Candlenut kitchen

Baba king seems to have gone downhill when it comes to serving quality Peranakan cuisine. I'm really glad several new players (or rather old players reinvented) have resurfaced in the market.

One such example is candlenut kitchen, my current squeeze. Pictured here is a delectable spread of yeye chicken curry, chap chye, pork cheek with apple strips, ngoh hiang and a most lip smacking rendition of beef rendang.

I spied buah keluak ice cream in the dessert menu but was too stuffed by then. The sio bak ordered by neighbouring tables looked tempting too.

Can't wait to go back.

Nyonya Memories @ Kovan Mall

Stinky but sedap

Kovan Heartland Mall holds little appeal for me. Most of the restaurants comprise of run of the mill franchises (e.g. Thai Express, KFC, Old Chang Kee, Sakae Sushi, Pizza Hut) and there isn't really much to shop and browse.

That is, until I stumbled upon Nyonya Memories restaurant yesterday.

Nyonya Memories (managed by the same folks who run Ivins) is located at the second floor of Kovan Mall. Its shopfront is unassuming, with a small dessert counter fronting the main entrance. Having had a late lunch, Hubby and I weren't feeling exactly hungry but were drawn by the cheap prices, interesting food selection and packed tables.

At SGD7.90, diners get to choose rice with a selection of ayam buah keluak, prawns, fish curry or babi pongteh. Top up an additional SGD3.90 and you will further enjoy a barley drink, itek kim soup and pulot hitam for dessert. Hubby opted for a buah keluak rice set while I ordered the babi pongteh set with top up. Being the greedy gremblin that I am, I also ordered an ala carte serving of chap chye (SGD5).

The ambience is distinctly Peranakan, with Peranakan embellishments, like kum cheng pots and wooden carvings scattered throughout the restaurant's premises. Familiar Peranakan tunes like "Rasa Sayang" also lend further authenticity to the experience. Unfortunately, tables are quite closely spaced together and the floor is grimy. Ventilation is also rather atrocious (even after washing my hair immediately after coming home, I still reeked of rempah).

Hubby's ayam buah keluak rice was first to arrive. It looked like a snapshot from a food magazine, with a dollop of buah keluak paste perched artistically atop a fiery bed of rempah drenched chicken. Every restaurant's version of buah keluak varies. In this case, the assam flavor was more intense. We also found the buah keluak seeds stuffed with a mixture of ground meat and buay keluak flesh. Won't say this is the best buah keluak we have eaten (we still prefer Baba King's sweeter and thicker version) but this was quality stuff nonetheless.

Prettiest dish of the lot

My main course of babi pongteh rice looked less appealing but tasted exceptional. You can seldom go wrong with braised pork belly, especially when it is thoroughly soaked in a lip smacking tau cheo (bean paste) gravy with smashed green chilis and Chinese mushrooms thrown in for good measure. This dish reminds me so much of the version my late Grandma (also a true blue Nyonya) used to cook and warrants a return visit in itself.

Check out the layers of steaky pork

The only lack lustre item that evening was our order of chap chye, which was underwhelming and a tad too salty for my liking. I should have ordered the sambal ladies finger, which is known to be one of the restaurant's signature dishes.

Too salty

Hubby and I are not really big fans of Itek Tim so we skipped the duck, ate the preserved vegetables and drank the soup. The portion for one was super generous and more than sufficient to feed us both. We thoroughly enjoyed the richness of the broth, which was flavored with just the right amount of salt. I also enjoyed slowly savoring the tender strands of preserved cabbage - which taste exceptionally good when eaten with sliced chili padis.

Hearty broth- perfect for rainy days

By the time we were presented with the final course of pulot hitam with yam, I felt like my stomach was going to burst. Thankfully I persevered because after taking the first (small) mouthful, I couldn't stop until I had finished the whole bowl. And it was a pretty big portion too!

This is definitely the best pulot hitam I have ever eaten. I felt immediately drawn into a cocoon of unadulterated bliss. Time seemed to stop as the savoury sweetness of this unassuming (and ridiculously cheap) dessert worked its magic from my mouth to my tummy. My mouth is still salivating as I write.

I would make a return visit just for this

Our total bill came up to a mere SGD28 for 2 pax (they don't charge service charge!) I'm surprised this establishment hasn't yet hit the food radar of foodies. In any case, safe for the smelly hair, I'm pretty darn excited about making a return trip to this restaurant very soon just to make sure that I wasn't hallucinating. Will probably make use of this opportunity to try out other new dishes too.

Candlenut Kitchen

I hate Mondays. They represent the worst sort of weekday where the (week)end is NOT in sight. Not surprisingly, they also bring out the worst side of me- crabby, grouchy and a pain in the ass.

On a lighter (and more palatable) note, thank goodness there are Monday lunches to distract thunder clouds like me from wallowing in weekday self pity. Such was the case last Monday where I had the good fortune of dining at Candlenut Kitchen with a fellow colleague- who also happens to be quite a foodie.

At the stroke of 12 (noon), like giggly schoolgirls, we hopped onto a cab and asked the driver to take us to Neil Road, where the restaurant was. Unfortunately, I had stupidly forgotten to take down the restaurant's exact unit number before leaving office. Coupled with the fact that Neil Road is a very long road, we ended up zipping out and then back in to the CBD before finally locating the restaurant. Determined not to let the SGD10 taxi fare get to me, I quickly focused my attention on the sunny smile of our inexperienced young waiter.

Frankly, the menu doesn't really contain many items. The only vegetable dish served in the ala carte menu is chap chye. Some of the items also seem like quick fixes using the same sauce base (think buah keluak prawn, buah keluak chicken and buah keluak pork). My wild guess is that the owner/chef probably wants to smoothen out any teething kinks before further expanding his repertoire.

We decided to pass on the (very affordable) SGD10 lunch set and order ala carte instead as some of the highly recommended items were not part of the lunch set.

Here is what we ordered:

Yeye's Chicken Curry. Purportedly a recipe passed down for generations, this is curry like no other. The gravy was thick, rich and peppery. The chicken pieces were tender but did not seem to have fully absorbed the richness of the gravy. Nonetheless, this was our favorite dish. My colleague liked it so much that she decided to make a return visit on Friday.

Chap Chye. The vegetables were fresh and studded with generous portions of black fungus, chinese mushroom and prawn. As is the case with the chicken, I felt that the vegetables were not simmered in the stock long enough. My colleague also felt it was a tad too salty for her liking.

Braised Pork Belly. The recipe for this dish is supposedly passed down from the owner's mom. The meat was cut into wafer thin slices which yielded a surprisingly crunchy texture. We also enjoyed the accompanying sweet chili sauce.

Trio of desserts- Kudos to the chef for creating a unique "fusion" dessert that pairs familar Peranakan favorites like chendol and sago gula melaka together with pannacotta and vanilla ice cream. Eaten individually or as a combined mess, the resulting flavors were extremely well balanced and refined. This was definitely an eye opener for me.

You can't really compare Candlenut Kitchen with nearby Peranakan heavyweight Blue Ginger which caters to the more upmarket office crowd. Candlenut Kitchen is very much run like a family business, with spartan decor, a no frills menu and spotty service. Nonetheless, the restaurant possesses an endearing quality that tugs on my heartstrings and leaves me craving for more.

This is one great young chef to watch out for.

Candlenut Kitchen
25 Neil Road
Tel: 6226 2506

Other reviews on Candlenut Kitchen:
Business Times
Chubby Hubby