Food Picks: Singapore-Thai roast chicken at Enjoy Eating House

SINGAPORE – Singaporean chef Enoch Teo has been busy in Bangkok, opening chicken rice restaurants there. The 35-year-old, who co-owned French restaurant Garcons, moved to Thailand in 2019 after it closed.

Now, together with the Baan Ying restaurant group, he has four Fatt Chicken Rice restaurants, all in malls such as Centralworld and Emsphere. A fifth, at Siam Paragon, is opening soon.

The roast chicken that has proven to be a hit in Bangkok can be had at Enjoy Eating House & Bar, in a collaboration with its co-owner, chef Joel Ong, 37. Until April 30, diners can order three dishes in the collaboration.

There is Best Part Of A Steamboat ($22), chef Ong’s creation. He pays tribute to the flavourful soup in the steamboat at the end of the meal, when it is enriched with all the meat, seafood and vegetables that have been dunked in it throughout the meal. That collagen-rich broth comes brimming with pork ribs, fish maw, shiitake mushrooms and two abalone. This is the sticky-lips soup of my dreams.

Fatt Roast Chicken ($24 for half a chicken) is chef Teo’s contribution. It is a merging of Thai and Cantonese marination styles. Five-spice powder comes from the Cantonese part of the equation, while lemongrass, kaffir lime, garlic and lime give it a Thai accent. He brines the chicken for four hours, roasts it and, just before serving, ladles hot oil over the bird to crisp the skin.

It arrives on the table juicy, with lightly crispy skin. Such a delight to eat, even without the fruity chilli dip and Thai taucheo sauce. What I do miss is a bowl of chicken fat-infused rice to go with it. There is, however, steamed jasmine rice ($1.80) on the menu.

The third dish is Fortune Within ($26), chef Teo’s roast pork stuffed with sticky rice. The inspiration comes from crispy roast pork, a celebration dish in his family, and lor mai gai, his comfort food.

It is a rich dish. The crackling is very crunchy and that rice is studded with lapcheong and braised shiitake mushrooms. A spicy and fresh nam jim seafood, a green sauce usually used as a dip for seafood, is perfect with the pork. The dish also comes with mustard and sweet Thai soya sauce for dipping.

All three dishes are well worth ordering. They speak to the ingenuity and resilience of two very talented Singaporean chefs who understand the local palate very well.

Where: 01-07 Novotel On Stevens, 30 Stevens Road
MRT: Stevens
Open: Noon to midnight daily; Enjoy X Fatt dishes available until April 30
Info:

enjoyeating.sg