpkin Cake — a dense cashew-enriched confection covered with gold icing — and Blessings of Fortune Cake (fudge cake topped with chocolate coins), are available from Jan. 29 — March 5.
Majestic Bay Seafood Restaurant (Takeaway)
#01-10 Flower Dome, Gardens By The Bay, 18 Marina Gardens Dr., 6604-6604.
Priced at $229 a pop, Majestic Bay Seafood Restaurant’s uber fancy empurau yusheng features translucent slices of the world’s most expensive fresh water fish, the empurau. Found in Sarawak, this fish is known for its flavour and pretty — also edible — scales. Get it from Feb. 9 — Mar. 5, no advance notice required.
Min Jiang (Takeaway)
22 Scotts Rd., Goodwood Park Hotel, 6730-1704.
Min Jiang’s stunning Joy of Abundance ($298 for six) features a salt crust — in the shape of two koi fish —encasing a dish of eel maw stuffed with dace fish paste. It’s available for both dine-in and takeaway, though advance notice of three working days is required.
Nuvo (Takeaway, top pic)
#02-100 Marina Square Shopping Mall, 6 Raffles Blvd., 6822-2098.
NUVO’s Lunar New Year special, the Lo Hei Pizza ($28) is on offer from Feb. 18 — March 5. Just give them a day’s notice to prep the dish for pick-up. The recipe comprises a golden thin-crust pizza base — representing a gold ingot — topped with tonkatsu sauce, plum sauce and your choice of Norwegian salmon or sous vide Tsukiji octopus.
The Organic Grocer (Delivery)
8125-4077.
The health food purveyor has come up with a wholesome Prosperity Box (from $88 for three — four) of ingredients for a CNY hotpot party. There’s organic grass fed beef, wild caught scallops and all sorts of sustainably sourced goodies. Available through Feb. 18.
Paradise Group (Delivery)
6487-6489.
Order the restaurant group’s Golden Leaf Double Fish Glutinous Rice Cake ($36.80 for a pair) online. Eating the sticky dessert pretty much assures abundance and wealth in the New Year. The pair of fish come in cheery orange and gold hues to boot. Besides serving it as an after dinner sweet, it also makes a great Chinese New Year breakfast. After all, nian gao is the traditional morning meal on the first day of the year.
Tung Lok (Takeaway)
Various outlets, 9088-8008.
The good folks at Tung Lok have put together a full meal to nosh on at home. Their convenient Royal Take Home Feast ($368 for six; $498 for 10) includes the TungLok Treasure Bowl (i.e. pen cai), yu sheng, fried glutinous rice with preserved meat, herbal chicken and nian gao (sweet rice cakes). Available through March 5.
Uncle G’s (Takeaway)
9624-9092.
Score points with your family with crowd-pleasing roast pork ($30/kg). The version from small batch specialist Uncle G’s is especially crisp skinned and juicy. While you’re at it, pick up some of their hei bee hiam and bacon cookies (from $5). They are super moreish: There’s great texture from the bacon and warming spices, but it’s not overwhelming. Last orders are on Feb. 7, so get on it quick. Collection is from Pearl’s Hill Terrace or MRT stops on the Circle Line.
Yan Ting (Takeaway)
1/F The St. Regis, 29 Tanglin Rd.
Pick up the Prosperity Yu Sheng with Norwegian Salmon (from $68) at opulent Chinese establishment Yan Ting for a special treat. The classic is taken to the next level with snow pear and passion fruit-infused plum sauce dressing. It’s a great starter. For mains, get their Chinese New Year Pun Choy ($468), which blends thirteen lush specialities — including abalone, dried oysters and sea cucumber — in a clay hot tub and bathes the whole deal in savoury brown sauce.
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Figures from the Singapore Customs have revealed that the amount of contraband cigarettes seized last year hit a record high since 2009 — three million packets in total.
TODAY reports that 243 vehicles involved in smuggling the contraband cigarettes were also seized, a significant 65.3 percent increase from the 147 vehicles seized the previous year.
1.1 million packets of illegal cigarettes were hidden and recovered among modified compartments such as the floorboard, rooftop and fuel tanks, worth over $11 million.
In addition, three contraband cigarette syndicates were also disrupted last year, leading to more than 57,000 packets of the items being seized. 11 individuals were arrested during the crackdown, including seven Chinese nationals, three Singaporeans and a permanent resident from Malaysia. Their goods were mainly smuggled by land.
