An Asian-Western-Peranakan restaurant strung out in the condominium-world of Singapore’s west doesn’t sound too promising, but owner-chef Genevieve ‘Gen’ Seow’s homely dishes somehow make it tick. Seow’s studied at home-cooking schools around the region, including a Peranakan home in Malacca, and it shows in her hot, fast, no-nonsense cooking.
The chap chye ($5.50) is a well-braised, salubrious broth of tender cabbage and mushrooms, with carrots adding sweetness to a subtly flavoured stock. The fish sambal ($8.50) is even more of a stand-out, with home-made sweet chilli sauce drizzled on pieces of fried fish, the flesh flaky yet supple (the turmeric does not overpower). In the same vein, the fish and chips ($7.50) comes as thin but delicate whole pieces in a light, golden crust, with a side order of pleasantly salted crinkle-cut fries.
The decor speaks the same straight language. The self-service kitchen-sized diner, free of place settings and paper napkins, is filled with Chinese-style stools, Western-style chairs and a retro chest that holds the cutlery trays. You could be eating in your aunt’s no-frills kitchen; and some areas should be out of bounds. The prawn aglio olio ($8.50) is served a little too al dente, and you could get a more characterful mee siam ($5.50) elsewhere. Overall, though, it’s hard to argue with good-value, unpretentious home cooking like this. Rachel Tan and Celine Asril