Superb Views of one of the Fastest Straights of the Singapore Grand Prix Circuit at Me@OUE
Me@OUE, Singapore’s leading open-kitchen-concept restaurant and lounge, located in the middle of the world-famous Marina Bay, is one of the most stunning locations to catch the Singapore Formula One action this September.
On Friday, 18 September, Saturday, 19 September and Sunday, 20 September, guests heading up to Me@OUE’s rooftop lounge will be treated to one of the best views of the Esplanade…
Linguine Pasta with Bell Pepper Coulis, Bell Pepper Confit and Iberico Chorizo
Me@OUE is a joint venture between Overseas Union Enterprise Limited, foodcourt operator Food Junction and broadcaster MediaCorp, intent on becoming the place to spot "celebrities and head honchos". Located in the central business district of Singapore and overlooking the Marina Bay, the investors spared no expense to ensure the best possible setup for the restaurant to succeed.
But in this little island where hawkers trump Gordon Ramsey, the food is where it counts most. With three acclaimed chefs - Chef Justin Hor of the Oriental Group of restaurants and Michelin-starred chefs Chef Masayasu Yonemura and Chef Laurent Peugeot - Me@OUE definitely has that angle covered. Still, how exactly does one restaurant attempt to serve up three very different menus by three different chefs?
The first thing that struck us when we walked in was the very large and well-staffed open kitchen, which easily took up a third of the floor space. No surprise, considering they have to execute three separate cuisines - Chinese, Japanese and French. You, as a diner, get to mix and match different dishes from whichever menu you want. Which is exactly what we did.
Chinese Kitchen
This baked cod in whole orange was beautifully presented and tasted as good as it looked. The buttery cod paired perfectly with zesty orange and pomelo segments, and just as the citrus zing hits your tongue, you experience a sudden heat rush from finely diced green chili padi. Sublime.
This double-boiled superior fish soup made from shark fin bone in young coconut was a familiar flavour, reminding me of the version we had at Pin Si - yet different, the coconut lending a pleasant subtle sweetness to the collagen-filled soup.
Japanese Kitchen
Sashimi pretty much has to pass two only criteria to please me: freshness and thickness. Me@OUE checked both boxes off easily, with the ootoro (tuna belly) deserving of special mention. Absolutely melt-in-the-mouth.
Slap foie gras on top of anything, and I'll eat it. I'm partial to my goose liver, and while I'm allergic to eel, the tiny bit I ate was tasty and the daikon radish hidden underneath utterly delicious, having soaked up all that soy-mirin sauce.
The seared duck breast with Japanese leek geleé and miso and mustard sauce didn't fare as well. Individually, the components were good - we especially enjoyed the sweet/savoury leeks - but the combination with the tangy mustard was odd.
Easily the most expensive dish on the menu at a whopping $195, the Saga A5 Wagyu tenderloin was well executed and needed nothing more than a sprinkle of sea salt to enhance its flavours.
French Kitchen
This salad appetiser reminded me of Jaan's Tea Spring Version, with delicately shaved vegetables. The star of this dish was definitely the the goat's cheese espuma, a creamy base of foam that provided the perfect counterpoint to the crunchy vegetables.
While the orange and pomelo segments did well in the cod dish, their acidity was rather unwelcome in this one, intensifying the sourness of the marinated sea bass carpaccio to the point where it was mouth-puckering.
Despite a few misses, we left satisfied. But to be perfectly honest, the hefty price tag attached to a meal here is a great deterrent to a return visit. