Singapore meets New York a recipe for success
Asia’s hot restaurant-bar East 8 cleverly bridges together the dynamic cities of Singapore and New York with innovative Asian fusion cuisine and a surprising twist.
The name, and indeed this trendsetter restaurant-bar itself, is loaded with meaning, but East 8 New York Fusion Tapas + Bar does not get lost in translation, with its innovative New York-inspired, Asian fusion cuisine and cool Singapore meets New York City concept, which permeates through every aspect of this hip establishment.
Inspiration behind the name comes with “East” gleaned from its Far East, Singapore location and Asian-inspired cuisine, while “8th Street” denotes a buzzing street in New York City’s East Lower Manhattan crammed with diverse Asian eateries. The number “8” also relates to auspiciousness in Asian culture.
Owners Emil and Stephen created East 8 as an evidently nostalgic homage to their five years spent in the Big Apple. East 8’s carefully thought out design concept and striking interiors are evocative enough to make it almost feel like dining deep in New York City, as opposed to downtown Singapore. Two dining areas each emit a distinctive vibe. The interior translates into New York industrial grit and edginess, with chic loft-style dining, incorporating grey cement floors and custom-made, solid raw teak and oak wood tables paired with metalwork benches, vintage city car plates adorning bare red brick walls and sliding kitchen windows in the style of old SoHo shop fronts. The dimly lit steel awning above replicates dining underneath a Manhattan Bridge. While East 8’s outdoor section resembles eating out in High Line, a beloved public park built on a historic freight rail line above the streets of Manhattan’s West Side. A delicious backdrop to their equally exciting cuisine concept, enticing not just foodies, but a diverse, artistic-savvy crowd that flock here, especially in the evenings.
Like a symbolic bridge linking New York City and Singapore, East 8 serves smart “East meets West” Asian fusion cuisine – in tapas form. Emil and Stephen returned from New York and aptly created East 8 in cultural melting pot Singapore, one of Southeast Asia’s hottest and most vibrant food scenes, but taking the Asian dining experience to the next level, introducing an ultra-contemporary twist.
East 8’s culinary philosophy ties in with a belief that tapas-style dishes, also known as small plate dining, are meant for sharing, which encourages conviviality and good conversation, as is customary in Spanish dining (diners are not so focused on eating an entire meal set before them). Thus small plate dishes are served for the night time Classic Menu (lunchtime sees more “normal” servings, such as sandwiches), but pushing their exciting Asian Fusion concept, these tapas-style dishes are eastern-inspired, a mouthwatering dimension introducing Western traditions into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese dishes.
Tapas
Tapas are mini-sized, savoury dishes, typically served with drinks at a bar, that evolved in Spanish cuisine but have since gone global. Derived from the Spanish verb tapar, “to cover,” originally tapas were slices of bread or meats (such as ham or chorizo) used in Spanish taverns to cover drinks between sips, preventing fruit flies from hovering overhead! Nowadays, bars or small local restaurants in Spain serve a selection of up to 12 different tapas, keeping locals going before sitting down to their late-hour, continental-style dinner.
Steeped with creative flair, tapas-style dishes are heavy on flavours, but light on the belly. The Raw selection dazzles with super fresh plates and signatures covering fresh Hamachi and black caviar drizzled with tangy soy sesame dressing, and yellow fin tuna chunks with delicate lemon avocado. Meat eaters should try the scrumptious signature buffalo mozzarella cheese and prosciutto, topped with black truffle, but if you have more carnivorous tendencies, perhaps opt for the truly inspired soy yuzu beef, with tenderized slices of torched Argentinean tenderloin infused with soy yuzu.
East 8’s dishes get paired up with quality beverages for even more of a taste bud sensation. Thus soy yuzu beef is recommended with a Sasanigori Junmai Ginjyo sake, while divine signature Chilean sea bass marinated in miso and wine with buttered shimeji mushrooms goes down well with house white Piccini Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie 2011 – which also fares well with another seafood wonder, lime buttered crispy crab, subtly infused with chilli. Additionally, East 8 brings a whole new spin to cocktails, with divine New York City-inspired Asian fusion cocktails, a cosmopolitan blend of classic tipples and eastern influences, where house-concocted flavours fuse with Asian-based liquors of sake blends and more. Named after New York neighbourhoods and iconic references – Yellow Cab and Chelsea Pier, to name two – signatures such as East Village, with its sparkling jelly sake and fresh raspberry with sweet peach, and the spicy Mex-Thai Margarita and Jackson Height further compliment these sublime fusion treats.
