Once I heard from Burppler Jayne Tan about Chef Damian D'Silva heading Folklore, a new restaurant on level two of Destination Singapore on Beach Road, I made a mental note to visit asap. That visit happened today.
Occupying about half of the hotel lobby, Folklore feels very open and spacious due to the extremely high ceiling. It's a comfortable space to chill out in as you wait for your food to arrive, which could take some time if the restaurant is close to full.
As there were only two of us lunching together today, I ordered four items from the menu that describes its offerings as "a unique blend of culinary heritage". I almost tore my hair out narrowing it down though because everything sounds so good. Anyway, here's what we stuffed our faces on (pictured clockwise from top left): Pork Trotter with Salted Vegetable ($16++), Chap Chye ($16++), Singgang ($20++) and Assam Babi ($22++)..
We enjoyed everything but I found the Singgang the most outstanding in this spread. A Eurasian dish of deboned wolf herring fish cooked with "rempah" spices, it made me think of a very tasty "otak" made purely of tender, moist fish flesh and nothing else.
Special mention must be made about the Pork Trotter and Salted Vegetable Soup. It is served with a saucer of fresh lime juice in which a single chilli padi floats. I love how the dip adds a fabulous cut-through zing to the sticky fats of the meat.
My suggestion on how to get the best out of dining here is to gather family or friends for a meal. Four to six pax is an ideal size because you can order a lot more dishes to try at one go.