Eurasian eateries are few and far between in Singapore, save for a few rare gems like Quentin’s and Doris’ Devilishly Delicious Curry. And even these might soon face extinction, with Quentin’s lease at the Eurasian Heritage Gallery ending in 2027, and Doris’ being temporarily closed at Amoy Street Food Centre. In fact, it’s quite possible to meander through life in Singapore without ever having tasted Eurasian food, especially if you aren’t surrounded by anyone from the community. Which is why the opening of Gilmore & Damian D’Silva is very much a silver lining in our culinary scene.
You might know Chef Damian D’Silva from his stint on MasterChef Singapore as a judge, and from his restaurant Rempapa, which serves a mix of Peranakan and Eurasian dishes (PS: Rempapa will also be reopening at the National Gallery as a casual dining concept). What you probably don’t know, is the inspiration behind his cooking, and his shared history with the Gallery. This new restaurant brings all that to light.
The new 68-seater Gilmore & Damian D’Silva, housed in the former Supreme Court Wing of the museum, is an unabashedly personal tribute to Chef Damian’s grandfather, Gilmore D’Silva, affectionately known as ‘Pop’. The patriarch was the first and only custodian of the Supreme Court for over two decades, having lived in the institution himself and even cooked for some of the judges on occasion. It was in this setting that the young Chef Damian, then 11 years old, learned many of his grandfather’s recipes.
Who would have imagined that years later, on the Gallery’s 10th anniversary, Chef Damian would once again get to call this storied building home? Antique silverware from the D’Silvas line the shelves, while old black-and-white photographs of the family decorate the walls. The interiors are stately, glamorous, yet welcoming at the same time. You might even spot Chef Damian cruising through the space once in a while, his demeanour settled, calm, and seemingly at home.
The menu brings these feelings to the fore. Expect communal sharing dishes, with the majority being heirloom Eurasian recipes, while the rest are Chinese dishes inspired by Chef Damian’s memories of his granddad’s home-cooked food.
Not to be missed is the Christmas Debal ($48), which is a festive version of the traditional Eurasian debal (or devil’s) curry. The bright-red, bubbling stew is made from a flavour-packed rempah of fried chillies, old ginger and shallots, before ‘leftover’ Christmas ingredients like cocktail sausages and roast pork are thrown into the mix. Achar on the side adds a punch of acidity, while crunchy baguettes serve as the perfect receptacle for sopping up all that gravy, which we wish there was more of.
‘Cowdang’ ($22) is another interesting one. It sounds and maybe even looks like, well, the thing which shall not be named. But beyond the unfortunate misnomer, the dish is actually a rare, almost 200-year-old delicacy of seafood cooked in coconut milk and spices. To the untrained tongue, it might bear the slightest similarity to the South Indian rasam in terms of taste. But otherwise, the chunky paste and succulent ang kar prawns create a dish that’s at once familiar yet completely foreign, and it just so happens that this might be the only place in Singapore where you get to try it.
Of course, it’ll be remiss not to mention the other distinctly Eurasian dishes on the menu, like Sey Bah (a Kristang-style kway chap with braised pork belly and offal, $36), Baca Assam (braised beef cheek, $32) and Bostador ($42), where grilled king tiger prawns are topped with a luscious sambal hijau paste. Ambiler kachang ($18) was another dish that the young Chef Damian would frequently see on his family’s dinner table, consisting of stir-fried long beans with salted fish.
What’s special about Gilmore & Damian D’Silva is that it doesn’t just offer textbook examples of Eurasian staples, but also home-cooked dishes perfected by ‘Pop’ – some of which are Chinese. The Pesce Assa ($26) looks like your typical Nyonya sambal fish grilled in banana leaves, but this version is heavily topped with chillies and even finely sliced calamansi, which add even more texture and spice. Even the caul fat-wrapped Teochew ngoh hiang, which looks hefty and generously stuffed, is surprisingly light on the oil and delicious with a dab of fresh, piquant chilli and sweet sauce.
No Eurasian feast is complete without the celebratory sugee cake ($18), and the restaurant offers a version that’s ever so slightly jazzed up, using chantilly instead of the usual marzipan buttercream, which can be too cloying for some. Gilmore & Damian D’Silva also gives the crowd what they want, and by this, we mean that Rempapa’s kuehs can also be found here. The Singapore Heritage Kuehs come in sets of six ($12) or 12 ($24), and though Putugal is glaringly missing from the selection, other highlights like kueh kosui and the fragrant, shallot oil-fried ang ku kueh make up for it.
With Gilmore & Damian D’Silva, Chef Damian isn’t just reclaiming his family’s history and recipes. He’s attempting a much larger undertaking: to properly put Eurasian food – long buried in secret family recipe books and safeguarded within the community – on the table. Yes, on, not back on. But whether Singapore is open to it, we’ll find out soon enough.
Gilmore & Damian D’Silva is open daily from 11.30am to 10pm at 1 St Andrew's Rd, National Gallery Singapore, #01-02/03, Singapore 178957. Make a reservation here.
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