Despite the increase in items seized, the number of contraband cigarette offenders saw a decline with 23,862 offenders caught.
Demand for these cigarettes remain strong as ever, especially since prices of tobacco-related items in Singapore remain the highest in the Southeast Asian region, due to hefty taxes imposed.
Photo: włodi via Flickr
Feb 4 marks the beginning of spring in the Chinese calendar, and considered by many as a most auspicious day. Traditionally known as Li Chun, farmers often celebrate the beginning of spring with special ceremonies, worship and offerings to the gods for a blissful and prosperous new year.
In Singapore however, people celebrate Li Chun by giving offerings to the ancient Gods of Automated Teller Machines and Bank Tellers.
Excessively long queues outside were spotted outside banks and ATMs across the nation yesterday as folks rush to bank in their money during auspicious hours, a gesture believed to help grow luck and wealth throughout the new year.
Some even take it to the next level by wearing red— the color symbolizing good fortune and joy in Chinese culture — in a bid to multiply and enhance their wealth potential.
Photo: @angieseez via Twitter; Liesel Chong
In a speech made at the annual bizSAFE conference, Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin reported a record low in the number of workplace fatalities in 2014.
According to a report by Channel NewsAsia, the fatality rate hit 1.8 per 100,000 employees, a decrease from 2.3 the previous year — totalling 60 deaths as compared to 73 in 2013.
However so, the minister remarked that the number of major and minor injuries at work increased; 672 workers sustained major injuries in 2014, up from 589 the previous year. Cases of minor injuries went up to 12,863 from 11,253 in 2013.
To help small and medium-sized enterprises improve their workplace safety, the Government has launched a revised code of practice which will lay down principles and tips in tackling risk management.
Photo: Roslan Rahman
Experts say it was celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck who was responsible for turning cuisine-mixing into a trend when he opened Chinois on Main in Santa Monica in the early ‘80s. A few years later, Norman Van Aken branded it “fusion”, a term borrowed from jazz music.
As with most fads “East-meets-West” cuisine rankled as quickly as it spread, bloating with mediocrity and at times absurdity. With the internet still quite latent at the time, its reputation only trickled down to Singapore less than a decade ago, after which local professionals made sure to steer clear from what was by then considered an F-word — it wasn’t allowed on a signboard, not on the menu and probably not even in kitchen chatter.
Today, however, chefs are re-embracing fusion, not as the “cheap thrill” it was before, but as an age-old cooking technique. “All cuisine is at heart a form of fusion,” Sara Dickerman wrote on Slate in 2012, especially true in a mongrel city, where no one culture’s dish is spared from the influence of another. Iconic Singapore meals like char kway teow, chilli crab and fish head curry all have roots in Singapore, Malaysia and as far as India. But these winning combinations were not some "flash in the pan" ideas — they were the result of generation after generation of hand-me-down knowledge, plus a great respect for tradition. Naturally, there are rules.
Watch: "How to Eat Fish Head Curry" on Coconuts TV
“Different ingredients have different characters and tastes. When they clash with or conceal the flavour of another ingredient, you have to reject the combination. You only want to fuse elements that complement each other,” shares Emil Halim, co-founder of the forwardly named East 8 New York Fusion Tapas & Bar.
In support, Nuvo (top pic) head chef Mark Richards notes the qualities of a restaurant that doesn’t do fusion right, qualities that soured the cuisine’s reputation in the first place: “A carelessly designed menu that doesn’t create the right balance of cuisines, clashing their flavours, and worse, a restaurant that uses the word ‘fusion’ in its name or menu only for the sake of modernity”.
Luckily, chefs in Singapore are so familiar with the rules, they’ve even been able to bend them with some success. While some are adamant that to get fusion cuisine right you must never try to mix more than two cultures in one dish, others are taking local food — already complex examples of culinary synthesis — to the next level.
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Shen Tan is one such chef. Though “a little leery” of describing her cuisine as fusion, she’s hardly averse to it as a technique. In 2011, the former hawker stall owner founded Wok & Barrel, which quickly became a household name in what is now known as Mod Sin, or modern Singaporean cuisine. (Think bak chor mee pasta and pulut hitam pudding with coconut ice-cream and butterscotch sauce.) Now Tan runs a kitchen consultancy with names like Arterial and Ujong — both strong Mod Sin options — in her portfolio.
