French toast in San Francisco, fried chicken in Singapore – the destination dining awaiting a foodie once travel resumes
- Chinese-Canadian Jenni Lien’s go-to for brunch in Singapore is Middle Eastern restaurant Artichoke, for its inventive dishes and ‘the best garlic sauce’
- The blogger also looks to Hong Kong for good food, praising Aaharn for its punchy flavours and New Punjab Club for the best South Asian food she’s ever had
Chinese-Canadian Jenni Lien is a Christian blogger (jenniexplores.com) who also writes frequently about food.
I really, really enjoy food and am happy whether eating tried-and-true favourites or discovering new flavours. That’s why, when this is over, I look forward to visiting two of my favourite cities – Singapore and San Francisco – and eating my way through them.
After university, I moved to Singapore for four years, and I think I ate at their amazing hawker centres almost every day. I can’t get enough of char kway teow, prawn mee or satay.
For other foods, my top pick for brunch is Artichoke (161 Middle Road, Singapore 188978, tel: +65 6336 6949). The modern Middle Eastern restaurant is so inventive and has the best garlic sauce. My favourite was the lemon-glazed fried chicken, which was juicy and paired with paprika fries, Lebanese pickles, tahini-laced coleslaw, harissa and the aforementioned garlic sauce. I’m also looking forward to seeing chef Bjorn Shen’s new dishes.
Last year, I visited Candlenut (Block 17A Dempsey Road, Singapore 249676, tel: +65 8121 0176). I’d been wanting to go for years, even before they became the world’s first Michelin-starred Peranakan restaurant, and I made the splurge for my birthday. The 15-item “ah-ma-kase” menu allowed us to try a bit of everything.
My favourite was the wok-fried sambal belacan with blue swimmer crab and petai beans. The sweetness in the crab paired so well with the sweet heat of the Malaysian condiment and the bitter, fragrant beans. Sadly, it’s not a dish we can easily find in Hong Kong, and I dream of going back.