F O O D T R A V E L N I G H T L I F E Contact Us F O O D With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! 13 Best “Zenged” Versions of Local Dishes That Will Change The Way You View The Classics Last Updated: July 5, 2017 W R I T T E N B Y have to admit, as a Singaporean I’m rather protective of our local culinary landscape. I just love our local dishes RELATED ARTICLES the way they are, just like a simple plate of Hainanese I 8 Things Chicken Rice. Singaporeans Are Herman Low Doing Wrong When Eating Japanese... However, with the passing of time, our taste buds have T A G S developed and people have become more well travelled, 10 Diverse Indian Asian Flavours Food Places In Elevated Local which usually results in them having slightly pickier Singapore That Dishes Singapore Will... Modern Singapore palettes. Dishes 10 Chinese Hot pot As such, there have been many restaurants and hawker Alternatives in S H A R E S Singapore To Skip... stalls that have tried to jazz up our local dishes by revamping them and turning them into dishes that some of us have difficulty recognising. With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! While we have covered 10 such dishes before, here are another 13 Zenged (Enhanced) versions of local dishes that I feel deserve special mention for doing our nation proud by continuing to push the boundaries of our local cuisine. 13. Ding Dong (Hokkaido Scallop Tartare) With a fun-loving and playful take on Asian cuisine, Ding Dong promises you that and much more. Come down to the restaurant situated along Amoy Street to experience a culinary journey of a lifetime through modern yet nostalgic With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! elements of Southeast Asian flavours. Better yet, Ding Dong boasts a pretty cool cocktail menu courtesy of group bar manager, Joe Schofield, that you definitely need to check out! The Hokkaido Scallop Tartare with coconut, pickled ginger & sea grapes ($19) is a playful spin on the traditional Peranakan dish, Kueh Pie Tee. It features a bamboo charcoal shell filled with fresh slices of sweet Hokkaido scallops that have been mixed with a sauce made from chilli sauce, lime juice, pickled cucumbers and Japanese mayonnaise. The dish is finished with a garnish of coconut, pickled With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! ginger, pickled ginger flower and sea grapes to help add some brightness and contrast of textures. Ding Dong: 115 Amoy Street, #01-02, Singapore 069935 | Tel: 65570189 | Facebook | Opening hours: Mon – Sat: 12pm – 3pm, 6pm – 12am, Closed on Sunday. 12. Loof (Bak Chor Mee Grilled Cheese) With one of the most iconic picturesque rooftops in town, Loof is no stranger to the local bar scene and serves an array of nostalgic cocktails and creative menu offerings. With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! Part of the revamped menu in collaboration with Chef Bjorn Chen, the B.C.M Grilled Cheese ($18) is certainly pushing the boundaries of our local favourite. I bet you no one can resist this piece of ooey-gooey cheesy sourdough bread that has been toasted to perfection and filled with minced pork and pickles. Don’t worry about people giving you dirty looks if you asked for a side of black vinegar to go with your sandwich. With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! Loof: 331 North Bridge Road, #03-07, Odeon Towers Extension Rooftop (Opposite Raffles Hotel Shopping Arcade), Singapore 188720 | Tel: 63379416 | Website | Opening hours: Mon – Thurs: 5pm – 1am, Fri – Sat: 5pm – 2am, Closed on Sundays. 11. Sumo Big Prawn (Lobster Beehoon Soup) With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! There is a high chance that the most innovative takes on our local dishes are done by young budding chefs. The twist on our local prawn noodle soup at Sumo Big Prawn is one such example. Started by two young hawker-preneurs, Desmond and Jeffrey, the queues at the stall are a testament to the fact that Singaporeans are open to the idea of elevating their local dishes, even if it means paying a little more. With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! Enticing customers with a deep orange broth made from boiling prawn shells and pork ribs, the Lobster Beehoon Soup ($24.90 or $18.90 depending on Lobster availability) is worth its weight in gold. The generous portions of lobster, prawns and clams all add up to sweeten the broth, which was lighter as compared to what you would find at other prawn mee stalls. My