Photo: Chef consultant Shen Tan's signature bak chor mee pasta
Despite its unfortunately gimmicky name, Mod Sin sounds like it’s here to stay, and in a big way. Says Chin Hui Wen, chief maker at Eastern Granola, which mixes the American granola recipe with Asian flavours like Milo and satay, “We’re already used to blending different flavours (Chinese, Malay and Indian, for example). The current generation of chefs is just taking into account more international cuisines when coming up with new dishes. It makes sense as we’ve become a more cosmopolitan place.”
Dempsey restaurant Pidgin is another good ambassador for Mod Sin. While chef-owner Adrian Ling is like Shen Tan not fond of the “fusion” label (“it sounds impersonal and unappealing”), he’s proud of it as his signature technique. And it’s not just his menu — made up of dishes like bak kwa mac and cheese, and ngoh hiang prawn cake — that represents this. Pidgin itself means a new common language developed a community of different backgrounds.
Photo: One of Pidgin's new snack items: Ngoh hiang ("five spice") prawn cakes
Even more adamant not to let a fad gone bad mar the excitement of good technique is Jimmy Chok, owner of Bistro Soori. “Fusion,” he told TIME, “is the only way to describe my cooking. Don’t call it a dirty word. I will be upset.
So is there a ‘new’ dirty word now that the bad rep of fusion has run its course?
Ling thinks many chefs despise the word “molecular” as much as he does “fusion” and he’s right, at least where the more experimental chefs are concerned.
Currently Singapore’s favourite import Ryan Clift, says, “No one called my food ‘molecular’ the 10 years I ran Vue de Monde, the number one restaurant in Australia at the time. Since I’ve moved to Singapore I’ve been labelled that a lot and I don’t understand why.”
We sort of can — after all it’s at Clift’s The Tippling Club that one can find dishes like monkfish curry (which looks absolutely nothing like its name) and foie gras with cold confit apple — but to Chef, it’s just cooking.
Photo: If we didn't tell you, you wouldn't know this was monkfish curry, a Ryan Clift creation
“My food is very product-driven, no different from Julien’s (Royer) and Andre’s (Chiang). It’s just that a few years ago a lot of us adopted science as part of our cooking. Why? To make the food taste better. And at the end of the day, it makes the customer’s experience better.”
Photo: Ryan Clift hard at work in his test kitchen
Which is probably what fusion was always meant for, if only people didn’t insist on screwing it up for a quick buck. Luckily, Clift says Singapore folks “learn fast” and “appreciate things in a better way”.
And that's how you can have nice things.
So where do our top chefs go for great fusion food in Singapore?
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Recently, we spoke to some of Singapore's most watched culinary experimentalists to get a sense of how fusion food has evolved here. Naturally, we had to ask who (obviously besides themselves) they thought were contributing great things to the scene and which restaurants they liked to patron in the off chance they actually had the time.
Chin Hui Wen, chief maker at Eastern Granola
Wild Rocket is one — Willin Low makes a laksa pesto that replaces aromatic Italian herb basil with fragrant local herb laksa leaves. It works so well, it's become a "new classic". Also Labyrinth, Morsels and Shen Tan. Hopscotch Bar nails the fusion thing for drinks, but there's also Pidgin Kitchen, which has a Nin Jiom Old Fashioned on the menu. Chinese cough syrup might at first seem a strange addition to the cocktail. But it isn't too different from bitters, which were also originally developed as medicine. Both ingredients are harsh and biting, and they bring balance to drinks.
Mark Richards, head chef at Nuvo
I would like to see more appreciation for chefs out there doing their own thing, who are cooking at restaurants that reflect their own sense of identity instead of concentrating on commercialising and franchising. Ryan Clift's The Tippling Club is my favourite in Singapore.
Shen Tan, culinary director at Madam Tan Consulting
I think fusion's extremely well represented in Singapore. We have beautiful produce cooked expertly with classically trained chefs returning to their Asian roots.
Even fine dining modern European restaurants are infusing their cusine with some element of Asian ingredients.
Chefs like Justin Quek (Sky on 57), Damian D'Silva (Immigrants Gastrobar), Malcolm Lee (Candlenut) and Jason Tan (Corner House) are doing great things.
Photo: Corner House
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