The Quarters (Closed)

DurianCanBoleh ('DCB'), seems like a rojak (mixed up) words that can only born in Singapore. DurianCanBoleh basically represent the brand for Durian Crème Brulee, invented by Chef Chung Deming a few years back. From the outside, it looks just like any other crème brulee, however once you savour it, you will noticed the infusion of the durian with smooth crème. Using what considered to be the best durian Mao Shan Wang, DCB packs the durian flavours in each bite. Following the success of of DCB, Chef Chung decided to open up The Quarters ('TQ'), which represent modern Singapore cuisine. Drawing the inspiration from Singapore humble beginnings, and evolution of our culture through food, it will be represented in each of the dishes in TQ. The principle behind TQ is fresh ingredients, home made with love. We started with Salted Egg Fries ($9) and Calamari ($13.80). Salted Egg Fries consist humble shoestring fries with salted egg aioli on the side. The stick-like fries are deep fried until crisp, readily to absorb the aioli which as pretty subtle in terms of taste. The squid in the calamari very tender and succulent. The curry aioli is bold and packs of punch. Personally, I prefer the curry aioli compare to the salted egg aioli to go with the fries and calamari, as the salted egg tasted too mild. Har Cheong Gai ($9.50) and Umami Babi ($10.80) complete the appetizers. Har Cheong Gai or also known as prawn paste chicken is a staple in every chi zhar place across the island. Each boneless chunks are well seasoned with prawn paste, deep fried and to be enjoyed with the belachan. Watch out for the spiciness of the belachan. Some of us like it until we ate it with the fries. Umami Babi was supposed to be a combination of slider and braised pork. Unfortunately, the pork was slightly too dry and turned out to taste like pork jerky slider. For healthy options, we sample Wafu Beef ($14.80) and Samsui Chicken ($12.80). The wafu beef salad provide a good non-carbo options. The medium rare beef ribeye works well with the soy vinaigrette dressing. While the samsui chicken salad, I like how TQ use chicken thigh with skin on for this salad, instead of lacklustre breast meat. The dressing tasted more like a sweet chilli sauce rather than normal chicken chilli sauce. For main meals, Satay Burger ($17) is a must try. A well marinated chicken thigh, in between the handmade rice patties. The meat is tender and succulent, while the handmade rice bun combined crisp and chewy. It is unique and gives you the different take on satay and ketupat. Meanwhile Ma Jie's Indulgence ($18) or known as chilli crab pasta kind of missing the WOW factor for me. Pasta was al-dente, well coated with the chilli sauce and crab meat, but the blend of the sauce with the paste just does not click for me. The Great Escape ($18.80) you can say its one of the textbook dishes for fish in a fine dining restaurant. The skin is crisp, while the meat is soft and flaky. I suggest you just dipped into the lemongrass and ginger flower subtly infused sauce instead of pouring it on the fish, as it will ruin the crispy skin. Not to miss for the dessert of course its Duriancanboleh ($8.50). I never tried it before, but I was expecting something like durian pengat style, instead a of yellowish smooth crème brulee. The caramelized thin layer of sugar on top nicely done. Wanderffle ($12.80) is decent. While the subtle homemade lemongrass and pandan ice cream is much appreciated, it is difficult not to compare the waffle texture with lots of cafes outside. The version here is more artistic and thick. The gula melaka glaze can be pretty sweet, so you need estimate it on your own. Bibik's Brownie ($10.80) served with Buah Keluak Ice Cream. Sorry to say, I am not a buah keluak fan. So after I tried the ice cream, my face made those funny looks that the other foodies said was Instagram worthy. Luckily no one capture it. Phewww!! After that, I so absent minded I forgot to taste the brownie. The coffee bean at TQ are sourced from Papa Palhetta. So I definitely must try their coffee and with a bonus we also tried their Affogato ($8.50). The combination of the homemade ice cream with nutty chocolaty espresso was a just awesome. Probably the best dessert here other than DCB. TQ also offer their special Cocktail of The Quarters ($16) combination of gin, vodka, lemon, mint and dill; or mocktails Quarterade ($6) – lemon, mint and dill without the alcohols. For beer and cider check out their attractive brands such as F***ing Hell, Dead Pony or Green Goblin. Decor of the place is a very open, casual with industrial warehouse feel. Elements such as wooden board, tin wall and black steel are part and parcel when you are dining here. Overall, I admire Chef Chung vision in opening The Quarters. Though I applaud him for introducing his take on modern Singapore dishes, however its uniqueness of the dishes might need the courage and curiosity of the current diners. Do give The Quarters a try if you are around Tanjong Pagar area and let me know how you think of the food. Cheers!! Thank you very much to The Quarters team for tasting invitation. For the full review, click here:http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2015/08/the-quarters.html continue reading

