Had been hearing about the opening of the new Curly’s at Harding Road with the Dempsey neighbourhood – Curly’s is a concept by the Ebb & Flow Group which also runs other F&B establishments such as that of Casa Vostra, Chin Mee Chin and The Dragon Chamber; just to name a few. Curly’s is situated within the same building as where atout is located; whilst atout occupies the upper floors of the building at 40C Harding Road, Curly’s occupies the ground floor which is accessible via a flight of stairs down from the open air car park outside the building. Being a grocer-cum-dining concept, Curly’s features a restaurant and a grocer that retails organic products within the same premises; patrons would go through the entrance that leads to the organic grocer, while the restaurant occupies the left side of the entire space. The interior of the restaurant is decked in a contemporary design featuring shades of terracotta, wood and light brown for a very cohesive look with very earthy tones that presents quite an upscale dining environment. Most dining tables are configured to best seat patrons visiting the establishment in groups of four (4) to six (6) pax, while there are also a couple of seats around the espresso bar counter that would work well for individual diners looking to enjoy a beverage and a light bite. Curly’s serves up three (3) different menus throughout the day — one for Breakfast service, one for Lunch service and one for Dinner service, while the establishment also does serve up a line-up of bakes and cakes that are being displayed prominently in the display chiller and display case at the entrance of the restaurant.

One of the more unique dishes that is found in Curly’s’ lunch menu would be the Cauliflower Rice “Nasi Goreng” that is being listed in the Mains section of the menu. Curly’s describes the Cauliflower Rice “Nasi Goreng” as a dish that features elements such as cauliflower rice, carrots, turmeric, shiitake, oyster mushrooms, kaffir lime leaves and fried egg. A “Nasi Goreng” dish that does not come with rice, the “Nasi” here is essentially the cauliflower rice — this would be shredded pieces of cauliflower florets that attempts to simulate the texture of the rice grains. With the exception of the fried egg, everything here is tossed with turmeric which explains the yellow hue that the dish comes in. Considering be lack of rice and how it comes with various elements such as the cauliflower rice and carrots, there is an inherent element of crunch coming from the vegetables featured in the dish. The flavours of turmeric really pulled through to give the dish that “Nasi Goreng” vibe, though there wasn’t any wok-hei / smokiness that came through — not that we were expecting any to start with considering the type of establishment Curly’s is. The infusion of kaffir lime leaves helps to add another dimension of flavours with its zingy aroma that runs at the back of the tongue, while the oyster mushrooms and shiitake included provided an earthy note with a good bouncy bite for some variance of textures in the dish.

Giving yet another item on the Mains section of the menu a go, we also went for the Rockling Fish & Chips — the meh described this dish to come with elements such as battered Australian Rockling fish, tallow fries and tartar sauce. Coming as a rather standard Fish & Chips dish in terms of how the plating is being presented, the Rockling Fish & Chips does feature three (3) pieces of fried fish alongside with skin-on fries on the side. We did like how the battered Australian Rockling fish was executed with its crispy, golden-brown batter and its moist, flaky and juicy fish within — that being said, it does seem that the fish had been marinated with salt as part of the preparation process that made the fish feel especially salty; even overly so as it gets a little heavy when one gets to the middle of the fish for a single piece. Meanwhile, we did enjoy the chunky size of the tallow fries which comes lightly crisp on the outside, whilst being soft and fluffy within — the amount of fries also kept it from being overwhelming, and we did note that the fries to come with a relatively clean finish that doesn’t suggest that it comes seasoned with salt, though still sufficiently flavourful. The tartar sauce does come creamy with a distinct tanginess from the capers and a slight zing from the dill added to it; does help to manage the level of saltish-ness of the fish to a certain degree somewhat.

Offering a variety of vegetable dishes on their menu, one of the items that are listed in the Vegetables section of the menu would be the Pumpkin. The menu describes the Pumpkin at Curly’s to come with elements such as that of roasted pumpkin, brown butter, sage and toasted hazelnuts. The elements within the Pumpkin does somewhat of what is being typically served up with Pumpkin Ravioli dishes served up at establishments that do handmade pastas from some pasta-centric dining establishments considering the common elements used here — what has been skipped out on in the description of the dish but also comes included on the plate would be the blob of yogurt that comes on the base. The pumpkin here is cooked to a slightly soft texture; itself still carrying the inherent sweetness that the vegetable is known for — the brown butter does add a light hint of aroma that gels well with the nuttiness and crunch from the hazelnuts; all that with the slight herb-iness from the sage that also provides an element of crispness at the same times. The yogurt on the base adds a creamy tang that feels like an element to neutralise everything that is going on with the dish as a palate cleanser to keep things from going overly heavy especially with the inherent sweetness of the pumpkin itself.

We also went with the Blueberry Mascarpone — one of the Cinnamon Bun offerings that is being listed on the menu that is prominently displayed in the bakery counter near the entrance. The description card placed in front of the item in the display case mentions the Blueberry Mascarpone Cinnamon Bun to come with elements such as stoneground baker’s flour, blueberries, Italian mascarpone, sugar, French butter and French cream. Considering how the Blueberry Mascarpone Cinnamon Bun comes drenched in macerated blueberries, blueberry jam and Italian mascarpone, it is undeniable that the Blueberry Mascarpone Cinnamon Bun does come with a pretty sinful yet luxurious aesthetic to say the least. Digging into the Blueberry Mascarpone Cinnamon Bun, we found that the bun itself is light and fluffy — not quite as dense as other cinnamon buns in which we have had at other locations which makes this quite easy to eat despite the heaviness of the elements that tops it. The blueberries, blueberry jam and Italian mascarpone runs most of the show here with the sweet yet zippy notes of blueberries and blueberry jam meeting the slightly creamy tang of Italian mascarpone here. These does somewhat overpower the mix of cinnamon and butter that is spread within the rolls of the bun at times, with the slightly sweet yet spiced notes of cinnamon being more evident as one reaches the core of the bun in the middle.

To pair with the food that we had ordered at Curly’s we also opted for the Flat White (Hot). It does seem that Curly’s strongest front may not be in the espresso-based specialty coffee beverages — we did find that the Flat White was served in a temperature that is slightly hotter than what we had expected to be, while the cuppa does feel a little over-extracted despite the good balance of milk with the micro-foam layer being well-executed for the latte art to be executed on the cuppa. Overall, it does seem that Curly’s is an attempt by the Ebb & Flow Group that has taken inspiration from the likes of other establishments within the Dempsey neighbourhood that also operates as a grocer-cum-dining concept — think establishments like Huber’s Bistro / Huber’s Butchery and Culina at COMO Dempsey — Curly’s would be such a concept but with a focus on organic fare instead. Based on our dining experience at Curly’s, the food served up here can be a little bit of a hit and miss; the Rockling Fish & Chips and Flat White would be the weak spots of Curly’s based on what we had ordered which we thought could be better improved. We had made our visit to Curly’s during lunch which is being served up from 12pm to 3:30pm daily — prices of the items being listed in the Mains and Noodles & Pasta sections of the lunch menu range from $28 to $42; the lowest-priced items being the Curry Chicken Noodles in the Noodles & Pasta section and the Cauliflower Rice “Nasi Goreng” in the Mains section, while the priciest items would be the Oxtail
Borscht and Snapper Curry that are both listed in the Mains section. A concept befitting to the Dempsey neighbourhood, Curly’s does seem like a spot that would get popular with tai-tais looking for an organic grocer to shop at with a dining concept under one roof; seats does seem to fill up fast when we made our visit on a weekday lunch service — do make a reservation with them before making the way down to check them out!