When chef Dylan Ong started Saveur with fellow chef Joshua Khoo in 2011, it was to serve quality French food at affordable prices.
It grew into multiple restaurants, which they have since sold. But chef Ong is still sticking to his guns. He has even named the restaurant he now runs, in Beach Road, The Masses.
He and his team are not just winning the delivery game in this time of coronavirus, they are crushing it; by turning out delicious, well-priced food with French, Japanese and Singaporean accents.
With almost every dish, there is a little added detail or a lick of luxury, or both.
Take The Masses Lu Rou Fan ($16.90). This Taiwanese dish of braised pork over rice is very hard to nail. Either the pork is dry, or the braise is too sweet. The restaurant’s version is hearty and savoury. Better yet, the rice is a flavour bomb, cooked with kombu, mirin, rice vinegar and a little drizzle of garlic oil.
I am not kidding when I say the rice is good on its own. Then because the pork can be a bit overwhelming, there is a layer of pickled eggplant over the rice. Bright and tangy, it cuts the richness, making it possible to eat the whole bowl without experiencing food coma. Details matter. And if you are aghast at the puffed strips of pork skin that accompany the dish, give them to me.
Char Siew Lamb Rib Rice Bowl ($18.90) catches my eye. The meat, alas, is not gamey at all, which means it will please everyone else. But the shiny char siew glaze is on point, more savoury than sweet.
A new item on the delivery menu is A4 Premium Wagyu Sirloin Don ($39.90). The beef, with a good layer of expertly charred fat, is juicy. It is served on olive rice, with a tangle of duck fat potatoes and a ramen egg. Add on two Caramelised Pork Pithiviers, the restaurant’s version of char siew sou, for $49.90. I love the pickled rose radish and cucumber served alongside. To gild the lily further, the wagyu don with uni is $49.90, and $53.90 with uni and ikura.
Two other dishes stand out.
I finish every last bit of Chawanmushi with morel mushrooms, uni and ikura ($20.90); relishing every spoonful because every element is a different degree of velvety.
And I remember chef Ong’s affordable French food mission in Braised Purple Cabbage ($14.90), with scallop, ikura and prawn head butter. It is the dashi beurre blanc, perfectly made and with enough acidity, that transports me. The cabbage is tender and swoonsome with the butter and the sauce.
You one-percenters can bask in your champagne and caviar. We, the masses, are eating very well indeed.
HOW TO ORDER
Go to order.themasses.sg to order
DELIVERY CHARGE
Free delivery for orders above $100, delivery costs $5 for orders $50 to $100, and $7 for orders less than $50.
RATING
4.5
Go to ST Food for more trusted reviews and recipes
Read the latest on the Covid-19 situation in Singapore and beyond on our dedicated site here.
Get The Straits Times app and receive breaking news alerts and more. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now.
Source: Read Full Article