A Welcome Additon to Singapore High Quality Dining Scene
With its location and rich ethnic heritage, Singapore is blessed with a plethora of authentic global dining experiences, from comforting street food to the finest culinary delights. Over recent years, as the wealth of the city has grown, it has also attracted some remarkable international chefs eager to expand into one of the region’s most competitive culinary hotspots.
For reasons I haven’t yet fathomed, Indian Fine Dining seems seriously underrepresented, with barely a handful of restaurants to complement the huge swathe of amazing traditional Indian eateries, focused unsurprisingly in Little India, where the thali is king. But as culinary expectations and adventurism grow, there is a current of change. New to the city, direct from Bangalore, Chef Abhijit Saha presents something that looks quite special and is very much part of the ongoing culinary evolution.
The restaurant and bar can be found at 9A Duxton Hill, which is about a 10-minute walk from Outram Park, Chinatown or Tanjong Pagar MRT stations. It sits on the upper floor of a traditional shop-house, above a Russian restaurant, in this dining-rich area of Singapore. It’s actually quite easy to miss the new Saha Signature Restaurant & Bar and yet it is considered to be one of the city’s most exciting culinary introductions of the year and a welcome addition to Singapore’s dining landscape.
Apart from offering high quality food, creative presentation and high levels of service, Chef Saha also looks to explore his home country’s diverse regional cuisine. The menu reflects this desire, with dishes drawn from all parts of this massive and disparate country complementing the classics one would naturally expect.
There are three basic dining options: the set menu, a la carte, and the tasting menus. All these come with the option of wine paired by the house sommelier from the restaurant’s extensive bar.
The set menus are two or three course and have been put together for those looking for a quick gourmet lunch. Busy office workers enjoy the tasty and wholesome food that offers a window into the creativity, skills and vision of the chef; perhaps this is how fast food should always be served?
The next window, and one that is deservedly popular, is the tasting menus. These are said to change frequently and are an excellent way to sample the vast differences in Indian cuisine and see the chef’s innovative and creative approach. Typically a range of signature dishes and traditional specialties are combined. Taken directly from the current Signature Tasting Menu we see the beautifully presented: Amuse Bouche, Cold Smoked Oysters, Three Flavours of Mini Idli, Zafrini Chicken Kebab, Prawn Milagu Roast, Cryo Thandai Sorbet, Hydrabadi Lamb Biryani, Red Wine Poached Fig Kulfi and Petit Fours to finish.
Last, and by no means least, is Chef Saha’s extensive showcase a la carte menu, which offers a mix of traditional regional Indian cuisine and a number of dishes specially created for Singapore. With a large selection of vegetarian and non-vegetarian options, the choice is remarkable.
Personal highlights from the Appetizers, Salad and Soup section include the Tasting of Mushroom and Tandoori Fig Salad. From the Kebab and Grill, the Baked Brie served with a hot sweet and sour chutney is outstanding, but the Seafood Kebab perhaps steals the show. While taken from the Signature Plated Mains, the Kakori Lamb Roulade and Sous Vide Vindaloo Pork Belly look stunning. The a la carte menu is complemented by a range of traditional and more unusual curries and Biryani, plus a range of breads, rice and desserts.
Sophistication and exquisite presentation are not words one usually associates with Indian cooking. That’s not to say it’s not delicious, complex or indeed beautiful, but in truth the majority of Indian food seen in restaurants does not aesthetically meet fine dining expectations.
Chef Abhijit Saha’s progressive, modernist approach is, nevertheless, a manifestation of artistic creativity and is offered with a style more regularly seen in French cuisine. The fact this is achieved, whilst never betraying the authenticity of taste, is quite a remarkable feat.
