Casual Spanish tapas by ex-FOC chef at Cendra

NEW RESTAURANT

Cendra Tapas Bar & Grill 5 Gemmill Lane #01-01 Singapore 069261 Tel: 9663 4084

GEMMILL Lane feels like an alley that trendy restaurants forgot. All the chefs who have Michelin stars or want them are already elbowing each other for attention on Amoy Street. But nip around the back – no longer buzzing with the bohemian energy of edgy bistros once crammed into bunker spaces – and you stumble into a retirement village for chefs who’ve been there, done that.

We mean that in a good way. There are restaurants here that we didn’t know are still around. There’s a laid-back, no-agenda vibe. No one is vying to be the latest hotspot in town. They’ve accepted their place in the local food chain, and seem happy to be doing their own thing catering to people who don’t need to chase the latest hotspot either.

Nestled in this cosy corner of non-ambition is Cendra, a by-the-book casual tapas place that stands out on account of there not being any new Spanish eateries opening in quite a while. It’s a nice change, especially when the familiar menu means no pressure to wrap your head around airy-fairy concepts like Cendra’s now-defunct predecessor, Catfish.

In fact, Cendra relies on almost archaic concepts for its appeal – comforting food, friendly and engaging servers and a cosy neighbourhood-like congeniality. That the chef-owner Xavi Palau Haessler is a long-time alumnus of FOC – aka the unofficial accreditation centre of tapas chefs in Singapore – means that the food is kept to a minimum standard.

While the chef keeps mostly to himself in the privacy of his own kitchen, the front-of-house team are a happy bunch, genuinely wanting to dish out hospitality as well as food.

The bubbly young lady Sophia plies us with free olives and warm chatter that never feels ingratiating or contrived. Her colleague Logan is a bartender with a down-to-earth manner and approach to cocktails that happily goes against the small-glass-big-price mode of hipster bars. His Cendra Spirit is a super easy to drink mix of pineapple juice, cucumber, vodka that makes you forget there’s actual booze in it.

Food-wise, there’s enough to like with classics along the lines of croquetas and pan de tomate (S$12), the quintessential Catalan snack of Crystal bread crisped up in a pan with olive oil which has the requisite crunch and topping of crushed tomatoes flecked with salt flakes.

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Also passing muster are the jamon studded croqueta (S$7 for two) coated in panko crumbs for a double layer of crunch. For a cold start that’s not so textbook, Canadian oysters (S$8 a piece) get a shot of alcoholic pisco sour foam, which masks more than enhances the compact mollusc that eventually rewards with a long briny finish.

Save some of the bread from before for dipping into gambas al ajillo (S$34), firm and plump shrimp well sauteed in garlic chilli oil heavily infused with the coral from the prawn heads. There’s also a daily special of manila clams (S$36) sweated in olive oil, wine garlic and more lemon juice than it needs.

The seafood here is generally good quality, which bodes well for its house special – squid ink paella (S$42). Usually the first things to dry out in a pan of rice stuck in a hot oven that obliterates everything with no discrimination, the chef smartly cooks his scallops and shrimp separately before topping the umami-rich stock-infused rice with them.

Cooked in a rectangular pan instead of the ubiquitous circular one, the rice is a good compromise between the chalky al dente purist version and the overcooked mush some places churn out for rice-eating Asians. It still has a nice chew without the hard core, and it’s soaked up enough flavour from the stock. Extra oomph comes from dabs of aioli. The scallops too, are firm and bouncy enough, in tandem with their shrimpy friends.

There’s only one dessert on the menu and you can either take it or leave it, depending on which side of the Basque cheesecake (S$14) divide you’re on. If you like it gooey and molten (which is apparently not authentic), this firm, New York cheesecake-style dense version is not going to be your thing, even if it’s closer to the real McCoy.

Since we vote molten, this doesn’t rise high on our delect-o-meter. We can only rely on the accompanying raspberry sorbet for our sweet finish.

Cendra is not a new kid on the block to get all excited about, but when it comes to old-fashioned comfort food with a side of warm hospitality, it ticks all the boxes.

Rating: 6.5