The Quarters – Quirky Names and A Twist on Local Favourites

3½ year-old Mod-Sin restaurant, The Quarters, is releasing an exciting new dinner menu, featuring the likes of local favourites with a twist, as well as char-grilled items.

The restaurant is run by De Ming, who conceptualized The Quarters because of his love for the local food scene and ingredients.

Diners may be clueless as to what some of the dishes are, as De Ming likes to be creative when naming his dishes. Expect to hear comical names such as Fwah!, or Ooh La La!, which are both new dishes in his dinner menu.

“I don’t belittle Singapore food. The ingredients that are available locally are full of flavour, and many combinations can be created to produce different flavours.”

Fwah! ($18), which is supposedly the sound you make when you exclaim that the food is good, is a unique combination of homemade kaya toast, a piece of perfectly-grilled foie gras and scrambled eggs. The result is a creamy and harmonious blend of sweet and savoury flavours.

The 36 year-old got his homemade kaya recipe from his mother, who would make her own kaya paste when he was still a child.

On how he came up with this dish, he shared that kaya toast played a big part in his childhood, and he wanted to recreate something that showcases the versatility of the humble kaya as an ingredient that can even be used in savoury dishes.

Another mix-up of a local favourite is the Ooh La La! dish ($16), which sees Venus clams cooked in their signature chilli crab sauce. What makes their chilli crab sauce so special is the addition of hei-bi, or dried shrimp, into the rempah paste which makes the sauce more fragrant. De Ming shared that the clams used in the chilli crab sauce give a briny flavour to the dish, as opposed to the sweetness of crab meat. Besides, eating clams is a much easier affair, don’t you think?

Another must-try is the “Nai You” Lobster ($68.00), which is a decadent take on the Singaporean craze for everything “Nai You”. “Singaporeans have a craze for buttered dishes. Butter pork, butter crabs, butter cakes, it’s never ending!”

With that idea in mind, De Ming came up with the “Nai You” Lobster, which is a whole lobster poached till tender in aromatics and butter, before it is placed on the grill to give it a nice, smoky charcoal aroma. The lobster is tender, juicy and creamy, and has a light smoky scent that doesn’t overpower the fragrance of the butter. Note that reservations for this dish must be made 24 hours prior to dining.

For the whole char-grill experience, The Quarters has released a value for money “Quarters Platter” ($128) that will feed a hungry group of 4. The platter comprises 6 components, and is a good mix of vegetables, proteins and carbs.

The proteins are what maketh a man. That is why the bulk of the platter are meat dishes! Think crispy grilled chicken on a bed of Buah Keluak sauce, tantalising salted egg mid wings on a stick, good ol’ baby back ribs and the piece de resistance, 250g of Angus rib eye steak with your preferred doneness. We were spoilt for choice with the plethora of meats offered!

The colourful grilled veg platter consists of 3 types of vegetables – skewered vine tomatoes, shitake mushrooms, and grilled asparagus with tau-ci and garlic sauce.

For carbs, the restaurant has its own rendition of salted fish fried rice, which uses salted batang fish. Unlike the salted fish fried rice you get at zi char stalls, this version is much bolder, with a strong aroma from the salted fish, as well as a light heat from the chilies that coat the well-separated rice grains.

All in all, The Quarters impressed us with their quirky dish-naming and value for money grubs that are great for sharing with friends, and loved ones.

This post was brought to you by The Quarters.