Longtail: Delicious SE Asian street cuisine swoops in on Customs House

PUBLISHED February 9th, 2014 03:36 am | UPDATED May 18th, 2020 04:31 pm

For South East Asian street cuisine to go upmarket, it takes a restaurateur extra effort to pull it off, and much more good faith from customers to be willing to part with more bills than dimes. After all, a sit-down dinner experience that’s sanitised and elegant is a few gears divorced from the voracity, grim, convenience and affordability of street food.

But there are daring folks out there, such as Longtail – a new entrant at Customs House – which stares an inconspicuous market gap in the eye and throws down the gauntlet upon itself. Iconic street fare is given a modern yet humble update, resulting in an array of bites that are refreshing and creative without losing what makes them quintessentially South East Asian. The authentic flavours of Laos, Thailand and Vietnam converge at this one-stop addition to the dazzling dining scene that is Marina Bay.

‘Why hasn’t someone thought of this before?’, was the first thought that came to mind as I was gnawing on a Green Curry Bao ($7 for two) from a dim sum basket. It was a moist, lemongrass-laced mishmash of carrots and chicken encased by a fluffy white crown, gone faster than you can say ‘baoller’.

‘Is this only $14?,  filled my thought bubble as a wooden platter of Grilled Pork Shoulder ($14) swerved onto our harbour-facing bar-top table. Strips of generously fatty pork given not just a kiss of the grill, but a full-on, amorous smooch with rolling flames, made my tongue tingle like a tuning fork when they were dipped in a mason jar of tamarind-chilli sauce. When we’re talking spicy, tangy, salty and sweet dancing such a fine balance, shedding a tear was nothing. And that’s before we even conquered the mains.

Seriously, do not give Longtail’s East-Meets-West Massaman Lamb Shank ($21.50) a miss. It’s one of those comfort dishes that you need after a breakup, a bad exam or a stinking day at work. Potatoes stewed till they’re part of a rich brown sauce, serves as an undertow screaming for rice to mop up the goodness. Let’s not forget the lamb shank verging on monumental, textbook-perfect from the angle it tears off the bone to the tender texture it manages to achieve.

More, chunkier chicken would have been the only gripe for another must-order dish – Grandma’s Chicken Rice ($16). It’s a bibimbap-style stone rice bowl, topped with a sunny-side up.  As you toss the rice together with orbs of chicken and discs of Chinese sausage, the heady aromas of rice wine and soy provide an enticing prelude to bites of a wet, savoury-sweet mix of ingredients, a mix that conjures emotions that make the ‘Grandma’s’ tag a meaningful one.

Some bar bites fall marginally below expectations. Cheekily-named ‘Bangkok Balls’ ($12) of ground chicken and pork were smothered in an overly-sweet dark syrup, whilst true-to-form ‘Bo La Lat’ ($15) wasn’t quite true to taste. The little cigars of ground beef wrapped in betel leaves could use some seasoning or a more powerful sweet-and-sour sauce.

Desserts do not veer off too far in imagination – icy sweets and cut fruit seem more like pedestrian menu-fillers than culinary statements worth a double-take. Much more heart went into curating a beverage menu that seems intent to ensure all manners of taste and preferences are accommodated. Fruity mocktails, Sangria pitchers and tropical Mojitos shout ladies’ night, while wasabi-spiked martinis, craft beers, and barrel-aged Negronis balance out the yang. During Longtail’s Happy Hour (4-8pm all days except Sunday), an extremely affordable tipple selection of wines and draught beer make for romantic day-to-dusk people-watching.

In our view, Longtail has managed to inject as much new life into Customs House as much as it has into a wide array of well-known Southeast Asian classics. Extra points for effort, but more importantly, for remaining simple and delicious.

Read more at CÉ LA VI: Sky high modern Asian cuisine and Arbite: European food with a Singaporean twist in Serangoon Gardens