Dining at Mott 32 is a sexy, luxurious affair. The experience kicks off even before you step into the space – just its name alone inspires confidence. After all, the restaurant has outposts in Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Seoul, and Vancouver, and is renowned for its progressive Chinese cuisine.
The restaurant is opulently decorated by starchitect Joyce Wang, who is known for her award-winning interiors. Flashes of green and botanical motifs pay homage to Singapore's rep as a city in a garden. Peacock chairs, apothecary drawers, and overhanging Chinese lanterns nod to the restaurant’s oriental roots, while industrial finishings and mod furniture like plush mint sofas give the dimly lit dining room a contemporary allure.
Dishes from the kitchen capture the same dramatic flair. The usual Chinese staples are executed with premium ingredients, Mott 32's modus operandi. Signatures include parcels of plump siew mai ($9 for two) stuffed with Iberico pork and soft-boiled quail egg, and a Singapore-exclusive sugar-coated Peking duck bun ($10 for three). But the bird shines best in Mott 32’s iconic applewood roasted duck ($108). Preparing it is a laborious process: it's cured and marinated for over 48 hours before it's placed in the oven for an hour to earn its glistening brown skin. There are multiple ways to savour the dish: first, skin from the collar is carved and served to enjoy its bold, fatty texture; then wrap the rest in thin pancakes with lashings of housemade hoisin sauce.
Rather than the requisite tea (from $6) to sip between bites, opt for a Mott 32 cocktail ($24) instead – specially concocted to reflect Asian flavours. Sip on the Japanese-influenced Hanami, with bourbon, gin, umeshu, yuzu, shiso, ginger beer, and chrysanthemum; or sample the Harbour Dawn, made with butter-washed vanilla rum, coconut, pandan, almond, verjus, and champagne as a reference to our tropical city.
