Dine In An Urban Garden
We make a trip to two multi-concept eateries housed in heritage buildings by the 1-Group (behind restaurants like Una). Who knew we’d end up loving the more ulu option in Seletar? (A version of this story first appeared in Issue 1374, Feb 16, 2017)
THE SUMMERHOUSE
3 Park Lane, S798387. Tel: 8608-3340. www.thesummerhouse.sg
While at a garden café, why not try the vegetarian option? Good thing all the elements of this hearty burger will fill you up nicely. The falafel (fried chickpea patties) is surprisingly light, tasty, and lubricated by an eggplant stew and yoghurt sauce, which give the burger earthy Arabic flavours. Crumbled feta cheese add a hit of moreish saltiness.
2. The Summerhouse Dining Room and Balcony Bar
Open Wed-Sat 6pm-10pm; Sun 6pm-9pm. Closed Mon-Tue. Last orders 30 min before closing.
We’re told there’s a surprise inside each of these glossy red orbs. For us, the surprise is that beetroot could taste this good. Chef Ridder pickles the beetroot in raspberry vinegar, which eliminates most of its inherent earthiness, leaving behind a tender, piquant vegetable. It cuts open to reveal a core of oozy ricotta and burrata cheeses flavoured with barley
grains, black sesame and fried shallots.
A fragrant soak in buttermilk, juniper berries, bay leaves and barley, before cooking in a low-temperature water bath for 72 hours, yields a spoon-tender and incredibly tasty hunk of sous vide Iberico pork collar. The rich flavours are counterpointed by a sharp chervil sauce, bits of sauerkraut and sweet chopped almonds. Extremely satisfying.
Rambutan Shells
Flower ($15)
This dessert comes with a bit of a show. Chef Ridder smokes the rambutan shells with hickory wood tableside, unleashing the fruit’s natural perfume before he leaves guests to savour this delicate dish. There is guava yoghurt sorbet, lychee-coconut foam, raspberry puree, bits of rambutan and rose meringue with hibiscus powder, which all conspire to provide light yet intricately floral flavours that are an excellent way to end the meal.
BOTTOM LINE: The deliciously inventive tasting menu at the more upscale Dining Room is quite a good deal at $128. Meanwhile, the snacks and especially the cakes at Wildseed are fabulous. We’d be regulars here if it wasn’t so far-flung. $-$$$$
THE GARAGE
50 Cluny Park Rd, Singapore Botanic Gardens, S257488. Tel: 6264-7978. www.thegarage.sg
THE LOOK: Hidden away on the second level, Botanico is a more contemporary open-plan space appointed in muted shades of grey and blonde. Though it is tastefully decorated, its furnishings are so modular it feels more like an event space than a restaurant. Adjoining the dining room is a terrace bar serving botanical-inspired cocktails that is kept happily cool thanks to hidden air-con vents. The Garage Gin’onic ($16), gin and tonic with house-made elderflower syrup, is refreshing.
THE FOOD:
This appetiser mingles hand-chopped raw lamb with deep-fried capers, smoked olive oil, and egg yolk cream. Surprisingly, there is nothing gamey about this earthy combination with a lovely complexity of flavour and a mildly tart mustard ice cream. Morsels of pickled onions gave each mouthful pops of piquant brightness.
On paper, this dish has all the chops: sweet-salty Spanish prawns grilled in a charcoal oven, plump Bomba rice cooked in a saffron-spiked prawn broth, and a sprinkle of fatty pork trotter bits to finish. In the mouth, however, the rice is one-dimensional. Sure, it’s imbued with the deep flavour of prawns, but it needs a kick of sweetness or acidity. Once we were done chomping on the succulent, umami carabineros, there was little impetus to keep going with the risotto-like rice.
This is by far the most original mod Sin dessert we’ve sampled in a long time — and there isn’t an ounce of gula melaka in it! The grassy flavours of the laksa leaf ice cream are mellowed out by slivers of jackfruit, sea coconut and longan, plus the comforting warm crunch of biscuit crumbs and white chocolate turmeric ganache.
BOTTOM LINE: While Bee’s Knees is a decent spot for café classics in a lovely setting, we prefer the reasonably-priced Asian-influenced modern Mediterranean food served at Botanico. $-$$$