Showing posts with label Putu Mayam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Putu Mayam. Show all posts

Saturday, December 11, 2021

Rempapa @ Park Place Residences at PLQ - Chef Damian D'Silva Opens All-Day Singapore Heritage Cuisine Restaurant

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I have been following Chef Damian D'Silva heritage cooking when he had a stall at Timbre+ Ayer Rajah, followed by Folklore and Restaurant Kin. But, unfortunately, he didn't stay long at any one place. Hence I was glad to hear he is making a come back with a new restaurant - Rempapa at Park Place Residences at PLQ. Rempapa offers an all-day dining concept where the eclectic menu caters for different times of day - Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, and Dinner.

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Chickpea Curry with Roti/ String Hoppers 4.2/5

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Available for both breakfast and brunch is the Chickpea Curry ($18) with either Roti or String Hoppers. Perked up by the addition of Kashmiri chilli powder and turmeric powder, it is an aromatic combo of Indian and Eurasian curry flavours. It's best to have it with the buttery crisp roti or let the string hoppers soak up the delicious curry.

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Sri Lankan Chicken Curry with String Hoppers 4/5

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I know Chef Damian can cook many cuisines, but Sri Lankan is new to me. The Sri Lankan Chicken Curry with String Hoppers ($16) is milder with tender kampong chicken thigh. Traditionally, Sri Lankan curry is a more watery kind of gravy that is perfect for the string hoppers, commonly known in Singapore as idiyappam or putu mayam, to soak up the curry.

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Stir-fried Chee Cheong Fun 3.5/5

Chee Cheong Fun is a trending dish in the food scene this year, with several hawker stalls selling it, but they all sell the steamed version. Over at Rempapa, there is the stir-fried version. The Stir-fried Chee Cheong Fun ($13) is fried together with prawn, egg, and yellow chive. It is similar to our local white carrot cake replaced with smooth and soft rice noodle roll.

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Seafood Curry Mee 4.8/5

The Seafood Curry Mee ($18) available during lunch and brunch comprises yellow noodles, bee hoon, pig skin, boiled prawns, fish cake, fresh cockles (optional), long tau pok and beansprouts. According to Chef Damian, his interpretation is from a Hokkien hawker dish served during the 1920s and 1930s. He has used his own curry powder blend for more subtle spice flavours. Sand prawns and dry shrimps are used to make the stock instead of coconut milk, resulting in a rich and umami soup base which I drank to the last drop.

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Fish Nasi Lemak 4.2/5

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Fried Chicken 4.5/5

The Nasi Lemak ($17) comes with either Fish or Fried Chicken. The fragrant coconut rice is accompanied by sambal, silver fish, egg and cucumber. Customers who opted for the fish nasi lemak gets a whole selar fish which is enormous! I prefer the fried chicken nasi lemak, which is comparable to the popular fried chicken nasi lemak from The Coconut Club.

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Fried Chicken Curry Rice 4/5

To introduce heritage cuisine to the younger generation, Chef Damian introduces them to heritage flavours by giving the dish a modern presentation. He believes the food needs to be accepted by them first before trying and learning more about heritage cuisine. Hence, he has come up with the Fried Chicken Curry Rice ($16), presented as a Japanese curry with kaarage, combing the essences of Eurasian, Peranakan, Indian, Malay and Chinese cuisines.

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Kedongdong Salad 4.5/5

For the dinner menu, the dishes are more communal. The menu is different from the breakfast, lunch and brunch menus. We had the Kedongdong Salad ($15) to kick start our dinner. I am not strange to the wing bean salad as Chef has served it before in his previous restaurant. However, the new version is less spicy, and he has added more shrimp floss.

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Baca Assam 4.8/5

The Baca Assam ($38) is a dish that Chef Damian's granddad cooked only on special occasions. It is a lost Eurasian heritage dish that is a mix of Peranakan and Indian flavours. Beef brisket is used, and I enjoyed the tenderness. The addition of tamarind gives the beef brisket the tanginess, which cuts the richness and whetted the appetite.

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Lamb Leg Rendang 3/5

The Lamb Leg Rendang ($38) is a classic Minangkabau dish cooked in a mix of wet spice paste. Unfortunately, while I enjoyed the rempah, the boneless lamb leg came across on the dry side.

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Slow-cooked Belly Pork with Ah Seng Sauce 4.2/5

It is not all about Chef Damian's family recipes at Rempapa. The restaurant also showcases heritage recipes shared by the younger chefs to motivate their immersion into heritage cuisine. The Slow-cooked Belly Pork with Ah Seng Sauce ($23) is a heritage Hokkien dish that hails from Penang. The soul has to be the mildly spicy sauce on top of the pork belly. It is like having mala xiang gou.

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Kueh Platter 4.5/5

Not to be missed at Rempapa is the daily assortment of kuehs. The Kueh Platter ($6 for 4pc, $10 for 8pc, $15 for 12pc) includes favourites such as Kueh Kosui and Kueh Ku, Kueh Bengkah, Pulut Bengkah, Talam Keladi, Sago Ubi, Lapis Pulot, Rempah Udang and others available on the day.

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Rempapa is unlike any of Chef Damian's previous restaurants. At the new restaurant, Chef Damian introduces his 'Singapore New Heritage Cuisine', in which recipes drawn from the soul of tradition are reinvented with elements of different ethnicities to create flavour profiles that resonate with today's diner. Rempapa is not just a restaurant. It is the place where Chef Damian elevates Singapore heritage food to a status among the world's great cuisines. And where 'cultural sustainability' is nurtured through engaging the next generation of diners and mentoring fresh talent, seeing them take pride in Singapore cuisine and driving it to the next level.

Note: This is an invited tasting.


