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@magicsquare.sg opened when I was still living in KL and I had been left out of the big bang when fellow food media swarmed in like a pack of hungry wolves sniffing out stories to tell. Months after I returned and following a brief conversation with chef Desmond Shen (@dzzfizz ) who heads the space in December, I finally decided to show up — and am beating myself up for taking so long. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The meal was equal parts pleasurable as it was provocative. Where you are lulled by the gobsmackingly delicious seared iwashi on toast one course, you are brought into the deep end by a glob of suppon jelly, served on what remains of a turtle shell the next. There was the rice flavoured with turtle fat as much as there was the kegani brought to life with crab garum and egg white caviar. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Food waste was brought under the spotlight in three courses: first on the grilled papaya sprinkled with dehydrated papaya seeds — who would’ve thought these tasted like pepper? And then again on cockscomb cracker, boiled, dehydrated and fried until crisp and lastly on the emerald emulsion sitting underneath grilled and basted lettuce: a miso made of pea shells which would otherwise have been discarded. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Experimental? Quite. Did it work? For me yes absolutely, but then again, I like being provoked. The menu comes to an end in a few days and it’s one of the most remarkable degustations I’ve had in recent months. It’s clear to me that we have three rising stars in our midst, and I can’t wait to be back.

Singapore finally has a good modern Indian restaurant of its own. Years after Bangkok’s Gaggan and Kuala Lumpur’s Nadodi arrived on the scene, @mano.thevar who hails from Penang has answered the clarion call of this growing genre and made it his own. Enter @thevar.sg, a newish spot on Keong Saik Road where the flavours, ingredients and techniques of South India are given a Southeast Asian touch and plated for the hip dining set. There are so many standouts here but I particularly loved the dosai with mackerel and tomato chutney. I have dosai nearly every Saturday morning (it’s a weekend ritual) so to see it presented this way was both comforting and amusing. It’s been a while since I visited a place and felt my toes curl from such utter deliciousness. If there’s ever an underdog restaurant quietly serving amazing food, this would be it. Pay a visit — consider this a commandment.

Despite not wanting to go to the US for as long as Agent Orange is in office, I found myself in San Francisco a few months ago for work. There was no time to check out much, no time to have the city’s famed sourdough nor walk along its gorgeous streets kissed by the autumn sun. No. But there was time for an In-N-Out Burger run where I shovelled two of their “secret menu” items into my face: the 4x4 and the animal style fries. That’s basically four beef patties separated by three slices of cheese in one burger and French fries topped with grilled onions and their signature sauce. This was probably 4000 calories but hey it’s not a place I get to go everyday. Was it worth it? Every. Last. Bite. The grilled onions did it for me. Its caramelised depth and tannin notes made for a devilish companion to that piquant secret sauce. I’m not huge on fast food nor this heaving culture of excess but I have to admit, In-N-Out’s insistence on using fresh not frozen ingredients gives that tiny leeway for it to teeter between diner and fast food chain. I’m hoping to head back some time — but maybe when Agent Orange is done playing dollhouse.

Food can change you. Yes it’s about deliciousness but there also larger things at play: It codifies history, culture and in my case that morning, the story of migration. My own heritage snapped into focus last week in Yogyakarta as I dived headlong into the cultural heart of Java. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ There, I visited 72-year-old Mbah Satinem who has sold lupis — or kueh lopes as we know it in Singapore — all her life, from when she was helping her mother as a child. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ From my little stool by the roadside, I watched her move gracefully from slicing the rice cakes to sprinkling grated coconut, to ladling on the thick caramelised gula jawa. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And even though I was in a city surrounded by people I know to be my cultural make up, I was still a foreigner. I’ve been told all my life that we’re of Javanese ancestry, yet being 4th or 5th generation Singaporean means we don’t have access to the cultural knowledge of our forefathers. We’re talking about thousands of years of history here with a different language and a different written script altogether. Java is always mentioned like a distant motherland, and we are her forgotten children. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But the first bite of Mbah Satinem’s lupis felt like I was jolted home — except it was a far more expressive rendition. Hers was complex; the texture of the rice stained green from its banana leaf wrap was simply perfect and the sweet lashings of gula jawa had a dark, savoury undertone. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ These ingredients were procured with sensitivity to terroir. The gula jawa is from Kulon Progo while the rice is from Purworejo. Have we become so far removed from our roots that we slap on whatever ingredients available at the nearest supermarket not knowing the origins of the food and the importance of provenance? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This was affirmation that despite hundreds of years living on a different trajectory, the DNA expressed through a common palate remained. Food can indeed change you. In this case, it showed me who I am.

