Taco Time at Canchita 

September is taco time at Peruvian restaurant Canchita, in celebration of Mexico’s Independence Day on Sept 16. 

Canchita’s Mexican chef Tamara Chavez and her Peruvian chef-husband Daniel Chavez have brought together four big-name chefs to each create a taco that will be served at the restaurant. Each taco is priced at $14. 

Called El Taco Secreto, the taco month kicks off from Monday, with one chef’s taco showcased every week. 

It starts with chef Mano Thevar from two-Michelin-starred contemporary Indian restaurant Thevar, whose spicy taco with roasted lamb leg, crisp lentils and raita will be on the menu from Sept 4 to 10. 

Next up are the creations of chef Kenjiro Hashida from Japanese restaurant Hashida (Sept 11 to 17), chef Han Liguang from one-Michelin-starred Singaporean Restaurant Labyrinth (Sept 18 to 24) and chef Dave Pynt from one-Michelin-starred modern barbecue restaurant Burnt Ends (Sept 25 to 30).

The most interesting take on the taco is Hashida’s wagyu tenderloin taco, where the soft tortilla is made with buckwheat. It is dressed with a savoury chocolate and red miso sauce – a nod to the Mexican mole sauce – and coriander. 

Pynt’s beef birria taco is stuffed with tender stewed beef and cheese with Burnt Ends’ signature hot sauce.

Another wonderfully messy and greasy affair is Han’s localised version of a taco, where plaster prata is topped with an egg and cheddar cheese, lamb neck curry and extra curry to drizzle over. 

Adding to the taco fiesta, Canchita’s chefs will roll out a special taco to complement each taco of the week. These include a Camarones Rendang taco with lentils puree, soft shell prawns and rendang sauce during chef Thevar’s week and an SG Power Taco for chef Han’s edition, with soft shell crab and crispy rice noodles on a tortilla. 

I know El Taco Secreto is meant to be for a month, but these tacos need to be on the menu permanently. 

Where: Canchita Peruvian Cuisine, 9A/B Dempsey Road
MRT: Napier
When: Monday to Sept 30, 11.30am to 3pm (Thursdays to Sundays), 5.30 to 10.30pm daily
Tel: 8028-1994
Info: canchita.sg

Elevated Burmese cuisine at Burma Social 

Burmese cuisine goes upmarket at the new Burma Social restaurant in Tras Street. 

While Myanmar food is not the most common in Singapore, the spicy and sour flavours are not too foreign to the local palate. 

After all, the extensive menu – for both food and drinks – takes inspiration from The Six Kingdoms, namely Myanmar and its surrounding countries of China, Thailand, India, Bangladesh and Laos.

Some standout dishes include Laphet Nay Wai Thoke ($18), a vegan-friendly salad of fermented tea leaves with green tomatoes, cabbage, mixed Burmese nuts and Brussels sprouts; and Crispy Tohu Jaw ($20), cubes of tofu made from ground Indian chickpeas tossed in a Burmese black jaggery sauce. 

I enjoy the signature Ohn-no Kyaukswe ($32), a Burmese rice noodle dish with a rich coconutty vegetable soup served with barramundi fish cakes. It reminds me of the popular khao soi dish from northern Thailand. 

There are more familiar options such as Papaya and Mango Thoke ($22), a Burmese papaya and mango salad with poached prawns, which brings to mind the Thai-style version; and Sichuan-style mala chicken ($24). 

It is high time the spotlight shines on elevated Burmese fare and this is a good way to start. 

Where: Burma Social, 34 Tras Street
MRT: Tanjong Pagar/Maxwell
Open: 11.30am to 2.30pm (weekdays), 6pm to midnight (Mondays to Saturdays), closed on Sundays
Info: burmasocial.com

SuperNature’s Glow Up

Established in 2001 as a store in Orchard Road, SuperNature has always been known as a one-stop shop for organic and natural products.

For more than 10 years, it was located at Forum The Shopping Mall. On Aug 2, it moved to a new 6,500 sq ft space in Dempsey, which also houses its Glow cafe.

The space is 20 per cent bigger than before and boasts more than 4,000 products, of which 70 per cent are organic. 

These range from snacks and protein powders to beauty and cleaning products. 

There is also an in-house certified naturopath and nutritionist available three days a week who can give advice and recommendations. 

Before shopping at SuperNature, I have lunch at Glow, where I get my dose of vegetables and healthy dishes for the day. 

I start with a comforting bowl of roasted Japanese pumpkin soup ($14) and Mezze Platter ($15) with crudites, crackers and a choice of three dips – chickpea hummus, muhammara (roasted capsicum, walnuts and pomegranate molasses) and baba ghanoush, made with roasted eggplant. 

I get my fresh veggies intake with the tuna salad ($9) with chermoula dressing; rainbow slaw ($9) with honey mustard dressing; and broccoli salad ($9) tossed with green grapes and caramelised onions. 

To balance out the healthy eating, I go for the crispy porchetta ($20) with sauteed pears, fennel and onion. 

For dessert, the chocolate pumpkin cake and orange almond cake ($7 each) are guilt-free ways to complete lunch. The gluten-free cakes incorporate organic pumpkin and oranges respectively, and use free-range eggs and unrefined brown sugar.

Most of the ingredients used in the meals at Glow are sold at SuperNature. No time to cook? Just head to Glow and eat well. 

Where: SuperNature, 26 Dempsey Road
MRT: Napier
Open: 8am to 8pm daily; Glow opens till 6pm
Tel: 6854-7399
Info: supernature.com.sg