Hipster biryani and eclectic cooking at Como Cuisine

NEW RESTAURANT

Como Cuisine at Como Orchard Level 2 Como Orchard 30 Bideford Road Singapore 229922 Tel: 6486-1050 Open daily from 7 am to 10 pm

“DELIBERATE” is such a wonderful word. Add it to adjectives like “ugly”, “cheap”, “rude” or “crass”, and suddenly you don’t have a criticism but something to aspire to.

Examples: “Why does he dress like a rainbow puked on him, and it dribbled onto his toes?” It’s deliberate. “Excuse me, what kind of trendy cafe serves coffee in chipped and stained mugs?” Shh, it’s deliberate. “That old hawker keeps calling me ‘auntie’ - I want to slap him.” It’s deliberate! “Why are you taking so long to get to your point?” Uhh, it’s deliberate.

Because – we’re sitting at the new Como Cuisine at the just-opened Como Metropolitan Singapore, staring at some large pillars in the restaurant. They’re wrapped in shiny insulation material, fastened by very long luggage straps. It looks like the work of a contractor whose final payment you ought to withhold, or they’re protecting some precious sculptures awaiting their dramatic reveal.

No. It’s deliberate.

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From the cement screed floors and walls, to the Ikea-like patio furniture, table tops that resemble the metal floorboards of a bus, and stationery-shop bookends that hold their menus, we don’t know where industrial cheap ends and chic begins.

But then, Como the hotels and Club 21 are the paragons of style, and we’re not. We just sit down and grumble why three sticks of chicken satay cost S$25, because the hotel is designed by Paola Navone, and shoot death stares at the waitress who refuses to let us move to a bigger table, even when there are so many vacant ones around. (The restaurant does eventually fill up to almost three-quarters).

Como Cuisine does double duty. One, it’s the all-day-dining restaurant for the hotel and canteen for the Club 21 set. Two, it’s a good place to sulk when you can’t get into Cedric Grolet downstairs. You can commiserate with your friends over how its trumped-up fruity confections are really just so-so, and come up with strategies to score some croissants before they stop baking at 11 am.

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The ambience is more frantic than its cool, laid-back Dempsey outlet. Some of the staff are as icy as the decor, but we’re lucky to have a sweet and bubbly young lady who’s helpful with recommendations. Even when some are off-key, her sincerity makes up for it. 

The warm, crusty sourdough with olive oil is a positive start, especially with cheerful offers of a refill. 

The S$25 chicken satay is less satay and more marinated skewers of dry-to-juicy meat and chunky peanut sauce. There’s little spice or oomph to speak of, and any application to join a satay club should be soundly rejected. 

Spicy tuna on crispy rice (S$30) comes with no preconceptions and is better off for it. Generous mounds of minced tuna tartare seasoned with bits of pickle are piled on a base of avocado cream and deep-fried rice cake that’s the perfect contrast of crunchy exterior and tenderness within. 

Our meal turns out to be a game of one-good-one-not-so. The Como burger (S$35) falls into the “not-so” corner, with its dry wagyu patty and bacon on a dry bun, leaving the tomatoes and pickles in between to pull the two together. The fries are surprisingly good, with the same crunchy-tender ratio as the tuna’s rice cakes.

The next one is a win – the house special lobster biryani, weighing in at a hefty S$50. It’s a direct import from Dempsey, but it hits the spot. It’s not authentic, but the fluffy basmati rice is scented with enough spices to make the biryani connection; the lobster curry ladled over it takes you just short of Hyderabad. The kick comes from the accompanying guava and pomegranate salad. Sweet, sour, chunky and juicy, it adds another dimension along with the thick yoghurt raita. Proper papadums are the final chunk, and the lobster itself is chunky and fresh.

Desserts are a misstep on our part. We picked pandan crepes (S$14) and got plasticky, thin, bitter pancakes folded over a cream covered mango chunk, with a scoop of coconut ice cream on the side. Young coconut jelly topped with the same ice cream and some fruit would have been better if it didn’t cost S$16. 

Como Cuisine is a place where the vibe is priced into the menu. The kitchen uses decent-to-good ingredients, but how well they make use of them varies from dish to dish. They’ll feed you, but they won’t rock your world. Maybe that’s deliberate.

Rating: 6