Love mismatch at Gaggan Anand’s Singapore outpost Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh

NEW RESTAURANT

Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh 43 Craig Road Singapore 089681 Open for dinner only Tues to Thurs: 6 pm to 10:30 pm. Lunch and dinner Fri to Sun: 12pm to 2:30pm. Closed on Sun. Online reservations only at www.mariaandsingh.sg

LOVE. What’s it all about? Boy meets girl. Boy marries girl – or the currently applicable definition of a long standing relationship. Both swear to love and cherish each other – warts, questionable taste buds and all. So much so that the boy and girl even open a restaurant to celebrate their union, believing that as long as they think they can cook good food, the world will want to eat it.

Just make sure you’re wearing the same rose-tinted glasses when you eat at Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh – the embodiment of Gaggan Anand’s fictional love story about a Mexican country lass and Indian city dude who go on to matchmake ceviche and chaat. And quite successfully too, judging from the full-house crowds that made a reservation nigh impossible when this cartoon duo moved into a Craig Road shophouse last October.

At least until this year. While we couldn’t get in before, it now seems too easy, with even same-day (online only) bookings a cinch to make on most dates. Maybe the honeymoon is over and now the hard part begins, that is, proving that the fusion of Mexican and Indian cooking is more than just a shotgun marriage.

The jury was always out on whether Anand markets better than he cooks. And since he’s not personally in the house, it’s up to his bicultural avatars and a local team to manage the narrative. Visually, at least, it looks the part, although someone’s mother whose saris were swiped off her laundry line to drape across their ceiling might be none too pleased. The billowy floral fabric, neon signage, white feather dusters and accent tiles all come together in controlled colour chaos. It’s really a mess, but it sets the right tone of laidback, raucous fun.

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The staff may start off with a bit of a too-cool attitude, reminding you off the bat that you have only two hours to eat and make way for the next round of diners. There’s also some business about S$3 water but we can’t understand the server who seems to have swallowed a foreign accent and has been trying to cough it out since.

But as the evening wears on, they warm up and are a genuine, hardworking bunch. Especially the cheerful bartender who enunciates well and makes a fancy Darjeeling tea, gin and blueberry liqueur cocktail that’s a great match with the gamey, cheesy minced lamb keema quesadillas (S$24 a la carte) – one of the better dishes on the menu.

Otherwise, the food is a random, stream of consciousness mix and mismatch of food cliches that pass muster at best, and is amateurish at worst. Most of the creativity instead goes into the well-thumbed blue and yellow menus filled with caricatures of the said couple and pithy one-liners (“love at first bite”, “I don’t want to miss a thing”, “for wedding or a funeral”) to separate starters and mains.

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Since the a la carte portions can be pricey, first-timers are better off with the fixed-price menu that’s S$176 for two, with a S$15 supplement for Anand’s crab curry. It’s a quick run through of highlights so you can decide if there’s going to be a return visit or once is enough.

Spherification is so last decade but if you’re still new to the game, papdi chaat offers a quick recap of jellied molecular spheres that explode in intense flavours upon contact. Anand’s signature deconstruction of the street snack is a milky white sphere that doesn’t so much explode as wobble indecisively before releasing a spurt of sharp, spicy yoghurt. You’re meant to crunch on its hard cracker base simultaneously, but it all seems like too much effort for so little enjoyment.

Following the same misguided trail is cold curry ceviche – a strange, coconut cream-thickened tiger’s milk that envelopes raw scallops, avocado and corn in a white, gluey abyss so thick that you can’t hear the curry scream. 

We’re so glad when the chips and dips come, even if they’re a direct copy of nachos and guacamole. A bowlful of mixed crisps – not the freshest but we’re hungry – are piled over a layer of mashed avocado, with additional dips including a spicy cream cheese and pickled baby corn.

Also welcome are the aforementioned quesadillas – greasy and a tad limp, but comfortingly cheesy and meaty. Drizzle a few drops of the secret spicy sauce on the table – and we mean a few if you don’t want to paralyse your oesophagus because it is numbingly hot – and it really sizzles.

Fish tacos are ho-hum, as barramundi fillets are respectively marinated in herbs and chilli and grilled, served on perilla leaves instead of tortilla wraps. Again, the hot sauce helps to resuscitate the limp fillets.

We finally get real food with the biryani – spiced basmati with a protein boost of forgettable scallops and shrimp but a decent piece of beef tongue. It sort of goes with Anand’s crab curry, which tastes like mango chutney jumped into a pot of Thai green curry and refused to leave. But at least the crab tastes like crab.

On a sweet note, Ms. Maria makes some good churros – crisp and fluffy although the heavily scented cinnamon ice cream is a deal breaker.

Of course, the main draw of Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh is the name of their matchmaker. But that aside, the real question is whether this love affair will stand the test of time.

Rating: 5.5