SINGAPORE | Cure Singapore is the new restaurant by chef Andrew Walsh (formerly of Esquina) and Joel Fraser (The Cufflink Club) and it puts the focus squarely on the season’s best produce, gathered by a variety of local and global artisans. There’s a big focus on British and Irish produce, and the food follows the trend of pared back gastronomy – fine dining technique combined with simplicity and casualness. Despite what you might think from the name, Cure isn’t all about cured meats – the name derives from the Latin curare, which means “to take care of”.
The drinks menu is focused and contains a carefully selected variety of wines, beers and spirits, along with cocktails created by Joel Fraser. The cocktails are pre-made, but they still taste as good as you’d expect.
The space is small, narrow and modern, and while it’s not an open kitchen with a bar that people can dine at, the kitchen is still open to the restaurant for all to see.
Food wise, the seasonal, ever changing menu is offered as a range of set menus ranging from 2 to 6 courses depending on the time of day. We’ve heard great things about the set menu but on this occasion were keen to try the bar menu, which is a step above many of the bar menus we’ve seen elsewhere and follows the same philosophy as the rest of the food on offer.
Iberico Ham, House Ricotta, Toast ($23.00)
The first dish we ordered was the simplest dish on the menu. 3 components, with understandably very little done to them. The Iberico ham was thinly sliced with a decadent melt-in-your-mouth fatiness to each bite while the house made ricotta was creamy and mild, a perfect offset to the ham.
Beef Tartar & Oyster Mayo ($22.00)
The beef tartar was nicely seasoned, with the oyster mayo giving it a tangy, salty kick which is exactly what was required to complete the dish.
Hot & Cold Scallop, House Duck Ham, English Pea ($26.00)
The most beautifully presented of the dishes on the bar menu were these scallops. There wasn’t too much going on in the way of seasoning with this dish which we really appreciated as the ingredients were excellent and served as they were, the quality of the produce really stood out. Having the scallops cooked 2 different ways but both minimally tweaked really showed how natural flavours can be manipulated by cooking alone. It was quite complex for what was ultimately a simple dish.
Buttermilk Fried Quail, Horseradish, Dill Salt ($22.00)
This was a revelation. Much milder than the usual fried chicken we are used to, the quail was lightly battered and not the slightest bit heavy or greasy. When it first came out we felt that the dish was missing something and indeed it was. The horseradish aioli, which was soon brought out added a much needed boost to the quail. It wasn’t bad as such without the aioli, but became so much more with it.
Orange, Chocolate & Honeycomb ($14.00)
This dessert, the description of which only gave away the components was one of the best desserts we’ve tried all year. A rich, thick chocolate mouse formed the majority of the dessert with a nice streak of orange cream throughout. Texturally, things were broken up by honeycomb which wasn’t overly sweet and pieces of crunchy chocolate crumb. The proportions were perfect and each bite worked wonderfully with a bit of everything combined.
We were really impressed by our time at Cure. The drinks were tasty, the staff were friendly and fun and always professional and, most importantly, the food lived up to expectations. Quality, seasonal produce and simple dishes elevated by technique is very much on trend now, and based on what places like Cure are doing, we can only see this trend as being one that’s here to stay for good.
Cure
21 Keong Saik Road
Singapore 089128
Telephone: 6221 2189
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.curesingapore.com/
Open
Dinner, Mon – Sat: 6:00pm to late
Lunch, Tue – Fri: From 12:00pm