Discovering Chilean cooking at Araya

NEW RESTAURANT Araya #01-08 Mondrian Singapore 83 Neil Road, Duxton Hill Singapore 089813 Tel: 8870 0871 Open for dinner only Tues to Sat: 6 pm to 11 pm

DINING at Araya feels like a job interview. Or a blind date. In the space of 2½ hours or more, the cuisine of Chile will try to woo you, extolling the virtues of an unspoiled land where seafood is plentiful and produce, more so. A land where potatoes have red stripes, bread names rhyme with “ukulele” and how we should seriously consider sacking local soursops in favour of theirs, which have no spikes and are a lot sweeter.

Charming chef couple Francisco Araya (hence the name) and Fernanda Guerrero don’t seriously advocate for fruit retrenchment, but they do fly the flag at their newly opened restaurant at the Mondrian – touted as the first fine-dining South American eatery in Singapore. They hold court behind a dusky pink counter of rose quartz, spinning tasty tales about the food of their homeland, and we act like we know the difference between Chile and Peru and the rest of South America.