Collision of cuisines: Casa Mori, Noor Singapore and Humo blend flavours for fresh take on food

SINGAPORE – Call it leveraging the strengths of two cuisines. Call it the way multicultural Singapore diners like to eat. Call it finding common ground or cultural connection.

Call it anything except fusion.

Newly opened Casa Mori offers a blend of South-east Asian and Spanish flavours. Noor Singapore, which opens on July 13, adds Japanese accents to a foundation of Mediterranean cooking. And in May, Spanish izakaya Humo doubled down on its Spanish-Japanese dialogue by introducing the concept of Sol Nami, featuring the two cuisines fighting it out on a plate.

The chefs of these restaurants say they are counting on well-travelled, sophisticated diners to understand what they are trying to do.

Chef Jose Alonso, 44, who partnered Mod-Sin pioneer Willin Low, 54, to open Casa Mori in Dempsey Road, says: “We wanted to create a dining experience that reflected Singapore’s multicultural identity. We work with high-quality European ingredients such as Spanish octopus and premium poultry, and pair them with South-east Asian flavours and influences.

“The goal is not simply to combine cuisines, but also to create dishes that feel unique, exciting and relevant to Singapore’s dining scene.”

Food from Macau – with Portuguese, Chinese, Indian, South-east Asian and African influences – is recognised by UNESCO as the first fusion cuisine. Its history goes back to the 16th century when Portugal colonised it.

But blending cuisines got a bad reputation in the 1990s and 2000s, when chefs started combining discordant ingredients and cuisines for shock value. As The New York Times reported in 2007, it is “easy to create a confused jumble or to reduce everything to the least sophisticated common denominator”.

And yet, in March 2026, the US news outlet declared, in a headline, “At restaurants, fusion is no longer a dirty word”, for a piece on first-generation American chefs embracing the word to describe the kind of food they create when growing up in between cultures.

Noor’s Singaporean chef Titus Thamil, 30, says: “Singapore already has a great dining scene, no shortage of good food. But there are plenty of Japanese restaurants and a growing number of Mediterranean places, and not many bringing both together in a relaxed and unhurried way.

“I think Singapore diners are curious and adventurous enough to enjoy what we’re doing.”

Here are three restaurants to check out.

Casa Mori: Mod-Sin X Spanish

Where: 01-17, 11 Dempsey Road
Open: 11.30am to 2.30pm, 5.30pm to 10.30pm (weekdays); 11am to 10.30pm (Saturdays); 11am to 10pm (Sundays)
Info: Call 8993-6049 or go to www.casamori.sg

Just a glance through the menu at Casa Mori will tell diners they are not in a Spanish restaurant. Not when the offerings include Kalipoquetas ($16), Mochi Churros ($16) and Hokkien Mee Fideua ($58).

The two chefs behind the restaurant, which opened in May, say they are drawing on their culinary journeys, roots, and how and what they eat now.

Asked how he avoids fusion confusion among diners, Willin Low, 54, says: “I hate fusion because most times, it’s confusion. My goal is for someone to eat something on the menu and say, ‘Ah, that’s such a good idea, why didn’t I think of it?’

“I don’t want food that’s fusion for the sake of fusion. It has to be delicious and comforting. Something we can eat again and again.”

Spanish chef Jose Alonso, 44, who runs Spanish restaurants Kulto and Barrio, adds: “Our intention was never to create Spanish food with an Asian twist. Instead, we wanted to celebrate the flavours that Singapore diners know and love, while bringing in different ingredients, techniques and perspectives.

“Ultimately, the goal is to offer a dining experience that is unique to Singapore; one that reflects the city’s multicultural identity, rather than being defined by any single culinary tradition.”

Low coined the term Mod-Sin about 20 years ago to describe his food, which is rooted in familiar flavours but done in ways to intrigue modern Singaporean diners.

At Casa Mori, he shows how the genre has unlimited possibilities. For the chef, who famously loves curry puffs, being able to combine curry puffs with a one-bite croqueta is a dream come true. “And having a Josper oven to create smoky char? Even better,” he adds.

Other creations include Garlic Huajiao Prawns ($32), his take on the classic gambas al ajillo he always orders in Spanish restaurants; and Grilled Octopus ($36), where Spanish octopus is served with cincalok (fermented krill) salsa.

He says: “I was in a Mexican restaurant in London enjoying the salsa, and I thought, ‘If only I had cincalok with me’. I came home, tried it and loved it. I always thought gambas al ajillo was perfect until one day, while eating it, I thought about how I would make it at home, and huajiao (Sichuan peppercorns) was the first thing I thought of.”