Rempapa
2 Paya Lebar Road
#01-01/02/03
Park Place Residences at PLQ
Singapore 409053
Tel: +65 94591603
Facebook
Nearest MRT: Paya Lebar (CC Line, EW Line)

Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri: 1030am - 1030pm
Sat-Sun, PH: 930am - 1030pm

Direction:
1) Alight at Paya Lebar MRT station. Take Exit E. Walk to Sims Avenue. Cross the road. Walk to Park Place Residences. Walk to destination. Journey time about 3 minutes. [Map]

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Best of Ghim Moh Food Centre Makan Gathering

In conjuction with the opening of the rest of the MRT stations along Circle Line, the monthly makan gathering brought us to Ghim Moh Food Centre to explore the best food along the new section of the circle line.


Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow is probably one of the most popular stalls at Ghim Moh Food Centre. The stall also has the title King of Fried Kway Teow from a TV show many years back. The fried kway teow was neither too dry or wet with a nice consistency that came with juicy cockles and lots of pork lard!.

Fried Kway Teow 4/5
Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow, Stall #01-12
Opening Hours: 930am-230pm (Closed on Mon and Fri)

Teck Hin Fried Hor Fun stall sells only Hor Fun. The current stall is run by 2 middle aged men. Besides the Beef Hor Fun which we ordered, the stall also offers Seafood Hor Fun, Sliced Fish Hor Fun and etc. I like the thick gravy that is drenched over the Hor Fun and the tender beef slices.

Beef Hor Fun 4/5
Teck Hin Fried Hor Fun, Stall #01-44
Opening Hours: 10am-3pm, 5pm-830pm (Closed on Mon)

If you are a fan for Indian's food, you have to drop by Ghim Moh Food Centre and try Heaven's Indian Curry's Putu Mayam, Appom and Thosai. Putu Mayam brought back a lot of childhood memories. It was one of my favourite Sunday breakfast tearing into the vermicelli-like rice flour noodles and dipping them into the desiccated coconut and orange sugar.

Putu Mayam 4/5

This is my first time having Appom and I love it! The experience was like eating both crispy and fluffy Roti Prata in one. The Appom was fluffy in the middle with crispy edges. Like Roti Prata, there are plain and egg Appoms too. Heaven Indian's Curry is probably one of the only few stalls in Singapore that makes Appom.

Appom 4.2/5

Many people have raved about the Thosai here too. You just need to taste it yourself to understand why. It had a nice thickness giving it a crispy outer layer while the inside was moist and fluffy. It had a good balance in both taste and texture.

Thosai 4/5
Heaven's Indian Curry, Stall #01-15
Opening Hours: 6am-2pm, daily

I find that the steamed Taro Cake was a bit disappointing as I prefer those that have chunks of yam. I could not really taste the yam flavour or find the contrast in texture I was looking for. Nevertheless, Rong Yuan's Taro Cake was moist and nice. Oh! and it came with peanuts.

Taro Cakes 3.8/5
Rong Yuan Cooked Food Stall, Stall #01-19

Chwee Kueh is a common Singapore breakfast. It is basically steam rice flour topped with preserved radish (Chye Poh). Usually the preserved radish (Chye Poh) topping is sweet but Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh's version is different. This is the first time I have the salty version. According to what I googled on the web, this supposed to be the traditional receipt.

Chwee Kueh 3/5
Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh, Stall #01-31
Opening Hours: 615am-7pm, daily

Just beside the Chwee Kueh stall is this inconspicuous Fried Carrot Cake stall that uses vegetable oil. The stall sells both white and black carrot cake. We had the Black Carrot Cake. The steamed radish cake fried with black sweet sauce was soft and tasty with a generous coat of eggs.

Black Carrot Cake 3.8/5
Lian He Carrot Cake, Stall #01-30

Many people have recommended this roast meat stall at Ghim Moh Food Centre. With such high popularity we definitely have to join the queue to try out their roast meat. We bought the Roast Duck, Roast Pork and Char Siew. The Char Siew was average but both the Roast Duck and Roast Pork were very good.

Roast Duck, Roast Pork and Char Siew 4/5
Jiu Jiang Shao La, Stall #01-45
Opening Hours: 11am-730pm (Closed on Wed)

The Hakka Yong Tau Foo has both dry and soup version. We decided to order the dry version because we felt that the picture will turn out better. The Stuffed Tau Pok (Stuffed Fried Tofu) was really crunchy and flavourful but the minced meat filling was a bit salty . My friend shared with me that people usually ordered the soup version. Maybe the soup version helps to balance the saltiness and make it a more balanced dish.

Yong Tau Foo (dry version)
Hakka Yong Tau Foo, Stall #01-14
Opening Hours: 730am-3pm (Closed on Mon)

The wonderful hawker food feast ended with dessert from Golden Swallow Dessert. I like the dessert here because of the fresh coconut milk. Bo Bo Cha Cha is the most appropriate dessert to highlight this. The hot Bo Bo Cha Cha was a bit too sweet but the cold one was really good. Topped with the colourful "tadpoles" like jellies, every spoonful was a sweet bursting surprise.

Tadpole Bo Bo Cha Cha (cold)

Bo Bo Cha Cha (hot)
Golden Swallow Dessert, Stall #01-53


Ghim Moh Food Centre
Blk 20 Ghim Moh Road
Nearest MRT: Buona Vista (EW Line, CC Line)

Direction:
1) Alight at Buona Vista MRT station. Walk to bus stop along Buona Vista Road (Stop ID 11361). Take bus no. 92. Alight 1 stops later. Journey time about 3 mins.

2) Alight at Buona Vista MRT station. Cross the underpass towards Ghim Moh Estate Blk 12A. Cut across the open air carpark towards Ghim Moh Road. Cross the road and walk towards Blk 20. Journey time about 8 mins.