Food Picks: Fi Woodfire Thai relocates to Shaw Centre with new items and improved signature dishes

SINGAPORE – When Fi Woodfire Thai opened in January 2024 at Robertson Walk, it was part of a new crop of modern Thai restaurants offering fresh, bold takes on the cuisine. 

Since July 8, it has continued to do so at its new, more convenient town location at Shaw Centre. 

The space seats 60 people – up from 40 before – with an open kitchen featuring its double-insulated wood-fire oven that reaches temperatures of up to 450 deg C. 

At the previous location, I was hunting for a spicier kick to the food and I like that several dishes here offer a choice of three levels of heat and a non-spicy option. 

The heat comes through most prominently with the grilled green mango salad ($12), a tongue-tingling medley of charred green mangoes, cherry tomatoes, long beans, roasted peanuts and dried shrimp.

Another new dish is the Son-in-Law Eggs ($10 for three), hard-boiled eggs with crisp fried edges that retain a gooey yolk. The name comes from a Thai legend, in which a protective mother is said to have fried two hard-boiled eggs as a warning to her daughter’s husband. Eating these eggs, however, feels more of a treat than punishment. 

The signature dishes remain and are better than before. 

They include the roasted French Poulet ($32, half a chicken), basil minced pork on charred eggplant ($18) and my favourite Signature “Moo Ping” Rib ($48, 500g bone-in), slow-grilled over lychee wood until tender, then flame-kissed for the perfect charred ends. 

The pork ribs now come with char-grilled sticky rice cake glazed in coconut sugar and a punchy nam jim jaew (Thai dried chilli dipping sauce). 

Pair the dishes with the new Pineapple Rice Stack ($24), pineapple fried rice loaded with prawns and spicy chicken floss, then topped with ikura and tobiko. 

For dessert, there is the quintessential Mango & Butterfly Pea Sticky Rice ($12) with two types of mango – Australian, prepared as a compote cooked in mango puree, and Thai; and Red Ruby ($12) with housemade “rubies”, sago, strawberries, jackfruit, chia seeds, coconut flesh and coconut gelato.

Here, I discover my new favourite matcha combination – iced matcha Thai tea ($8), the best way to beat the heat. 

Weekday lunch specials start at $12, while the $12 Happy Hour menu (5 to 7pm daily) features Thai-influenced cocktails such as the Tom Yum Mule, made with gin, ginger, chilli paste, lemongrass, kaffir leaf and ginger beer.

Where: 03-14/15 Shaw Centre, 1 Scotts Road
MRT: Orchard
Open: 11.30am to 3pm, 5 to 10pm daily
Info:

@fi.woodfire

on Instagram