Rempapa

Tuesday Made a dinner date with the friends at Damian D'Silva's spanking new Rempapa. For this type of food, there's no way we would be able to do The Chef's Menu, i.e. the omakase version. It'll be wayyyy too rich. Too lemak as well. The carb intake would be through the roof. We would literally have to starve for a few days before being able to even finish a few courses.

Drinks here are pricey. Frankly, the wine and beer lists are short, sad and incoherent. We know what the bars and restaurants mark up generally are, from the cost price. Rempapa’s mark-up ranks among the highest. The wines are just what we would have to pay in Singapore for middling flavors. The beers are madness. I don’t know what they understand craft beer to be. I certainly don’t understand the S$25 for a half pint of Swanlake rice lager. Sure, it’s on tap, but it’s a half pint! (They had technical issues and didn’t have it on tap that night.) I suppose it’s a demand and supply issue for now. Ugh. 

We’d love to drink more at this restaurant, but not with this selection of wines and beer. This restaurant is really all about the food then. The restaurant was full, but the wait for the food was okay; all our dishes arrived at the table together. We went conservative and ordered seafood beehoon for two. Too bad they were out of kedondong salad. We’d have loved that. Added on Hakka fried pork, lamb leg rendang, baca assam, chicken curry, sambal brinjal with ti poh. Ordered nasi kunyit and steamed jasmine rice to mop up all the gravy. The extra little plates of sambal belachan were sooooo good. 

I loved the Hakka fried pork! It’s similar to the super lean Thai-style grilled pork neck I love. Very easy bites indeed. Great with sambal. The chicken curry was quite the star. Anyone can do a decent chicken curry. But this kitchen, did a fabulous version with no coconut milk. Apparently Chef Damian uses coconut water in it, similar to the flavors of a Malay curry. That curry powder base is brilliant. 

We got to dessert — shared a small bowl of coconut custard and a platter of eight pieces of kueh. No regrets. Although kueh isn't usually my thing, I don't mind trying a bit to see if it's any decent. It's also tough to find good kueh in Singapore. Most have the wrong consistency, are too thick or too sweet, and most use mediocre gula melaka. Rempapa's kueh kosui was as good as I remember it to be. This kitchen's gula melaka is gorgeous.