only wish is for the broth to have a more complex flavour, perhaps some heat or saltiness to contrast against the sweetness. Still, it is pretty good attempt at pushing the envelope on our iconic local dish. With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! Sumo Big Prawn: Blk 628, Ang Mo Kio Ave 4, Singapore 560628 | Tel: 98164514 | Facebook| Opening hours: Tues – Sun: 9.30am – 4pm, 5pm – 9pm 10. Xiao Ya Tou (Chai Tow Kway) Labelling itself as a Naughty Modern Asian restarant, Xiao Ya Tou is aptly located at Duxton Hill which was an area known to be filled with opium dens back in the old days. The interior of the restaurant is meant to model after the shady dens in the past and is decked out in old school prints and paintings that give off a 80s feel together with the use of red lanterns that are hung from the ceilings. With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! The dish I am featuring is more of a deconstructed version of our local Chai Tow Kway or carrot cake as it is more commonly known. The Chai Tow Kway ($18, Bring your own eggs and get $1 off) is a worthy contender. Firstly, the whole concept of bringing your own eggs is such a cool idea that dates back to my parent’s era. In fact, some of the hawker stalls are still allowing you to bring your own eggs today. The carrot cake is made in-house and fried to a crisp. It is not too oily and has a pleasant sweetness to it. My suggestion to eating this dish would be to burst the yolks for that gooey egg yolk mixture to bind the minced pork together before having it with the fried carrot cake. With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! Extra points to the chef for putting the chilli padi as a garnish, allowing the diner to control the amount of heat they want in the dish. Xiao Ya Tou: 6 Duxton Hill, Singapore 089592 | Tel: 62261965 | Website | Opening hours: Mon – Thurs: 10am – 11pm, Fri: 10am – 12am, Sat: 9am – 12am, Sun: 9am – 5pm 9. Rahim Muslim Food (Mee Rebus with Chicken) With a tagline that reads, “If it doesn’t taste good, tell us. If it does, tell your friends!” you know that the Rahim Muslim Food stall takes its food seriously. Having been open since the 1960s, the recipe has been passed down from two generations with even the third generation helping out now. With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! If you love Mee Rebus as much as I do, you’d know that the gravy is what makes or breaks the dish. The Mee Rebus Power ($3.80) is served with the addition of kampung chicken and a chunky satay sauce that gives the dish that much more oomph. The addition of the satay sauce gives the gravy a nice nutty flavour which I feel helps cut through the heaviness of the dish. The chicken is pretty moist and definitely makes for a more filling meal. Rahim Muslim Food: Blk 721, Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, Singapore 560721 | Tel: 97867362 | Facebook |Opening hours: Daily: 12.15pm – 8pm With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! 8. Sunday Market (Rendang Lasagne) Situated along a row of shophouses on Lim Tua Tow Road, Sunday Market’s menu aims to introduce dishes that are commonly found in Sunday Markets around the world but with the Asian flavours that we are familar with. With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! We often see rendang in many Malay or Indonesian eateries and that distinct mix of spices pairs so perfectly with the beef or mutton that it is often made with. Sunday Market’s Rendang Lasagne ($16) is a perfect blend of Italian meets Asian flavours. The beef brisket is minced and cooked with a rempah paste that is both spicy and fragrant, before being filled into the pasta sheets. The lasagne is thick and contains a good amount of cheese which is pretty important for a lasagne. The top layers were a little too dry for my liking, but overall it was a decent dish with interesting flavours. With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! Sunday Market: 22 Lim Tua Tow Road, Singapore 547772 | Tel: 62878880 | Website | Opening hours: Mon – Tues, Thurs – Fri: 11am – 11pm, Sat: 9am – 11pm, Sun: 9am – 9pm 7. A Noodle Story (Singapore Style Ramen) Credit A Noodle Story lauds itself for serving “Singapore-style With PDFmyURL anyone can convert entire websites to PDF! ramen”. A twist on the usual wonton mee, each bowl is packed with a variety of toppings such as fatty pork-belly char siew, a perfectly runny hot spring egg, HK-style pork wontons and a potato-wrapped prawn.