You're driving aimlessly through the burbs, finally, you pull up to the curb because you're craving…read moreSingapore street food and you see a sign up ahead. It's Singapore House. Craving about to be happily abated.
Facing a busy thoroughfare sits a deceptively large restaurant. There's a small 6 seat Bar at the door, a massive dining room, atrium patio, a secluded back room where people who are not supposed to be dining together are dining together and then there is the Butterfly Room with a 1,000 dead butterflies in boxes on the wall. Why that would be charming is beyond me, but if creepy prehistoric flying insects are your thing, you've reached Nirvana.
The Decor is Modern Owner's Surplus Stuff. Tortoise Shells, a few taxidermied Ibex heads, a painting of some ancient Dutch dude, a large tchotchke cabinet crammed with oddities. Think Black Friday goes nuts in Pier 1 Imports.
The Vibe: Who's havin' a birthday? Which Amah is taking the Little Dumpling grand daughter out for Dumplings? And then there are the locals who want to eat here on a Sunday even though it is not a Jewish holiday.
The Staff: Amateurs who are sweet and willing but know little about the alchemy going on in the kitchen. Order the Raita, and you get a Rice kinda thing.
The Bar: Some Tropi-cocktails, a bunch-o-beers and a variety of Vino.
I tried aw Singapore Sling served small instead of traditional tall like you'd get at the Raffles Hotel Long Bar. Here, it's made with just Gin instead of Sloe Gin which can cause a quick death.
My second effort was a Sunny Side Up with Vanilla Vodka, Pineapple Juice, Passion Fruit Pulp with plenty of seeds to spit at the table of Birthday celebrants at the next table. It was engaging until I started raging at the waiter for yanking it away before I finished firing Passion pellets at the partiers.
The Food: There is a full page of the Singapore Street Food you were lusting for.
Street Food Fish (Cod, my guess), was lovely. How'd they get the Banana Leaf in which it was steamed to look exactly like a fish? Pretty slick.
The Fish was creamy yet firm enough to showcase the kitchen's skill.
It was nicely spiced, and got your attention without closing your throat from excessive heat. The dish was complex and yet straight forward and took me back to nights wandering around the Newton Circus food stalls. It wasn't just delicious, it was defishous.
The Crispy Beef was a good sized bowl full with a tangle of tender fried Beef strips bathed in piquant Sweet and Sour Sauce waiting to be rolled up in cold Iceberg Lettuce leaves like Cleopatra's first date with Julius Caesar. (She arrived rolled up in a Carpet like a taquito).
The other side of the menu is mostly Indian. Well, that's close enough to Singapore isn't it? And the owner is, in fact, Indian, so why not?
The Flat Rice Noodles (a Thai Dish that somehow stowed away on the menu) came with large Prawns, cooked well enough, along with Lap Cheong (Chinese Sausage), Bean Sprouts, Baby Shrimp, (which no one ever cleans for some reason. Hey, you change your baby's diaper? Clean the shrimp!), Chilis and Cilantro. It was basically a decent Pad Thai, which I do like BTW despite the Baby Shrimp issue.
I did ask for some Raita, and out came Steamed Rice with Toasted Coconut. Rice? Raita? Oh well, close enough as they both start with a R, right? No big deal, I'm flex and the Rice was unusually fluffy which was fine for supporting the next course of Lamb Shank Jungle Curry ordered simply because I was intrigued by the name.
You'll need an engine hoist to heave the Lamb Shank around or invite the Birthday party at the next table, with hair full of Passion Fruit Seeds, to join you for a nibble.
This was a gorgeous hunk of meat on the bone with a green stew of Okra, Tomato, Herbs, Cilantro, Onions all with a Red Roo punch of heat.
Get some Roti (think Narendra Modi fails Dominique Ansel's Cronut Class). However, it was still flaky and crunchy, so I give a passing grade.
They had me at The Crispy Beef therefore I say "Singapore House is in the house...so, give it up".
