The entrance to Tinoq’s private diner looks just like a typical HDB home in the ageing Tiong Bahru estate: a freshly painted white door draped with an auspicious red banner, a massive paper lantern swinging overhead. But step inside the two-room flat and things get a bit surreal. The tiny living-cum-dining room looks like the set of a TV show that mixes elements from Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet and Ch 8’s The Little Nyonya.
Spotlights illuminate a table draped in pink cloth, surrounded by retro Chinese restaurant-style chairs upholstered in maroon. On a shelf above: a myriad of knick-knacks like tiffin carriers, rattan baskets, fish-shaped lanterns and a fabulous neon-lit signage that says ‘Good vibes only’. Separating the dining room from the bedroom and kitchen is a curtain, riotously covered in pink blossoms and turquoise. The drapes are swept aside and our host-cum-chef, Tinoq Russell Goh, sashays in. His shock of platinum blonde hair, tanned skin, purple-rimmed glasses and hot pink apron as colourful and quirky as his home.
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1/321/32The entrance to Tinoq's private diner-cum-two-room flat -
2/322/32Kampong-style cuisine -
3/323/32The dining room looks like the set of The Little Nonya-meets-The Wedding Banquet -
4/324/32Tinoq built this lush community garden in his backyard -
5/325/32It's approximately six metres-long and filled with fragrant herbs -
6/326/32Reviving the kampong spirit in Tiong Bahru -
7/327/32Kopi time -
8/328/32His garden is his sanctuary -
9/329/32All diners get a tour -
10/3210/32Rose, rose I love you -
11/3211/32Mini fish ponds in pots -
12/3212/32White butterfly pea flower -
13/3213/32Turmeric plants -
14/3214/32Rare kaffir lime plant -
15/3215/32Mini daun salam plant (middle) -
16/3216/32Their kitchen is tiny, but Tinoq and Dylan dish out amazing food -
17/3217/32He learnt to cook from his mum at the age of nine -
18/3218/32Eat off colourful enamel plates -
19/3219/32The grub is old-school, rib-stickingly good -
20/3220/32Sweet Potato Leaves with Hae Bee Hiam (8 DAYS PICK!) -
21/3221/32Ngoh Hiang (8 DAYS PICK!) -
22/3222/32Minangkabau Rendang -
23/3223/32Bakwan Kepiting (8 DAYS PICK!) -
24/3224/32Prawn Sambal Tumis -
25/3225/32Butterfly Pea Flower Coconut Rice and Nasi Kunyit (8 DAYS PICK!) -
26/3226/32Dried butterfly pea flowers -
27/3227/32Fun, quirky dining room -
28/3228/32Besides cooking, they styled Crazy Rich Asians actress Constance Lau -
29/3229/32Constance at the Singapore premiere -
30/3230/32Constance at the LA premiere -
31/3231/32Bottom line -
32/3232/32Booking details