To get to Snack Culture, be prepared for a long walk. That's because it's located at CT hub and the nearest MRT (1.2km walk away) is Lavender. Alternatively, there's a bus stop right outside CT hub that has bus 67, 145 among others. From the outside, it just looks like an ulu office/industrial building, you can't tell that the Snack Culture is lurking inside.
The restaurant itself is pretty small, seats about 30 at most and the far wall are shelves displaying their homemade goodies with a local twist e.g. cookies with flavors such as haebi hiam, laksa and rojak ($16.90 for a small jar). Unfortunately, as there wasn't much direct lighting, some of our photos didn't come out to par. We were desperately trying to use our phone torchlight as a backlight so that we could get the camera to focus properly - still trying to figure out how to operate our new cammie :/
Looks like the menu has changed a little since their opening. The Ter Kah Chor Scotch Egg and Har Jeong Soft Shell Crab Capellini were gone. In their place, Snack Culture has put in renditions of the Lobster Roll (but using squid) and Yangzhou Fried Rice. If you haven't done your research -- unlike us -- you can have a go at the riddles on the menu while waiting for your food. The answers would be provided, on plastic cards, just when your food arrives. It's an interesting concept, and a great conversation starter.
To our dismay, the Snack Culture doesn't serve tap water. Or perhaps the waitress thought we were atas people that only drank bottled water. Nevertheless, expecting lots of spicy food, we paid $6 for a 750ml bottle of Coralba? No idea what's that brand or why people need to drink bottled water in Singapore anyway. (Later on, we saw other tables being served glasses of water?! So we suppose they did have tap water after all.)
Here comes our starter: Japanese Edamame with Thai Tom Yum Espuma, essentially a non-traditional take on Tom Yum soup. Firstly instead of soup, what you get is a foamy delight that lingers on your tongue. With the addition of fragrant Rojak Flower (
bunga kantan), and the sweet edamame, which they leave you to peel for yourself, this creation packs a serious punch, albeit quite a spicy one. Sher's chili training seems to have paid off, she said it wasn't that spicy. Our only grouse was perhaps the tiny portion -- although mostly necessary in the grand scheme of things.
Next up, Korean Mandu in Singapore Bak Kut Teh Consomme. Served chilled, the consomme was the peppery variation of Bak Kut Teh with a mild aniseed flavor. This went nicely down our throats. Accompanying the clear broth, were two bite-sized pork dumplings that were juicy and tasty, but nothing too out of the ordinary.
For our third course, we had the Chilled Black Fungus & Mushroom Salad in Nonya Belachan Mayo Dressing, inspired by Nonya Chap Chye and the chef's wife who is Peranakan Chinese. This dish had a good kick of spice and left us reaching for our glass of water. Perhaps it was from drinking too much water, or the overly huge portion (its almost to the brim of the bowl), but we were half full by the time we were done with this dish. And we still had 5 more to go!
We were also offered extra belachan mayo, in case we desired more kick. Even if you are a fan of black fungus, we recommend adding more of the creamy sauce, it helps in making the spongy fungus more palatable. In the dish, there's also
jing zhen (should tie a knot to make it crunchier) and particularly potent tasting black mushrooms (S's most hated ingredient). There was also some fried sweet bean curd, which came as a welcome surprise to us.
For the fourth dish, we were served a trio of bite-sized Asian treats. We were instructed to start from the left and work our way to the right, as the flavors would get progressively stronger. The Vietnamese spring roll came deftly wrapped in rice paper, and was filled with tender bulgogi and mint leaves. It was served with the traditional sweet chili sauce.
In the middle, was the Ayam Buah Keluak Wanton. S' mom said that the buah keluak taste was quite mild. Apparently it's something of an acquired taste. But having never tasted Ayam Buah Keluak before, we could not identify any unique taste and so to us, it was just a normal, yummy chicken wonton.
Lastly but not least, was the highly raved dry laksa on a homemade haebi hiam cookie. The haebi hiam cookie was delightfully buttery like good old shortbread and the dried shrimp flavor was intense. Paired with the flavorful laksa spread (more laksa leaves please), we wished we could reach out for another one.
Upon reaching the halfway mark, we were treated to a take on one of our favorite Chinese New Year dishes -- Pen Cai. The tasty broth was made of only 2 ingredients - dried scallops & a secret ingredient that we didn't manage to guess and shan't spoil ;)
Unwrapping the intricately wrapped parcel to reveal the delicious goodies inside: scallop, mini abalone and that potent black mushroom again.
Next on the menu was a creation inspired by the popular lobster roll, but with local ingredients and spices - deep fried squid, a la Old Chang Kee, and salted egg yolk sauce. For garnishing and added flavor, we also had deep fried curry leaves i.e. the ones you find in your cereal prawns. Impressive looking dish, however, we found it a bit hard to eat as the squid would poke our faces. Hence, we resorted to using our knives to cut the squid up first.
Our 7th course was a culmination of Singaporean's favorite breakfast treat, Fan Choy, and Yang Zhou Fried Rice. Tri-colour Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), which resembled tiny grains not unlike couscous, was stir fried with typical fried rice ingredients such as char siu and french beans together with the atypical bulgogi that's laid on top. To eat, just chop it up and mix in the garnish. Careful though, the chili padi is extremely spicy (intentionally not de-seeded).
While we were having our Quinoa Fan Choy/Fried Rice, we could already smell the intense garlicky aroma of the this dish wafting from the kitchen. A play on the cajun seafood boil, our 8th dish was Seafood En Papillote (French for 'In Parchment') consisting of fresh prawns and mussels baked in a parchment paper pouch so that the seafood steams in their own juices and infuses with the piquant Louisiana seasoning. Instead of bread to soak up the delicious sauce, we were served one of the crispiest and lightest roti prata we've ever had.
Portions were pretty generous -- two prawns, 3 mussels and as much prata you can eat. The prawns were fresh and very easy to shell with just the fork and knife, although nothing's stopping you from getting your hands dirty. S kept reaching out for more prata (wonder how can he stomach this much food), and using them to soak up every last bit of the flavorful garlic broth.
To end off a delicious and wholly satisfying dinner, we were greeted by an innocent looking Chendol Panna Cotta. Coming after a severe Seafood En Papillote, the Snack Culture certainly doesn't hold back on the dessert. If you were expecting something light and refreshing, be warned that the Chendol Panna Cotta is anything but. Topped with thick and sweet gula melaka, the panna cotta is rich but a tad firm. In an act of homage to Chendol, we suspect some of the heavy cream/milk that traditionally goes into panna cotta was substituted with coconut cream/milk, giving the dessert a decadent finish.
Although you won't find luxurious ingredients such as truffle, lobster or foie gras at the Snack Culture, what you will be treated to instead is a creative take on familiar flavors that many Singaporeans can identify with. For a little over $6 per dish, the Snack Culture will dazzle you with its audacity and bold combinations, and we suppose you are in part paying for the intrigue as much as for the food.
The Snack Culture Company
Address: #02-17, CT Hub, 2 Kallang Avenue, 339407
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun, 9:00-19:00; Closed Sun
Website:
http://snackculture.com
Contact: +65 6443 2006
Damage: $49+/pax (u.p $59+/pax)
