Food Picks: More affordable options for chef Chen Kentaro’s mapo tofu at Chen’s Kitchen

SINGAPORE – Depending on your budget, there are several ways to access the creations of Japanese chef Chen Kentaro and his celebrated culinary lineage. There is his one-Michelin-starred restaurant Shisen Hanten, freshly renovated on the 35th floor of Hilton Singapore Orchard. 

At the other end of the spectrum, you will find Chen’s, a casual offshoot where the chef’s signature mapo tofu can be had for as low as $12.80 (in comparison, you will have to fork out at least $30 for a taste of the same dish at Shisen Hanten). There are outlets at Downtown Gallery in Shenton Way and The Star Vista.

And in between is the newest member of Chen’s burgeoning collection: Chen’s Kitchen – still casual, but parked, like its fine-dining sibling, in the middle of Orchard Road and buttressed with an expanded menu of Sichuan delights by way of Japan. 

It is a respectable selection, to be sure, full of delicious-sounding dishes vying for your attention. But more on that later. First, the million-dollar question: Which mapo tofu to get? 

This is the only non-negotiable of dining at any of Chen’s institutions. And the restaurant has pre-empted every possible excuse. 

Not a fan of tongue-obliterating spice? Get the milder white one with prawns and scallops (from $28.90). Vegetarian? No problem. There is a jade version (from $21.90) stewed with plant-based minced meat and house-blended green Sichuan peppercorns sauce. Feeling fancy? Splash out on the black gravy with diced A5 Kagoshima Japanese wagyu chuck rib (from $39.90). 

I, however, will stick to the original red combination of ground meat, Sichuan peppers, and fermented broad bean and chilli bean paste (from $16.90) that earned Chen his stripes. 

Something about its fiery colour is so vital to the experience of enjoying mapo tofu. I need it to look as intense as it tastes. I want to drown in its molten magic, luxuriate in its oily pools of umami-spiked heat, gut health be damned. 

The mapo tofu is best eaten with plain white rice, but the restaurant’s Sichuan-spiced fried rice with sakura shrimp, egg and garlic ($13.90) is hard to resist. 

It pairs well with other dishes too. The XXL Szechwan La Zi Ji ($17.90) is more karaage than la zi ji, with fat chunks of chicken doused in batter and fried golden. But it is still worth a shot. This is one version that lets you taste the chicken beneath its numbing, garlicky coat. 

Another standout is the poached fish fillet in golden broth ($24.90), perfumed with Sichuan peppercorns, mushrooms, asparagus and a hint of sansho pepper. The soup gets its vivid marigold hue from Japanese pumpkin, which also lends the dish a subtle sweetness.

Cool down with one of the desserts. Both the double-boiled pear ($6.90) and mango pudding ($5.90) are solid options, steeped in just the right amount of sugar and nostalgia. 

Where: Chen’s Kitchen, B1-43 Paragon, 290 Orchard Road
MRT: Orchard/Somerset
Open: 11am to 9.30pm daily
Info:

@chensmapotofu

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