Restaurant Review: Moonbow Serves Up Modern European Delights at Dempsey, Singapore
PUBLISHED March 2nd, 2021 05:00 am | UPDATED March 8th, 2021 02:27 pm
Hidden from the masses, Moonbow sits placidly at the corner of Dempsey Hill. The exterior is pleasantly decorated, with a small sign adorned with its logo – a blue semicircle in reference to its name. Entering through the doors, it’s a much different story, tastefully done in pastel colours and gold accents, and featuring ceramic plates made by Chef Heman Tan himself. The atmosphere promises an exquisite meal.
The restaurant features modern European cuisine with Asian influences, drawing on the Iron Man Chef’s extensive experience in the worlds of cooking and nutrition. Each menu item is beautifully created, using European cooking techniques to elevate presentation – but more importantly, each dish is a personal creation that represents a piece of Chef Heman’s life.
Before lunch starts, we’re treated to an amuse-bouche, a savoury cotton candy with sesame, nori, and edible flowers. The real courses begin with The Garden of Escargot (S$23++), which Chef Heman was inspired to create after seeing a snail appear along his running path one day. Each piece is carefully cooked and placed, from mushroom soil to delicate lychee pearls that mimic raindrops dotted on green leaves.
Another popular appetiser is the Moonbow Oyster Bay (S$10++ per piece), topped with yuzu granita and cooling cucumber pearls. Liquid nitrogen is poured on top as an added showstopper. For those getting used to the acquired taste of this seafood aphrodisiac, the Moonbow Oyster Bay is a perfect starter, a balance between ocean and citrus.
Moonbow also cooks up a rich and velvety Jerusalem Artichoke (S$25++) soup, served with a sous vide egg and caviar. The dish makes for a creamy meal, only emphasised by the gooey egg yolk running into the soup. A certified nutritionist, Chef Heman is careful to incorporate healthy but tasteful dishes into Moonbow’s menu. There’s also the Cauliflower Bloom (S$25++), which features the vegetable done five ways: made into a flavourful couscous, mashed and pureed, deep-fried and dehydrated. The dish is a health-nut’s dream, vegetarian-friendly with a little treat from the fried cauliflower.
Mains at Moonbow are taken seriously. The Tomahawk de Swine (S$68++) takes the cake, with a tenderly-cooked 4-day aged pork tomahawk chop, roasted garlic, pineapple compote and glazed with BBQ sauce. It’s a large portion, enough to share between two. The Black Silkie Poulet (S$38++) is a European take on the popular Chinese black chicken soup. The chicken is chargrilled, served with a wolfberry mash and heirloom tomatoes.
For some healthier options, Fermented Red Yeast Wine (S$38++) is a barramundi filet, cooked in fermented red glutinous rice and oyster mushrooms. While Chef Heman’s Black Berry 4 Grain Healthy Rice (S$38++ with roasted pork jowl, S$28++ with Impossible meat patties), specially created for and dedicated to his diabetic mother, sees a mix of grains and rice steamed with Chinese lap cheong sausage for a touch of sweetness.
Speaking of sweetness, Moonbow’s Treasure Drawer is a fitting name for its spread of elegantly-made confections. The Treasure Drawer desserts are eaten in a certain order, starting with an icy orange granita – cooked on the spot using liquid nitrogen once again – that serves as a palate cleanser from our savoury mains. Now onto the pistachio chocolate souffle, the heaviest but most delicious dessert on the Treasure Drawer. The pistachio-chocolate combination might fill you up, so the other fruit-based desserts are much lighter, including an apple crumble, and mango souffle.
Coupled with fun cocktails such as their Italian Connexion ($20++), which is Botanist Gin and orange bitters, or their Beet The Beat (S$20++), Espalon Blanco mixed with balsamic beetroot paint, Moonbow’s menu is artfully done, inspired by real stories and executed with raw flavours.
Moonbow is located at Block 10 Dempsey Road, #01-21, Singapore 247700, p. +65 9010 2717. Open Monday to Friday, 11.30am – 3pm (Last order at 2.30pm), 6pm – 10.30pm (Last order at 9.30pm). Open Saturday and Sunday, 10am – 3pm (Last order at 2.30pm), 6pm – 10.30pm (Last order at 9.30pm).
Top image: Moonbow interior
