Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Chinese food, the Singaporean way

There's much more to the menu than American Chop Suey and chilly chicken at Singapore Rex

PHOTO: R. RAGU

FUSION OF ORIENTAL FLAVOURS At the recently-opened Singapore Rex

The spring roll was a dead giveaway. Desi spring rolls are so assiduously deep-fried, they arrive at your table looking complacently oily, surrounded by a halo of grease. This one was an intriguing blend of textures, moistly flaky inside and covered in a crackling bean curd skin. Clearly the work of a well-travelled Chef.

Chef Vincent Lee's been everywhere. Well, ok. Almost everywhere. Now calling the shots at Singapore Rex, a rather unusual addition to the city's sea of Chinese restaurants, he and Chef Daniel Yip are working on recreating at least part of Singapore's vibrant food tradition in Chennai. But, before this, he was in Singapore. Of course. "Then the U.S., Cape Town in South Africa, Indonesia, Paris... " he trails off thoughtfully fiddling with a roll of bean curd skin at the restaurant. "Ah, and I was also working on a cruise ship."

The food here, as a result, is fairly international — as far as Chinese cuisine goes. Which means there's more to the menu than American Chop Suey and chilly chicken. So if you're looking for the tomato-sauce drenched, soya-infused spicy Chinese food we've all grown to know and love, you may be disappointed. This is Chinese food the Singaporean way, a fusion of Oriental influences: subtle flavours, delicate spices and light-handed cooking methods.

Their modestly named `famous chicken rice' was the next item borne to the table, by cheerful waitresses in bright dresses with gasp-high slits. ("Probably another reason the restaurant is so crowded," a particularly wicked friend of mine whispered.) But once you turn your attention back to the chicken, you'll notice it is served exactly like it is in Singapore, moist rice flavoured with aromatic lemon grass and the exotic pandan leaf in one bowl, followed by a bowl of fried chicken. And interestingly, there's no playing to the gallery here. While most restaurants take the safe route and serve the more socially acceptable skinless batter-fried version of this dish, here the chicken comes with a well-marinated skin in place. It was, however, accompanied by a tasteless chicken soup.

Their Singapore Chilli Crab is okay. It's tasty enough, but fairly insubstantial. The rest of the portions are generous. We also tried their squid, which is a great example of how good ingredients and dexterous flavouring can make even the simplest dishes memorable. The squid here, for instance, is just tossed with garlic and ground pepper.

There's also an interesting vegetarian section, featuring — amongst other things — a colourful stir-fry of broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower and capsicum, studded with cubes of creamy tofu.

A meal for two should come to about Rs. 600 here. But you're definitely going to be taking home a doggie bag. The restaurant is at 1, Vivekananda Road, off Spurtank Road, Chetpet. Call 42696996 for more details.

SHONALI MUTHALALY

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail