Spanish Chef Returns With Clarke Quay Diner After Popular Paella Food Court Stall Closes In Tampines

From fine-dining chef to manning food court stall

Eduard grew up in a small town in Catalonia within the northeastern region of Spain, where his family runs a boutique hotel in the Pyrenees. He learnt to cook there, working alongside his mother and later training in fine-dining kitchens, such as a six-year stint at the Michelin-starred Can Nandu under chef Nandu Jubany, before making his way to Singapore.

His varied F&B journey in Singapore

Here, he previously ran the Spanish restaurant La Cala at DUO Galleria, which eventually shut down during the pandemic. “We closed La Cala, and I moved back to Spain to help my family,” Eduard says. He spent that period working again at his family’s hotel, before returning to Singapore in 2023 when the opportunity to start something of his own came up.

He opened Eduardo’s stall at Kawan Kawan food court in Tampines Mall, which was operated by the Fei Siong Group, who were also his business partners at the time. Instead of the usual full-service dining that he was accustomed to, he kept things tight with paella, Spanish omelette, churros, and Basque cheesecake, which formed the backbone of the stall.

Customer turned biz partner at new casual eatery

CasaBites, which opened in late April 2026, is a joint venture between Eduard and a business partner who first knew him as a customer.

Biz partner also a Subway sandwich franchisee

Sheryl Lim, who is in her 50s, had been visiting his stall at Kawan Kawan in Tampines and liked what he was doing. At the time, she was already running several Subway franchise outlets in Singapore, something she had gone into after leaving corporate life as a deputy director at Sports Singapore so she could have more flexibility to raise her children. But she wasn’t looking to open another sandwich outlet.

“I wanted to try something different,” she tells 8days.sg.

Meeting Eduard came at the right time. What started as casual conversations over food carried on even after the stall closed. Within that year, she travelled to Spain at his invitation to see how he worked back home.

She stayed near his family’s hotel in the Pyrenees, where Eduard and his wife, Anna Porta, showed her around. They drove through the mountains, picnicked amid nature, and even foraged for mushrooms in the nearby forest.

“The way they cook, the way they use ingredients. Everything is fresh and close by,” Sheryl muses.

“His food is very good, but in a food court, people may not fully appreciate it”

That experience shaped how she thought about the new space. The idea was not to replicate a food court stall, but to build something that still felt approachable while giving diners a better sense of where the food comes from. “His food is very good, but perhaps in a food court, people may not fully appreciate it,” she says, explaining why CasaBites is positioned as a mid-tier casual eatery. Prices are of course higher here versus the food court stall. For example, a plate of paella back at Tampines cost $11.80 while prices start from $16 at the Clarke Quay restaurant.

There’s also a noticeable upgrade in ingredients, with offerings like Jamon Iberico Joselito, imported cold cuts and Spanish wines now on the menu. Size-wise, portions feel fairly similar to what we had back in Tampines, though the pricing and setup here are clearly aimed more at the office crowd around Clarke Quay.

Paella still the main draw

Eduard tells 8days.sg that there’s a stark difference between the paella served here and what’s made back in Catalonia. For starters, the Pyrenees (the mountain range that span across France and Spain) provide a wealth of seasonal and native ingredients that can’t easily be replicated in Singapore.

“Back home, we use game meats like rabbit and pigeon, which add a rustic, earthy flavor to the dish,” Eduard shares. “In Catalonia, we have the Mediterranean Sea that offers us incredible seafood to make delicious paella rice,” he adds.

In Singapore, however, he works with locally available ingredients to keep costs reasonable and the dish accessible to his customers. While the seafood paella here is cooked with prawns, fish, and crab stock, Eduard dreams of someday bringing a pigeon paella to the menu. “It tastes like a cross between duck and red meat; it’s tender and really flavorful,” he says. But for now, he’s sticking to what works best in a local setting.

With Eduard not in the kitchen daily, the team now relies on a specialised paella stove imported from Spain that helps regulate heat and timing, allowing for more consistent results across each batch. “The way we cook is the same,” he says. “We just make sure it can be consistent.”

Chicken Paella, $16 (8 DAYS Pick!)

This is an earthy take on the classic dish, featuring a whole chicken thigh that’s been lightly seasoned with salt and pepper before being oven baked as well as carnaroli rice (a short-grain variety that stays firm but soaks up flavour like a sponge) that’s been fried with snow peas, shiitake and shimeji mushrooms.

Instead of seafood broth, this variant uses a chicken-based broth simmered for about six hours with chicken bones, vegetables, and mushrooms, giving it a warm, comforting flavour. The chook is tender with crispy, golden skin, while the mushrooms add complexity to the rice. Yummy.

Noodle Seafood Paella, $19

This fideua, a classic Spanish seafood dish akin to a noodle version of paella, is slightly moist, flavorful, and smoky. Made with fideos (short thin bee hoon-like noodles) which Eduard imports from Spain, it’s packed with umami.

The fideua is fried with salmorreta — a Spanish aromatic base of saffron, garlic, parsley, olive oil, and tomatoes — before a seafood broth is poured into a shallow pan. This broth, simmered with prawns, fish bones, veggies, and even flower crabs, is what gives the fideua its rich flavour. “The salmorreta is the secret ingredient,” Eduard says. “This is a recipe we used back in Spain.”

It’s topped with one prawn, some squid rings, several clams, and chunks of fresh sea bream, making every mouthful a mix of tender seafood and perfectly al dente noodles.

Garlic Prawns, $22 (8 DAYS Pick!)

Sweet, briny tiger prawns are sauteed in a generous pool of olive oil with garlic chips and a light hit of chilli. This is served with crusty bread which sop up the deliciously flavourful oil well. Order this.

Jamon Iberico Joselito Toast, $12 for two pcs (8 DAYS Pick!)

The crusty strips of crystal bread are spread with grated Roma tomatoes, lightly seasoned with olive oil and salt, before being topped with thin slices of jamon from the Joselito brand, which is also dubbed the Dom Perignon of hams. The jamon is well-marbled, giving it a rich, slightly nutty flavour and a soft texture that melts easily on the palate, balanced by the bright, tangy tomatoes. Yummy.

Spanish Omelette, $9 per slice 

A simple affair of fried monalisa potatoes, caramelised onions and eggs, the classic Spanish tortilla is hearty with a mild sweetness, the spuds holding their shape rather than turning mushy, though a touch greasy. Served at room temperature, this might not be for everyone.

Churros, from $6 for three pieces 

Fried in olive oil, their churros are standard fare: crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and dusted with a light coating of cinnamon sugar. They’re served with a chocolate dip that’s velvety.

Basque Cheesecake, $8 for small; $65 whole (8 DAYS Pick!)

The house-made Basque burnt cheesecake is pure indulgence. The gooey center is rich and creamy, with a caramelised top that adds a nice, slightly bitter edge. It’s sweet and decadent, maybe even a bit jelak, though honestly, that’s part of the appeal.

CasaBites is at #02-78/91, Blue Zone, Clarke Quay Central, 6 Eu Tong Sen St, S059817. Open daily 11am - 11pm. Visit website, Instagram or TikTok for more info.

Photos: Dillon Tan

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