Pidgin @ Dempsey

Last weekend I had the pleasure of taking an old friend out for a belated birthday dinner at Pidgin located on Dempsey Road. Although it was a little bit difficult to locate at first with me literally pacing up and down in front of Block 8 & 9, Jones the Grocer area, I finally located it a little further down where Block 7 was! It was the old Pamplemousse with the owners reinventing the space and turning it into a restaurant that focused more on local fare with a twist. Pidgin, meaning a simplified language with influences from different languages used for communication between people not sharing a common language, is a name that definitely fit a restaurant featuring dishes that to me were somewhat "Singlish".

The inconspicuous front...

As I walked in to the restaurant, who should greet me but an old friend who had recently just started working there! Having said that, we definitely had a lot of good recommendation of dishes which resulted in us ordering more than we should have for a party of 3 but walking out thoroughly satisfied with our taste buds tingling! I have to mention that a party of 3, odd number as it is, is the perfect number of people to go for dinner there as most the appetizers were served in 3's. Perfect for everyone to taste and try nearly everything. The menu is a simple one page menu (Check out: http://www.pidgin.sg/food.pdf) but with everything described so well, you really can go overboard with the orders!

Top: (L) Crab Otah Croquette, (R) Chicken Rice Arancini
Bottom: (L) Sambal Escargot, (R) Spicy Tuna Tartare

Foie Gras with Rojak Sauce

We started with all of the above! The Crab Otah Croquette was nicely done- very flavourful with a nice crabby feel to it. I kept scooping up the sauce with my Otah because the sauce was delectable. We all agreed that while the Chicken Rice Balls sounded interesting at first, its nothing to shout about. It lacked the chicken-y flavour I was hoping to taste but I guess that it would be hard to beat the original Chicken Rice that one can get at hawkers center's all around Singapore. The Sambal Escargot was featured on the specials menu and I loved the twist on the traditional garlic butter Escargots. I do wish that the Sambal had a bit more bite to it but then I love my spicy food so again this is very subjective. The tuna tartare was introduced as a "I kid you not, you HAVE to order it" dish and honestly, no regrets! There was a perfect balance of flavour and the tuna was extremely fresh. Its something I would definitely go back for! The Foie Gras, oh what can I say...I finished the whole dish by myself? For any fans of foie gras, this is a MUST have- creamy, fatty, balanced with the sweet tangy rojak sauce...SINFUL!!!

Top: (L) Uni Tagliolini, (R) Duck Confit
Bottom: Lamb Rack

We were extremely pleased with our mains! I tried Uni for the first time, again by recommendation. No Regrets! I shared that dish and it was perfect for two to have about 2 forkfuls each. I couldn't get enough of the sauce and this dish is better finished while hot! If I could, I would have licked the plate clean to save them some washing! The Duck Confit was fall of the bones, melt in your mouth, super duper good! Served with a side of potatoes cooked in duck fat which was perfectly crispy on the outside and well done on the inside. You could taste the lychee in the duck sauce but it only served to bring out the flavour of the meat. My friend who is a lamb fanatic, enjoyed her order of Lamb Rack. It was served on a bed of eggplant something which made the dishe even more appealing as she is the type who loves a lamb anything and an eggplant anything. Having said that, the portion of lamb was huge! Unlike the measly portions you get at some restaurants, this was like lamb rack on steroids! I later found out that most of the ingredients are imported fresh from the respective countries (duck/foie gras- France, tuna/uni- Japan, you get the gist) and that is probably why the food taste just so damn good!!!

(L) Milo Dinosaur, (R) Pear Terrine with Red Wine Sorbet

Ok I have to admit I was pretty stuffed by the time dessert came around but that didn't stop me from enjoying the Milo Dinosaur which they had nicely adorned with birthday wishes for the happy girl. It is a nice finishing touch if you enjoy chocolate! We got 2 cute old school tumblers, MINI tumblers of single scoop Lychee sorbet which cleansed the palate nicely after such a huge meal with so many contrasting and bold flavours. Especially nice was the pear terrine which was complimented with the red wine sorbet. The sorbet was nicely done and wasn't too sweet at all, this is also another "Special of the Week" dish.

Overall, I would definitely come back with friends who enjoy good food. Short of being rolled out of the restaurant, I had a lot of fun with all the dishes because I never know what to expect from some of them. With wine (by the glass), its about an average of $100/person which is quite good considering the amount of food we ordered!

Pidgin Kitchen & Bar

7 Dempsey Road, 01-04

Tel: 6478 0080