The Blue Ginger

The Blue Ginger – 97 Tanjong Pagar Road

My appetite for Peranakan food is proving insatiable so I paid the famed Blue Ginger restaurant a visit recently. The offerings were very lightly spiced, running against the grain of the robust flavours characteristic of this cuisine. As such, I would recommend the establishment to those trying such fare for the first time or to expatriates unaccustomed to spice; locals will likely be left unsatisfied. Dinner for 3 amounted to a total of $118.

The jury is still out regarding service here for I experienced a strong start but a very poor finish. My waiter was very earnest and proactive, also being able to supply us with quite a few recommendations and advise us on portion size. The plot thickens however; we just made last order and were eventually one of two occupied tables shortly after 10pm. I thought this would not present a problem as both my waiter and a sign outside indicated that the place was open till 11pm. Eventually, the other table cleared and – to my chagrin – the entire wait staff trooped out minutes later, leaving the lone manager casting baleful stares our way. I picked up my eating pace and murmured an apology but he didn’t even acknowledge it! His hostility and desire for us to leave was so tangible that we paid our bill and left despite being merely three-quarters through our meal, exiting the doors just before 10.30pm. We racked up a pretty substantial bill and left a full half-hour before closing time so I am truly at a loss as to how we triggered such aggression. In any case, the entire wait staff leaving while customers were still in the restaurant greatly disturbed me.

We started off with the Otak Otak ($3.20 for 2 pieces) which proved to be the only truly spicy dish of the spread. It had a very strong lemongrass flavour and a generous hit of chilli. The texture had room for improvement though as it was extremely firm, seeming almost like fishcake; it also lacked the rich, custardy-smoothness normally found in this dish as it didn’t contain much coconut milk.

The Duck Salad ($9) was not very well received at my table; too little of the mildly piquant dressing left the crisp alfalfa and bean sprouts rather bland. The fatty, under seasoned bits of duck on top of that guaranteed this was left largely untouched.

The Ngo Heong ($9.90) was very crisp on the outside and had all the right elements of water chestnut, pork mince and shrimp within. However, the filling was way too moist, coming across as being watery. The growingly characteristic mild spicing - a bare smidgen of 5 spice powder here - meant we relied on liberal amounts of sweet sauce to render it palatable.

The Beef Rendang ($11.50) proved to be one of the elusive winners of the evening. A delicious if light rempah had accorded the extremely tender chunks of beef with a subtle halo of flavour. This allowed the natural beefy accents to remain in focus, an unusual but gratifying experience.

I will never complain about Ayam Buah Keluak ($15.80) but I found the sizable pot of rather average stuff left largely to myself. The one thing that stood out to me was that the black nuts had been ground to an extremely fine, smooth paste.

The Chap Chye Masak Titek ($9.50) had a way too subtle flavour that left the extremely soft - perhaps overcooked - vegetables hanging on the threshold of blandness.

Nonya Style Tahu ($9.50) was not something I've tried before but turned out to be a distant cousin of my favourite tahu telor. The firm bean curd was fried to a delicate crispness and was accompanied by an intriguing sauce of fermented beans that was a little on the salty side.

Without a doubt, the Nonya Style Steamed Seabass ($28.80) was the piece de resistance of the evening. The fish was extremely fresh with lovely delicate flakes of flesh. The sauce was a most unusual rendition of a classic asam pedas for instead of tamarind, tomatoes accorded most of the slight acidity and a welcome degree of sweetness too. The lack of characteristic overwhelming heat and sourness allowed the wonderful fish to stand out as the key element, a typically Occidental tactic that worked astoundingly well.

We would have had dessert if it were not for the manager's evil-eyed stare, a real pity.