Musicians and restaurants seem to go together like Pork and Beans (Weezer), and Peaches N Cream (Snoop Dogg). In Singapore, we have R&B crooner Taufik Batisah and his Nashville-inspired eatery Chix Hot Chicken, rapper Sheikh Haikel and his burger joint FatPapas, and pop-rock stalwarts Jack and Rai and their Japanese-inspired sushi bar The Flying Squirrel – with the latter getting busy for their new creation: the Singaporean ramen.
A dynamic duo that needs no introduction in the live gig circuit, Jack and Rai have been performing covers with their trusty guitars at local pubs like Wala Wala since the early Noughties. Over the years, the pair has gone on to entertain crowds at bigger venues like weddings and NParks’ Rockestra – their original songs including The Fa La La Song even scored plenty of airplay time.
However, the pandemic has forced the guitar-wielding duo to channel their creativity in alternative ways. And that includes their quest to create their own version of ramen, one that would embody the spirit of Singapore. With zilch cooking skills and culinary expertise to aid them on their mission, they take to the streets to get some ideas from local eateries and hawkers, with their food journey chronicled in a Viddsee Original mockumentary series called The Ra(Men)
Before we get to slurp the final creation, we chat with Jack and Rai for a sample of life on stage at Wala Wala and The Substation, online with a livestream show, off stage at The Flying Squirrel, and of course, their Singaporean ramen.
RECOMMENDED: The best Japanese restaurants in Singapore and the best affordable sushi bars in Singapore
Hi guys! First things first – what gets you excited about Singapore?
The F&B scene here is really vibrant for sure, especially with the opening of a lot of small, unique restaurants – some reinventing local dishes, some taking a page off inspirations from overseas.
And the cocktail bars! Since 2012, there has been such a boom and we are proud to know a number of bartenders/mixologists who have truly made themselves a name with their originality and courage to experiment.
Sadly, we also know some places with really good food that have struggled through Covid-19, and it’s a shame they had to close up. We do hope the scene stays as vibrant, and that people here will support these ventures.
You’re no stranger to the live music scene here. Where did you get your start?
We were born as a duo officially in Wala Wala at Holland Village. In the first several years, we dare say we made Friday nights and Sunday nights our own, both as an acoustic duo and with EIC, our full band setup. Since then, we went on to play at other notable venues such as those under the Timbre group and Balaclava, and more recently, Warehouse and Lady Wu.
Any favourite gigs?
I guess Wala Wala will always have a special place in our hearts because that’s where it all began, and we’re always grateful to have been given a spot there. Unfortunately, Covid-19 has indefinitely caused live music at bar venues and events to be suspended, so we’ve had to evolve too!
Since live gigs have been called off, what has kept the music going?
Presently, we host a talk show every Sunday on our Facebook Live called Live & Late with Jack & Rai. We chat, sing songs and have special guests on it too, to promote their music or chat about current, trending topics.
You probably have heard about The Substation’s sad news. And having played at The Substation, we have to ask – what’s your fondest memory at the arts centre?
We have known the outdoor venue at the Substation since the days it housed a cafe called The Fat Frog and was called The Substation Garden back in the 90s. That was more like the indie venue back then, and the guys we looked up to before we became gigging musicians used to play there, like Han Jin, who is now based overseas.
The Substation Garden was home to gigs during the rise of the indie/metal/punk scene back then, where we have seen bands like The Oddfellows, Stomping Ground, The Padres and Concave Scream. It was a time when there was so much support for the scene, and we are really lucky to have been physically present during this period.
Now, tell us about the Jack and Rai offstage. How long have you known each other?
We’ve known each other since about the year 2000? Back then we were solo gigging musicians at bars like No5 Emerald Hill, Aubrey’s at Winsland House and BarCelona at Robertson Walk. We played different nights but knew each other on a hi-bye basis, occasionally dropping by each other's gigs, contrary to popular belief that we knew each other since school days or as kids. Being around the same age, we realised later that we had a lot of common friends. It was only in 2002, at Wala Wala, that we officially started performing as a duo.