#uglydelicious: Dreamt of KL’s Hokkien Mee a few days ago and I’ve been craving for it since then. There is something truly sublime about Restoran Ahwa’s al dente noodles tossed in a searing hot, charcoal-fired wok. Does anyone know where I can get a decent version of this in Singapore? (Decent being the operative word 😂)

Random #throwback to the first Bali trip this year, when the days were long and languorous, the food was spicy and the air had the scent of the sun-kissed beach.

I've been reporting on food professionally for close to seven years now, and while excellent restaurants deserve more visits, part of the job is to prioritise new spots. I limit myself to three restaurants a week for health reasons and that means, dining for my own leisure takes a back seat. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The visit to Les Amis this week required planning more than a month ahead. It's been four years since I last had a meal there and that was when chefs Sebastien Lepinoy and Cheryl Koh made their Singapore debut. I'm reminded once again of how, despite the excitement of our dining scene, it is the classic stately restaurants that form our gastronomic spine. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Les Amis has and still will play one of the most important roles in our country not just because so many names have sharpened their knives in these storied kitchens. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The food here is still far more sophisticated, polished and executed with a finesse that's lightyears ahead of some of these newfangled try-too-hard restaurants. So many dishes made an impact on my party of four; the langoustine wrapped with thin sheets of courgette, topped with a generous dollop of caviar was one, as did the pairing of sea bass with verjus sauce and (gasp) grapes. Who would've thought that those flavours could sing in such harmony together? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And just before the meal ended, the dessert course delivered an elegant repartee on a pear tart, where slices of Williams pear poached in star anise was arranged like a closed palm around a tiny ball of puff pastry. At its centre? A caramel cream that held the elements in the perfect embrace. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The meal was a timely reminder that despite living in a world of rockstar chefs working hard to push the envelope on gastronomy, classic is still timeless. Thank you @lesamisrestaurant for the evening. #lsadining

If you’ve eaten one, you’ve eaten 10. That’s one of the pitfalls of luxury ingredients like caviar, sea urchin and foie gras, simply because very little needs to be done to make them shine. Maybe it’s because I’m jaded but one spoonful of any of these is enough (“okay thanks next!”) The foie gras semifreddo at one-Michelin-starred @braci.sg though, was a pie in my face. It’s a terrine that arrives beautifully presented looking almost like a giant Lego brick; an odd cross between a dessert and a starter. And oh boy does it work. The entire slab is covered with a thin crust of white chocolate while drops of fig vincotta, each larger than the next, lend a sticky sweetness to the assembly. On its side? A mini quenelle of kumquat that lifts the dish with a fresh burst of citrus. I thought I was bored of foie gras and the million permutations I’ve had the misfortune of eating. But this one, this one was special. #LSAdining

In #Tokyo right now in the midst of a heatwave that’s seeing 34 degree afternoons. Cooling down with a mango ice cream.

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Dining dispatches from Southeast Asia, and beyond.

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Recent Posts

Behind Javara’s tireless work in elevating Indonesia’s farmers and artisans
A recipe for Laksa Siglap – Singapore’s forgotten laksa
Nasi ulam: A herbed rice recipe that’s easy, nutritious and delicious
Modern Malaysian cuisine blooms in the kitchens of Beta KL
Photoessay: Saturday morning at a Malaysian Farmer’s Market

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