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Dempsey has never been short on pretty restaurants, and Casa Mori is no exception. Housed in a restored barrack, this new spot feels like a sun-dappled courtyard somewhere in Spain, with high ceilings, terracotta hues and earthy tones. Sit beneath the 'trees' (read: columns fashioned to look like towering tree trunks), as you take in the gorgeous design of the space, courtesy of local studio Produce.
The concept brings together two familiar names. Chef Willin Low of the former Wild Rocket, who pioneered 'Mod-Sin' cuisine, teams up with Kulto's José Alonso for a menu blending Singaporean and Asian flavours with Spanish influences.
The best example of the collaboration is the kalipoquetas ($16 for four pieces). Part curry puff (also colloquially referred to as 'kalipok') and part Spanish croqueta, this playful mash-up is filled with chicken and potato curry, with a dab of curry aioli sauce beneath. Familiar, comforting and an easy crowd-pleaser. Garlic huajiao prawns ($32) are another table favourite. The huadiao wine is subtle, and the addition of Sichuan pepper to the oily confit garlic base feels like a very natural Chinese-Spanish crossover. We'd happily mop up all that sauce with the accompanying bread.
In theory, the Iberico secreto pork satay with an Indonesian sate glaze ($24 for three pieces) should work, if not for the aggressively sweet and salty glaze that completely overshadows the quality of the Iberico. They're also served piping hot, which makes wrestling the meat off the skewers quite the challenge.
We move on to mains. Squid ink fried rice ($38) served in a claypot sounds promising, but the dish has little of that squid ink flavour or smoky wok hei its name suggests, let alone the crispy rice bits that are usually worth fighting over. Apart from crunchy tobiko, baby squid tempura and an onsen egg adding texture – and Japanese influence – it mostly tastes like an ordinary fried rice.
The black cod ($38) is another head scratcher. We're guessing Teochew and Japanese influences with the pickled olive leaves and takana, together with tomatoes and edamame, but those components don't quite gel together meaningfully, leaving the buttery, tender fish to do most of the heavy lifting.
You can't call it 'Mod-Sin' without a valiant effort to recreate our national dish, chicken rice. Here, spring chicken ($36) is seared in a Josper oven and served with scallion relish over a bed of cauliflower purée, intended to stand in for rice. It doesn't quite land – the meat sits on the drier side, the chicken feels slightly underseasoned, and the dish lacks the punchy chilli and ginger elements that make chicken rice the legend it is.
Time Out's rating: 3/5
Dining at Dempsey has always been as much about the experience as the food, and Casa Mori delivers plenty of the former while fine-tuning the latter. The kitchen might still be finding its footing, but there are enough reasons to return in the future: the setting and ambience encourage long, leisurely meals; the $35 weekday lunch set looks like solid value; and the weekend brunch seems like a fail-proof choice for big family gatherings. We also heard glowing reviews about the Casa Wagyu Burger ($34), oyster omelette pasta ($28) and Hokkien mee fideua ($58) – which escaped our table this time, but won't next time.
Casa Mori is located at 11 Dempsey Road, #01-17, Singapore 249673. Opening hours are Tueday to Friday, 11.30am to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 10.30pm, Saturday, 11am to 10.30pm, and Sunday, 11am to 10pm.
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