Full The Quarters review: http://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.sg/2015/07/the-quarters-tasting-session.htmlFounded by passionate, young owner-chef Chung Deming in September 2014, The Quarters is a quaint, cozy cafe in Icon Village, just a short 5 minute walk away from Tanjong Pagar MRT station. This former financial advisor and self-taught chef serves Modern Singaporean fusion cuisine in The Quarters, showcasing unique, local flavours within Western plating and presentation. Drawing inspiration from Singapore's old ethnic quarters, and creating everything painstakingly from scratch, The Quarters is a culmination of a dream that began years ago, when he first created his signature dessert, the Duraincanboleh.Ambience at The Quarters is a homage to the old dock / pier side warehouses and godowns, with trappings of corrugated metal, wood panelling, burlap sacks, and bright spotlighting. Colour themes of wood against black abound in the thoughtfully laid out 30-seater space, a cozy, yet nostalgic industrial feel. Furniture is rather comfortable, good enough for casual meals and short business talks, less ideal for long relaxing sessions. Love how open and attractive The Quarters looks, though ambient noise levels can be rather high.Service at The Quarters is excellent. Staff are professional and efficient, quickly seating guests, taking orders, and clearing away empty / dirty tables or plates proactively. The small sevice team here is friendly, knowledgable on the complexities of dishes, and able to make solid recommendations. The serving counter is laid out so staff can even converse with customers! Heading up the staff is owner-chef Chung Deming himself, who alternates between quality control of food in the kitchen, walking around to engage customers and get feedback, and even taking orders, serving dishes, and clearing up! However, it should also be noted that fulfilling orders takes longer than usual, at least 15 minutes or more, because they make everything from scratch. Example: A mass order of 10 drinks would take some time, because their commitment to quality means they can only prepare it 1 at a time!Food at The Quarters is Modern Singaporean. This means local Singaporean ingredients and flavours; Malay, Indian, Chinese, Peranakan, fused with American, British, French, and Italian plating and preparation styles. The menu may be small, but each dish is thoughtfully planned and designed, each component complementing, or contrasting, the others in taste, or in texture. These novel, innovative dishes at The Quarters are all hand crafted, using recipes self-created by the owner-chef, after long hours of fine-tuning, and searching for sustainable, honest suppliers of quality produce. This also means that flavours are unique, and may not always appeal to an individual's tastebuds. That said, each dish is uniquely Singaporean in taste. Portions are nicely sized, and prices are really affordable for the amount of effort and time in each dish. Budget about SGD $19 per person for a decent meal here.Fresh chicken chunks breaded in old-school prawn paste are deep fried for the Har Cheong Gai (SGD $9.50). The chicken is tender and juicy, with a coating that is savoury and has good shrimp flavour, yet is non-greasy. Served with a Power Belachan Dip on the side, this yummy appetizer disappeared all too quickly. Highly recommended!Of the salads we tried, I prefer the Samsui Chicken Salad (SGD $12.80). Meaty strips of Hainanese style white chicken (poached in-house), is laid over fresh, crunchy lettuce, juicy cherry tomatoes, strips of cucumber, and garnished with a soft, onsen egg. Finished with a house created piquant vinaigrette of garlic chili, the dish is their rendition of a healthy chicken rice, and tastes delicious! While the chicken could be a little more tender, you do get the natural, clean taste, and it works well together with the crunch of the lettuce and fragrant sauce. Worth ordering!A house special, the signature Satay Burger (SGD $17) is incredibly flavourful. A tender, juicy chicken steak is marinated in spices for 24 hours, then grilled to perfection, and sandwiched between crisp, chewy, fragrant, hand made rice burger buns, garnished with julienned strips of fresh, crunchy cucumbers, sharp red onions, and red bell peppers / capsicum. Incredibly tasty! The house created satay sauce is served on the side, and I recommend pouring it over only in small amounts for best results. Pour too much and the burger might get soggy. Highly recommended! continue reading