Diners at Casa Mori, which has 66 indoor and 16 outdoor seats, seem to like its cuisine-bending proposition. Low says: “Response has been encouraging. Although we’ve been open for just over a month, we have seen many regulars already.”

Noor Singapore: Mediterranean with Japanese accents

Where: 17 Mohamed Sultan Road
Open: 5pm to midnight (Tuesdays to Sundays); closed on Mondays
Info: Call 8805-8075 or go to @noor.singapore (Instagram)

At recently opened Noor Singapore, labneh is kissed by yuzu, miso finds its way to hummus, charcoal-grilled seafood is finished with smoked kombu butter, and sashimi is cured with sake.

Singaporean chef and co-owner Titus Thamil says his food is rooted in Mediterranean coastal cooking, using ingredients such as olive oil, tahini and harissa.

He adds: “Japanese ingredients and touches come in throughout the menu, but they are there to give things a lift or add something interesting, not to take over.

“It is not a 50-50 split. The heart of it is Mediterranean, and the Japanese side gives it something that makes it ours.”

The 65-seat restaurant even has a 10-seat hidden izakaya at the back, where guests can have pre- and post-dinner sake, arak and wine, with snacks like olives and Japanese pickles.

The 30-year-old, who trained in France, has more than 12 years of experience cooking in Europe and South-east Asia, and used to work at Aniba in Battery Road.

He says: “My foundation is Mediterranean. Japanese ingredients and fermentation came in gradually, and they have stayed because they work with what I’m cooking. The menu is really a reflection of what I find delicious. Food that is warm, generous, a bit punchy; dishes you want to keep eating.

“It’s not minimal cooking. I’m always tinkering with something and, honestly, I think that’s what keeps it interesting.”

Diners can expect to pay $80 to $120 a person with drinks. Many of the dishes are inspired by the chef’s love for Japanese ingredients.

He says: “At some point, I started experimenting. What if the hummus had a bit of miso? What if this filling went into a gyoza skin instead of a flatbread? What if yuzu worked better than lemon here?”

The offerings include Karaage Cauliflower ($18), which is deep-fried cauliflower drizzled with date syrup; Tahini Gyoza ($19), which are gyoza filled with chicken shawarma; and Sticky Goma ($19), black sesame financier with white chocolate cream and olive oil.

The name Noor, he says, means “light” in several languages, including Arabic, Persian and Malay.

He says: “Light captures something about the food we serve. It’s cooking that is meant to make you feel warm, comfortable and looked after – the kind of meal that leaves you glowing a little.”

Humo: Duel on a plate

Where: 21 Keong Saik Road
Open: Noon to 2.30pm, 5pm to 11pm (Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays); noon to 2.30pm, 5pm to midnight (Fridays and Saturdays); closed on Tuesdays
Info: Call 8566-5899 or go to humo.sg

When Humo opened in March 2025, it billed itself as a Spanish izakaya. In May 2026, chef-owner Jordi Jou Temple, 53, introduced Sol Nami, a concept within the restaurant, where he serves food that is a heightened version of the Spanish-Japanese dialogue.

The name comes from the Spanish word for “sun” and the Japanese word for “wave”, elements which both countries share, he says.

Some of these dishes are on the a la carte menu, but diners can also book the Sol Nami omakase. Priced at $88 a person, it is offered at lunch and dinner on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Temple, who used to be head chef at the FOC Group, says he created Sol Nami because he was haunted by this question: What happens when two completely opposite culinary worlds stop compromising and start fighting on the same plate?

He says: “It happens when the two cuisines are not simply mixed in a comfortable way, but also challenge each other. Spain often brings intensity, memory and richness. Japan brings precision, restraint, umami, acidity and elegance.

“The tension appears when a very Spanish flavour needs to be lightened by a Japanese technique, or when a Japanese technique needs the emotion and strength of a Spanish product or idea. We do not want the two cuisines to disappear into a neutral mix.

“The aim is to create contrast within a palette that does not feel odd. Diners should sense familiarity as well as complexity, often in the first few bites.”

The current omakase menu includes offerings such as Argentinian Prawn Tartare served with crispy sushi rice, Tuna Tartlet with spicy gazpacho, Japanese Udon Lobster with ajillo-style garlic sauce and Wagyu Beef Paella.

The chef says: “We do not mix Spanish and Japanese ingredients just for the sake of it. Every dish needs to have a recognisable root, an intention and a logic in the mouth. At Humo, the emotional base comes from Spain; the produce, the memory, the tapas, the way of sharing.

“The Japanese side helps us refine the dish. Techniques such as robata and pickling, and ingredients like shio koji give us depth, umami, balance and lightness.”