MasterChef S2 Runner-Up Sells Rojak Featured In Finale & Chilli Crab Burger For Takeaway

Creatr, which opened its doors at Stirling Road on May 7, had to pivot to takeaways nearly overnight when Phase Two (Heightened Alert) measures were announced a week after it launched.

The joint is managed by six partners (two in photo, Leon in centre) – all Leon’s friends – who are also behind ice cream chain Three's A Crowd Cafe. He had reached out to the group for advice as he prepared to enter the Masterchef competition, and discussions about working together eventually culminated in Leon coming on board for a new venture.

With this, the chain’s original plans for a third outlet morphed into a new cafe offering elevated local cuisine. Leon’s Masterchef apron hangs on one wall, framed up in red.

Before the tightened measures, Creatr was fully booked until August, Leon tells 8days.sg. His role? Crafting the menu and training kitchen staff. He adds that he’s still mulling whether to join the biz as a full-fledged partner.

Despite offering only two dishes for takeout, the biz is earning the same as it did when dine-ins were allowed, Leon reveals. The burger is constantly sold out, while orders have poured in for the rojak roll, which launched on May 31.

Given the sudden switch from dine-ins to pure takeaways, Leon’s priority is to help staff adjust to the change in operations and optimise new kitchen processes, before adding more dishes to the takeout menu.

Unlike the TV-famous rojak roll, which was on Creatr’s dine-in menu, along with dishes like pan-seared sea bass and seafood tagliatelle, the chilli crab burger is a takeaway special. Leon confesses he feared tapows would ruin the cafe’s visually appealing dishes, so he came up with the burger, which could withstand being jostled around while being transported.

“We didn’t know how the public would react, but the burger proved popular, so now we’re adding the rojak roll,” he says.

“We see the current situation as a blessing in disguise,” he adds. “It’s forced us to train ourselves to do takeaways, so we’ll be in a good position in the future, whether dine-ins are allowed or not.”

We can see why this sells out as fast as it does: it’s a solid, honest-to-goodness chilli crab in bun form. We warm up the sauce cup per the instructions on the box, then upend it on the patty and smash the burger together – sauce dribbling down the sides and our hands – and cram it into our mouths. There’s no delicate eating here, just a hearty, messy affair reminiscent of gobbling down actual chilli crab, completed by mopping up the sauce with the bread (and our fingers).

The house-made brioche bun is airy and sweet, and works well as a replacement for the mantou that typically accompanies chilli crab dinners. The hefty, breaded crab cake is packed to the brim with sweet, flavourful lump crab meat, but the star of the dish is the complex tomato-based sauce, offering enough tang and a mellow spiciness to round out the flavours. Leon’s unexpected addition of egg floss – made from browned bits of fried egg, typically served atop fish soup – lends a touch of oily richness that’s not too overwhelming.

On the side are eight meaty slabs of tau kwa, a clever, lighter alternative to potato fries. The accompanying sambal aioli with kaffir lime is searing, and adds enough flavour to make the tofu appealing, even to sceptics. Both burger and fries hold up well on the drive from cafe to home, and neither are soggy or greasy.

An updated version of the rojak roll that garnered rave reviews from the MasterChef judges in the finale episode (it was rated 9/10 by judge Bjorn Shen), this dish tastes like a deconstructed rendition of the hawker favourite. Leon added several ingredients he originally planned to include on the show, such as green mango and torch ginger flowers, which he couldn’t locate from the MasterChef pantry in time.

In the takeaway box is a lonely Vietnamese spring roll and a single churro. The light, clean-tasting roll is packed with crunchy cucumbers, shredded turnips, green mango, chopped peanuts, and a hunk of grilled pineapple, all wrapped in sticky rice paper. We dip it into the citrusy rojak sauce, take a bite of the crunchy, hard churro – which stands in for the you tiao – and immediately, the flavour combination morphs into a familiar rojak taste. A sophisticated take, but lacks the shiok factor of digging into a styrofoam box full of the calorific stuff.

Well-executed, tasty mod Sin burger, even if it is a tad pricey. The famous rojak roll is less memorable (sorry, Masterchef judges), though fans of the show might find it worth the experience of tasting what they've seen onscreen.

Order online here. Self-collection only. Creatr is located at #01-1149, 169 Stirling Rd, S140169. Open Mon to Sun, noon to 9pm. More info on Facebook & Instagram.

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Photos: Aik Chen