[ The Quarters ]Location: Icon Village 16 Enggor Street #01-09 S(079717)Deco: The Quarters gives me the kind of warehouse feel, with Aluminium sheets laid as roofing. Grey concrete walls are accompanied by wooden table & chairs.The Boss, Deming, tells me about his Singapore Fusion food concept and his confidence to draw crowd with his food to the usual quiet icon village in Enggor street.Marinates, sauces, food, ice cream are all freshly made daily and made in-house.(Food served)Drink:Quarterade- Fresh lemon juice, mint & dill $6. Very refreshing with minty aftertaste that lingers in mouth.Starters:Salted Egg Fries $9- Normal skinny fries with salted egg dipping sauce. Sauce is thick & sandy, can taste the fine s.egg granules. Bottled ones are on sale too.Calamari $13.80- Eating fried squid alone is bland therefore must go with curry dipping sauce provided. Dip is thick, creamy but with only minimal hint of curry. Quite spicy though.Har Cheong Gai $9.50- Chicken was well marinated, flavourful and crispy. But I felt the balachan chilli is the limelight here. Fiery, goes well with any other starters too.Umami babi $10.80- Braised pork marinated with Chinese wine & dark soya sauce. Meat texture is dry, should have served wif gravy. Man tou: How I wish they were deep fried Samsui Chic salad $12.80- Salad dressing with mashed ginger wasn't strong enough to be named Samsui. Chicken meat is bland. A rather flat salad dish.Wafu Beef Salad $14.80- As for beef, I couldn't comment because I don't take consume cows.Mains:Ma Jie indulgence (chili crab pasta) $18-Chili crab taste wasn't distinctive enough, too much of heavy tomato base. Ends with sourish sweet aftertaste rather than Chilli crab.The Great escape $18.80 - Baramudi fish pan fried to a crispy finish on the skin. Fishy freshwater taste still lingers in the mouth probably because fish is only marinated with salt. To enjoy this dish better, fish & sauce definitely has to go together. Lemongrass, ginger flower cream sauce, very creamy with oni little lemongrass/ ginger aftertaste. My suggestion? Has to be bolder.Satay burger- As told by the boss, marinating ingredients were made from scratch & the meat was marinated for 24hrs to achieve the flavorful, spiced results. Grilled to perfection, this Satay chicken thigh is really tender. Love the crisp part of the rice patty, like tasty 锅巴. Satay sauce was filled with peanut bits but tastes slightly on the sweet side.Dessert:Wonderffle $12.80- emongrass ice cream is really yum. The other Pandan ice cream not only smells good, but also creamy & not too sweet. **Ice cream are all made inhouse oh!! Texture of Waffle is slight crisp outside & soft inside (Not my kind of waffle) Probably we poured too much caramel sauce causing it to be overly sweet.Affogato $8.80- Pandan ice cream blends really well wif the espresso.Bibik's brownie $10.80- Bibik's brownie- This dessert is rather a surprise to me. "Buah Keluah" that is used in Peranakan dishes is now made into buah keluah ice cream. Rather unique & mind-blowing, good try!! Brownies tasted choco-licious & sinful. Love the slight crisp on the outer surface of the brownies too.Duriancanboleh $8.50- signature item. Eggy, smooth texture but durian portion can be bolder. Boss tells us, pair this dessert wif white wine, can actually bring out the fruity sweetness of the wine before & after having the brûlée.Verdict: Food still needs fine-tuning but overall experience is decent. Prices are reasonable too. A great place for colleagues and friends gatherings. continue reading

Lots of creative innovation is going on at the Quarters that has opened barely for less than 6 months since September 2014. The cooking might need to be more consistent but there is plenty of room to play with in the area of mod-Sin cuisine. Full review and pics on www.dairycream.blogspot.comI thought the names of the Mains such as The Last Samurai, Raffles Gaga or Majie Indulgence were pretty creative but the cooking had its high and low points. The Great Escapade ($18.80 , above pic) is the most memorable mains that day; the pan-fried barramundi Lemongrass infused with ginger flower. The Majie Indulgence ($18) would be another successful example of fusion dish if the base was less sweet. I preferred a more robust spice kick. Instead of the usual dory fillet, Leatherjacket fish was used for the Raffles Gaga ($16) but doughy fried batter and rubbery texture of the fish did not invite a standing ovation. But yes, the Curry Lime Tartar is so good it should also be sold in jars. Of the desserts, the Duriancanboleh ($7) is a Must Try for durian lovers; smooth pungent and creamy, the custard is not too sweet either. continue reading