Cooking over the fire at Tribal

NEW RESTAURANT

Tribal Dining 83 Neil Road #01-07 Mondrian Singapore Singapore 089813 Tel: 9789-4699 Open for dinner only, Mon to Sat: 6 pm to 11.30 pm

MONDRIAN Singapore is like a culinary advent calendar. Every couple of months, a hoarding comes down, and a new restaurant pops out. Italian, Spanish, Japanese, South American and now, its latest – an online grocery with primal instincts.

Okay, its given name is Tribal, which conjures up romantic ideals about the primitive bonding of food, fire and people. In the way that natives gathering around a fire and tearing into a whole roasted animal even as predators lurk in the darkness can be considered the original communal dinner.

On another level, Tribal is pretty packaging for the Ebb & Flow group’s new online gourmet shop Modern Provision – showcasing its meat and seafood products in an ingredient-driven menu cooked over not one, but three, impressive wood-burning grills in a large, open kitchen. You’ve heard of shopping the look; this is shopping the restaurant. Like what you eat? Order it right off its online store for your next cook-out at home, fire not included.

You eat in very tasteful surroundings decorated with rattan ceiling features for that designer-village feel. Get close to the fire at the open kitchen counter, where a small army of young men get the brunt of the heat as they bake, grill and saute over roaring flames. 

The produce used is mainly Japanese and supposedly sustainably sourced. The food is hearty, not fancy, so don’t expect anything that requires a tweezer to plate. Even the so-called “small plates” are big enough to share. Flavours are bold, and take their cues from all corners of Asia.

Practise your inner caveman by ripping chunks of piping hot, thick flatbread (S$12), which you swipe through sweetish, miso-infused butter. The yellowtail umai (S$26) is probably one of the more “feminine” dishes on the menu; the slices of sashimi are lightly cured in a mild tiger’s milk, with sliced cherry tomatoes and raw onions playing supporting roles. The fish is fresh and less so in parts, but generally clean in taste and refreshing. Hard chickpea bits come out of nowhere as a distraction.

With the kitchen staffed by red-blooded young male chefs, you can expect food that fills similar appetites. The wagyu rice pot (S$88) seems pricey at the outset, but the generous portions of grilled steak and raw tartare have been priced in. It’s meant for two people, but it’s also enough to make a full dinner portion for a third small person.

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It’s a one-pot, all-in-one-and-more mash-up of donabe and nasi ulam, with finely shredded kaffir lime leaf and ginger flower scattered around for a deep whiff of herbs; a black garlic tare seasons the smoky rice that has nice charred bits for contrast. If the heft of both steak and tartare aren’t enough, there’s a smoked confit egg yolk added for good measure. It’s quite an overkill, but if you’ve got the appetite, this is rib-sticking stuff.

To fill your vegetable quotient, get the buttery, garlicky roast cabbage (S$15) that’s also got a hint of jinhua ham. Run over the fire for a nice char, it’s tender, sweet and foolproof.

Half a Santorini chicken (S$42) is a sight to behold on the plate. We don’t know whose idea it was to leave the entire leg on – this pineapple-fed kampung bird has such long limbs, we bet that if it managed to escape, it would have crossed the Causeway by the time we get to dessert. But since it didn’t, it’s unevenly salted, with a slightly overcooked breast, but juicy leg. A squeeze of grilled lemon and special chilly powder pep it up.

The kitchen is erratic, with dishes coming out in no proper order, which is how we end up eating the rice before the chicken. But the chefs are friendly, enthusiastic and always asking for feedback.

When the bibingka (S$16) comes off as somewhat stale, they’re concerned enough to take it off the bill, even though the creamy kaya ice cream mitigates it. The smores (S$14) are a nice idea with grilled, oozy, homemade marshmallows sandwiching thick chewy chocolate ganache, although the passion fruit ice-cream is more of a third wheel than the fruity contrast it’s meant to be.

If you’re an avid home cook looking for restaurant-quality ingredients, Tribal gives you a preview of what you might get. If you’re not, it’s a place that treats food as food, without all the fuss and pomp that every chef seems to feel obliged to add to their menus. It’s casual, fuss-free food and nothing to shout about, but sometimes that’s all you and your fellow tribesmen need.

Rating: 6