We decided to take all our experiences from travel and what we learned from our past years about the F&B business to open a restaurant with one of our favorite cuisines: Japanese food.
Beyond music, you’ve also opened The Flying Squirrel. What inspired you to open the sushi bar?
Jack: The Flying Squirrel was the brainchild of my wife, Angelina, born out of her passion for food and the F&B business. We’ve travelled a lot together with Rai too, and so we decided to take all our experiences from travel and what we learned from our past years about the F&B business to open a restaurant with one of our favorite cuisines: Japanese food (and sake too). But instead of the traditional Japanese kind of vibe, we decided to infuse it with the hole-in-the-wall type experiences which we picked up from places like New York and Melbourne.
You’ve also released Viddsee Original The Ra(Men). Tell us about the mockumentary.
Essentially, the plot stems from Covid-19 times, and how we aren’t performing live so much anymore. So us two blokes decided to do some radical things in our other business, The Flying Squirrel. We really have so many real-life misadventures as a duo, so when Henry, the director of The Ra(Men) approached us with the idea, we felt that it was right up our alley. The mockumentary tracks us attempting to come up with our own Singaporean version of ramen, coming from two guys who can barely cook, and mainly know how to eat.
In the show, you embark on a food journey to come up with a uniquely Singapore ramen dish that would embody the spirit of Singapore. What are the key ingredients to have in a Singaporean Ramen?
First, you need a pair of guys, from different cultural backgrounds, who can bungle their way to some success. But jokes aside, you essentially need the best bits of everything to make ramen, and that’s why we had to try so many different soup/broth-based local dishes to formulate a Singaporean Ramen.
Kudos to the entire team for working hard at formulating something that we can proudly say embodies that. It’s literally a combination of techniques, spices, and Asian condiments from traditional hawker dishes, and a dash of that Singaporean spirit to make a ramen soup that sufficiently represents us.
You had a special tasting on March 13, but when will the Singaporean Ramen be available for all at The Flying Squirrel?
We have plans to put it up more as a special menu item available at limited times as it is a dish that requires a fair amount of preparation, aside from our other menu items. We’re a small outfit and a lot of resources like manpower and cooking time go into this special and unique dish. Plus, we want it to be of the highest quality when served to our guests so that they will leave, wanting to come back for more.
It’s literally a combination of techniques, spices and Asian condiments from traditional hawker dishes, and a dash of that Singaporean spirit…
Besides The Flying Squirrel, is there any other favourite ramen restaurant in Singapore?
The Flying Squirrel isn’t really a dedicated ramen restaurant, but we have our faves like Ramen Matsuri, which has special dry ramen served with a bowl of tasty chicken soup. Natsuttei Ramen is also well known for its very rich broth and has a taste reminiscent of the Kyushu region in Japan. Kanshoku Ramen is also a good spot for authentic tastes.
What dish would you say is uniquely Singaporean?
That’s a hard thing to choose, as it would spark a debate of whether Malaysia or Singapore was the origin of the food! But if chili crab were considered an iconic and uniquely Singaporean food, our vote would be for Don’s Signature Crab in Toa Payoh.
Would you write a song about your food journey?
Why not? It would be a super funny song, maybe featured on a possible first movie together – The Ramenator. Any takers?
Lastly, what’s next in store for you?
Yes, our Chief Squirrel Angelina is looking at doing some revamps of our menu at The Flying Squirrel and we’re definitely looking forward to testing those out.
On the music side of things, we’re still keeping up our livestream show on a weekly basis as live gigs are still on a low. But we’re happy to announce that we are in talks for a ticketed live concert in May, so look out for details about that! It’s the first time we’ll be performing for a live audience in over a year, and it’s in conjunction with our 19th anniversary as Jack & Rai, so we’re stoked to put the full band, EIC, back together for this one-off!
