Purists and experimentalists alike can indulge in the new wave of Asian flavours taking the culinary spotlight. Don’t call it fusion, but Cantonese restaurant MITZO at Grand Park Orchard is serving up edible flowers in progressive fashion.
Purists and experimentalists alike can indulge in the new wave of Asian flavours taking the culinary spotlight. Don’t call it fusion, but Cantonese restaurant MITZO at Grand Park Orchard is serving up edible flowers in progressive fashion. Think steamy, jasmine-infused xiao long baos; beautifully crisp zucchini flower tempura stuffed with wasabi shrimp; and poached fine noodles with crab meat, sitting pretty in a pool of saffron sauce. Down the street, at Robinsons the Heeren, is Angela May’s FOOD CHAPTERS, where vegetables are the highlight. Trained at Le Cordon Bleu, the former model-TV host and now, chef, is serving up a “veggie-forward menu” with Asian flair. Try the caramelised cauliflower steak, barramundi in cashew red curry with a pomegranate pineapple barley salad, or the soy-glazed shiitake and cold scallion noodles—truly an umami-bomb of a dish. If that’s too adventurous, head to Violet Oon’s NATIONAL KITCHEN at the National Gallery Singapore for a nostalgic feast of Peranakan, Malay, Indian and Chinese flavours in a classy Singaporean setting. Tuck into perfectly stewed dry beef rendang, perfumed with ginger root and nutmeg; and spoonfuls of rich fish head curry that will have you asking for more. The dry laksa remains the pièce de résistance, boasting rice noodles slicked in a coconut-rich sauce with dried shrimps and laksa leaves, releasing a slow, lingering heat from all the right spices. Piquant flavours don’t just stop at dinner—they continue onto drinks at BLACK NUT on Emerald Hill. Kick back in this Asian-inspired cocktail gastro bar and savour impishly named concoctions like Sio Ah! (“hot” in Hokkien), a tequila cocktail with lime leaves, chilli padi and lemongrass. Power Chendol is another favourite, blurring the lines between drink and dessert with sweet rum, gula melaka (palm sugar) and pandan, finished with a decadent dollop of whipped cream.
