Foura brings wellness dining to Gardens by the Bay

NEW RESTAURANT

Foura #01-23 IMBA Theatre Gardens By The Bay 18 Marina Gardens Drive Singapore 018953 Open daily: 11 am to 10 pm

[SINGAPORE] Has any restaurant ever put you on a guilt trip? Foura does. It’s the dinner equivalent of the annoying health nut you know who constantly nags you to stop stress-eating peach gummies and get some exercise.

It’s the yoga guru that tells you happiness has four (hence Foura) components – “mental, physical, emotional and relational” – and that polyphenols are really good for you. And then there are the four guys behind Foura who’ve jumped on the wellness bandwagon and want to drag you onto it. 

Even its location feels passive-aggressive. It’s a good 550 m from the nearest car park, so it forces you to get some steps in even before you see a menu.  

But like all health advice, it doesn’t hurt to listen. Plus, it’s literally a walk in the park to get to Foura, which sits within Gardens By The Bay.

Current heatwave notwithstanding, it’s an easy stroll past greenery, a scenic lake, selfie-taking tourists and exercise buffs to reach IMBA Theatre and the glass house that the restaurant shares with the odd trespassing monitor lizard.

It’s one of the occupational hazards that peppy manager/server Joshua has dealt with since Foura opened about a month ago. The rest of the time, he’s schooling diners on the menu – which is not so much hardcore spa food as elevated cafe fare with Mediterranean and Japanese accents. 

Think of it as stealth health – regular food that just happens to be good for you. Or so they say. We can’t tell from the likes of nori and vinegar fries, grass-fed wagyu meatballs, holy basil pork rice and hamburgers with fries. 

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But there are hints: the menu is peppered with keywords such as “high protein”, “omega-9” and “dietary fiber”, as well as “Blue Zones” creations inspired by the Okinawa diet. The signature dish is a bento by any other name – with grilled rainbow trout, onsen egg, soup and rice. 

We don’t feel Okinawan-inclined enough for a rice set, but we still go with Joshua’s pick of pomodori stracciatella (S$24) – an antioxidant-packed salad of three kinds of tomatoes and creamy fresh cheese. 

Pickled and fresh Romano and cherry tomatoes are alternately squishy, sweet and firm in the best way, dressed in oil and balsamic cream – any sharpness tempered with dollops of cheese and a surprising cameo of black sesame crumble that takes this from blue zone to happy land. 

Not so happy is the salmon, tuna and hamachi crudo (S$32) – pricey, forlorn scraps of roughly sliced sashimi over-soaked in an oily citrus-soya sauce dressing. 

Thumbs up for the Patagonian toothfish (S$46) – this milky-fleshed cod doppelganger is silky with crisp skin, surrounded by featherlight cauliflower puree and sweet-corn salsa for a winning flourish.

While the fish juggles several elements harmoniously, the grilled Borrowdale pork chop (S$36) goes off-key. Already well-seasoned, the sous vide pink chop can’t decide whether to align with a salty miso-white bean puree or an aggressive Korean ssamjang dip.

Best to skip both and have the pork on its own, with crushed pistachios that stick around like indifferent bystanders. 

Tiger prawn aglio olio (S$32) is dependable – al dente spaghetti coated in a creamy gloss of olive oil blended with garlic confit.  A generous handful of large, glassy prawns haven’t got much flavour but compensate with a firm, crunchy bite. 

If dark chocolate is healthy, then overdose on Valrhona cloud mousse (S$22), which lives up to its pillowy promise. It’s intensely chocolatey, garnished with sea salt, crushed granola and a drizzle of olive oil.

An off-menu sticky date pudding must be a dessert-in-progress, with a weirdly perfumey caramel sauce drizzled over tepid pudding that needs to befriend a hot oven.  A fat scoop of vanilla ice cream makes it better. 

You don’t go to Foura just for the food. You go for the whole package. The relaxed, away-from-the-city vibe, the flora and fauna, the pups in prams filling up the alfresco area.

There’s a wider wellness agenda with yoga sessions and more in store. But mostly, it’s a pleasant spot to while away some free time and have a meal that’s healthier than you think.

Even if you don’t intend to transition from work to workout and gummies remain your favoured food group, Foura might encourage you to take a step in the right direction. Or four. 

Rating: 6.5