plusixfive – is a pioneering Southeast Asian supperclub and the one and only Singapore supperclub in London. Set up to generally dispel myths of Singapore Food – No, they do not eat curry powder flavoured luminous radioactive yellow Singapore fried noodles. And also generally challenging the boundaries of what people eat – they have served up traditional Singapore favourites from pig offals (cheeks, brains, stomachs) to fish head curries to astonished and converted foodies all round.
Its been featured in the Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/in-the-know/london-dining/9369027/secret-dining-club-london.html), Business Times Singapore, Singapore Airlines magazine, TimeOut London (http://plusixfive.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/we-are-in-timeout-come-on-really-stop-it/ ) and by several of our favourite bloggers here at Mise . It was was recently crowned 2nd place in NomNomNom 2012 a Masterchef-style competition judged by Anna Hansen MBE and Martin Morales of Ceviche.
So if you are craving food you cannot find in London (kueh pie tee and lorh ark) or stuff u can find in London but just doesnt really hit the Singapore spot (beef rendang) or something with a bit of a twist (tehtarik ice cream/ cornflakecookies, gula melaka ice cream sago)… Then plussixfive is the superclub for you, follow them on twitter @plusixfive
Which is the last restaurant you visited and what were your thoughts?
Viajante. We went for lunch and at 35 pounds, I cannot think of
anywhere I have eaten for better value. It was advertised as a three
course meal but by the end of it, we were served about 9 over courses
including all the amuse, pre-desserts, petit fours and bread. Oh and
that bread. Geez. If they started a Viajante Bakery selling nothing
but that potato bread, they probably could have listed on the stock
exchange by now. It was remarkable. The first thing you realise when
you pick it up is how light it was. And with a hopelessly thin crust
and light as a feather chewiness, it was possibly, no heck, it was
DEFINITELY the best bread ive ever had. I would go back JUST for the
bread. If Viajante is reading this, I would do anything to learn how
to bake that.
ANYTHING.
Which is your favourite local restaurant?
Eagle at Farringdon is probably my favourite local. I think it was the
first gastropub in London and I have been going there for the better
part of the past 5 years. Its friendly, unpretentious and reliable
food, bit messy and noisy, slightly wonky chairs and tables but
absolutely and totally charming.
Super Clubs are a great way to try new food and meet people in a relaxed environment, what made you want to start one?
I started this here predominantly because I was sick and tired of
people asking me what Singaporeans eat and always assuming we eat
Singaporean fried noodles (his strange UK/ HongKong invention). And I
was annoyed that people knew what thai food was… what malaysian food
was… what vietnamese food was but yet had no real clue as to what
Singaporean cuisine was. And also there arent any real Singaporean
restaurants in London too which serve up what I serve and at the
standard which I would expect from a Singaporean restaurant.
Also, I am from Southeast Asia. We love feeding people. I was born this way.
What annoys you in the hospitality industry at the moment?
In the restaurant scene, what really gets me is how everyone is now
talking about the provenance of their food as if it would/ should aid
in the taste of the food itself and often using it was an excuse to
raise prices of the meal.
I dont mind knowing where my chicken came from or who harvested the
prawns or how far the carrots travelled to reach me but that should
not be a substitute for the taste of the food itself. Good food should
comfort, excite, and above all, not take itself too seriously. When
chefs/waiters harp on and on the history of the dish in front of me,
it really puts me off. At the end of the day, all we really, really
care about is whether it tastes good. My chicken might have come from
a farmer who massages his 12 chicken every morning and reads them
bedtime stories at night and feeds them hand harvested grain and
charcoal hand distilled water but who gives a crap if whatever is on
my plate tastes rubbish.
If i wanted a good story, I would go watch a movie by Christopher Nolan.
What personal attributes do you think make a good chef?
An incredibly anal/ pedantic/ mildly obsessive compulsive personality
and of course an passion for feeding people which probably borders on
clinically insanity. You also need to love relationships,
communication and human beings. As cheesey as it sounds, cooking and
feeding people is a conversation with the people you are feeding and
it brings communities together. If you have absolutely no regard for
human relationships, your cooking will probably be soulless as the act
of eating will become a mere means of sustenance.
How has blogging changed your perspective on eating out??
Definitely. Previously you would rely on a few top restaurant critics
you read in the papers on where to go and where to eat but you always
wondered if they have the same palate as you. Or whether they got
better treatment because of who they were (especially if they were not
anonymous). With bloggers, some of them are especially down to earth
and are people you can relate to and I have ended up friends with.
And you would always trust your friend’s palate more than that
photoshopped glamour shot photo of the critic you see in the papers.
What are your thoughts on the whole Pop Up Restaurant scene?
Its awesome. Like how graffiti took art from the posh galleries and
made it flat, democratic and free for everyone, most pop up
restaurants give everyone an all-access pass to savour food which they
ordinarily would not be able to.
Especially when you get top chefs from expensive restaurants doing pop
up events for a fraction of the price of what you get in the
restaurant but often of the same high quality and minus the snooty
service, stiff table linen and silver cutlery. Unless you are the
Queen, who needs them.
Current favourite is ex-Roganic chef, Ben Spalding’s StrippedBack.
Restaurant quality food served on rickety tables in the playground of
a children’s school at London fields.
Which Chef (Chefs) do you most admire?
I am not sure I have one. Well definitely not anyone that is famous (yet?).
As cheesy as it sounds, my grandmother and my mom probably inspired me
the most. Their love for others really shone through in their cooking.
And everything I do now, I try to impart and channel a little bit of
that.
People I now admire are friends like Jason
(http://www.feasttotheworld.com) and ShuHan
(http://mummyicancook.blogspot.co.uk/) who cook obsessively and
compulsively and document their recipes religiously.
They dont need to do what they are doing. They are not getting paid
for it. It is not their day jobs. They are at the prime of their lifes
and heck they could be out there having sex drugs and rock and roll.
But instead, their mad intense passion for food drives them to do what
they do.
People always ask chefs what their last meal on earth would be… Instead, if you had to cook one last meal (the last dish ever!) what would it be and why?
I would cook Chwee Kueh
(http://plusixfive.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/recipes-chwee-kueh-water-rice-cakes-with-preserved-turnip/).
If I were serving Singaporeans, you cannot get more nostalgic then
this. We eat this lard based garlic dried chilli and dried prawn
infused preserved turnip with rice cakes for breakfast. Now that is a
breakfast for champions. Beat that, Eggs Benedict.
If I were serving non-Singaporeans, I love challenging their notions
of what we eat for breakfast and also the texture of what they are
used to. At my supperclub, theres always one person who squelches up
their face and go, “eww! preserved turnip?! on what? a gooey rice
cake?!” But their look of disgust turns to euphoria and surprise when
they take their first bite into the pillowy soft semi translucent rice
cake and crunch on that savoury oily hit from the chai poh (preserved
turnip) and take a wiff of the subtle gentle garlickiness.
Thanks so much!
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