Folklore: Damian D’Silva’s Homage to Singapore Cuisine
Our kakis meets each Wednesday to try out new places and, in short, Folklore is the best meal we have had this year. It is rare to find a restaurant where the kakis are unanimous in their praise and where each and every dish was greeted with mouths filled with food and eyes twinkling with satisfaction.
It is hard to write about an eatery when expectations are so high. Firstly, Ka Soh has been around for a long time and is regarded by many as a Singaporean institution. Mention fish head beehoon and har cheong gai and its name would invariably turn up! And then, there is the fact that they are on the listed in the Michelin guide as a Bib Gourmand restaurant! With these two accolades, you won't be blamed for expecting the food to be stellar.
Superbowl Jurong is one of those places like Big Splash which anyone living in the 70’s must have been before but probably haven’t been back in the last 30 years! Unless you are living or working around the area, I’d bet you have no reason to visit Superbowl Jurong. Well, now I am giving you […]
From Hokkien mee to Hainan chicken rice; murtabak to mee siam; you won't find a Singaporean who doesn't reminisce about our local hawker food. When we entertain guests from overseas, these are the dishes which we want them to experience so that they understand who we are.
The food at Hana-hana is very good value. I am not saying you will get top class Japanese food, but for a Japanese omakase meal, this is as cheap and good as it gets and you should leave the place feeling that you will want to go back again.
About four years ago, I picked up a book from the library that was simply titled "Steak". There are very few single words that have the power to command my immediate attention and this is one of them. The other is "Monnnnng!" which is what my Teochew name sounds like when it is uttered by my wife in an ascending tone. It usually signals an ominous change in the weather pattern which requires a drastic course correction.
Helmed by local born, Chef Martin Foo, the restaurant menu is a culmination of his many years of experience at Lei Gardens and Tung Lok group and his penchant for creativity and esoteric ingredients. What's more, Chef Martin keeps a spreadsheet on his customer's preferences so that he remembers what type of fish you like and how it is prepared!
This restaurant chain used to be known as Paradise Inn but had recently had a makeover. Instead of stools, now there are proper chairs and the dishes are now a little more refined but they are still dishes that you would expect to order at the zi char. More importantly the prices of most dishes are between $8 to $22 which is on par with zi char prices!
I must have walked past Lee Do Restaurant countless of times whenever I visit the Automobile Megamart, but it had never occurred to me that this austere looking eatery is one of the last guardians of Fuzhou cuisine in Singapore! I was equally intrigued to learn that they were the ones responsible for making cold crabs the popular dish that it is today!
I first met Kenjiro "Hatch" Hashida back in 2013 when he had just opened Hashida Sushi at level two of the Mandarin Gallery. I was at once smitten by his vintage anago tsume (sauce) which has an unbroken lineage of over 135 years!
With its harsh winters, remote location and pristine waters, Hokkaido has gained quite a reputation as a treasure trove of fresh food and ingredients. If you are talking milk, simply add the "Hokkaido" tag in front of it and it becomes super-excellent milk. Same goes with uni, potatoes, corn, rice, wagyu and many other ingredients!
It’s been a few years since I last wrote about Ah Liang and his then newly opened Chao Shan cuisine restaurant. Since then he has relocated to a bigger and brighter restaurant at Philip St, so we felt it was time to visit our Teochew Ah Hia again.
