Singapore food gets a fresh spin at Orangutan in Fortune Centre

NEW RESTAURANT

Orangutan by Laut #03-05 Fortune Centre 190 Middle Road Singapore 188979 Reservations: @orangutan_orangutan on Instagram Open for dinner only Wed to Sat: 7 to 9 pm

[SINGAPORE] Fortune Centre has an odd vibe. It feels like we could die here, and not be discovered until maybe the next Chinese New Year spring cleaning – or a rat inspection.

Once the go-to for religious artefacts and vegetarian char siew, it’s now earning street cred as a hub for enterprising F&B operators with more creativity than cash.

Step out of its nightmarish car park and you’re visually assaulted by a haphazard maze of Japanese lantern-lit izakayas, sake bars and pasta joints – sharing corridor space with old-school canteens, fortune tellers and a shop that still makes the kind of sports trophies you haven’t seen since primary school.

One darkened unit has a sign offering secretarial services, including faxing. We don’t doubt its ability to fax, but wonder who still has a machine on the receiving end.

But while we fuss about the gloriously unappealing ambience of it all, it appears that Fortune Centre is exactly where imagination thrives. In a clear case of talent outshining its surroundings, we find Orangutan, a tiny speakeasy that punches well above its weight.

And it’s not even a restaurant. Orangutan is a pop-up that sits inside Laut, a gastrobar that has been serving Asian-inspired cocktails and food for the past few years.

Owner Leon Tan still mans the bar but inside the kitchen is Marcus Tan, a former Kotuwa chef who’s cooking for the next few months while waiting to open his own place.

SEE ALSO

67 on Scotts doubles as restaurant and event space

There’s nothing wildlife-related about the name – just a catchy moniker reflecting Tan’s free-style approach to Singaporean and South-east Asian cuisine and ingredients, pulling from his own memories and experience.

The menu, comfortably priced at S$98, is brazen in its audacity (think chicken livers in rojak), yet Tan has a knack for seeing familiarity from a different perspective. And that’s what makes his food intrinsically appealing: because you never know what he’s going to dream up next.

Otak buns are one thing. But take the otak out of the bun and you have warm fluffy rolls paired with a perfect blend of spicy fish paste and butter. The zing of the otak is spot-on authentic, and the butter is there to remind you that it’s a spread.

Poached chicken liver and rojak is an off-the-wall combination that actually works – sort of. The rich creaminess of the offal gives depth and texture to the shredded bangkwang and jackfruit tossed in thick sweet rojak sauce, but there’s too much of it. We’re inclined to push it away just to enjoy the refreshing salad on its own.

Same with the cold laksa broth with three types of sashimi. Serving the laksa broth cold is a clever idea, especially with the cucumber granita, but the raw red shrimp, scallop and yellowtail is a bit awkward – like a Japanese tourist having his first taste of laksa. The shrimp and hamachi adapt well enough, but the scallop is a third wheel.

A main course of meat, greens, rice and soup rounds off the meal. It feels like a short menu, but you won’t leave hungry.

Try to resist a second helping of feathery light coriander basmati rice as you dig into braised wagyu cheek in a black bean and buah keluak sauce.

Fork-tender and gelatinous, the beef is steeped in an intense gravy that is surprisingly light. Soft-yolked quail eggs and ribbons of dried yuba add more bite.

A “market bean” salad can be polarising. But this mix of raw bean sprouts, wing beans and other fresh legumes in a perfumed tofu dressing and crisp anchovies easily fills your daily green quota.

But Tan’s hee piow soup meets tori paitan is a keeper. Thick, collagen-rich broth cuddles a bouncy “bakwan” and pieces of fish maw, topped with bitter gourd slices to keep the richness under control.

To end off, a panna cotta of brown rice milk has pearls to chew on, bitter chrysanthemum to balance the sweetness and pickled longan. Why? Because he’s imaginative and it all works.

If Singaporean chefs are having a moment, Tan is on his way up. He doesn’t make grand gestures, has a self-effacing nature that belies the sophistication of his cooking – and he makes you want more of it. His stage at Fortune Centre may be small now, but it won’t stay that way.

Rating: 7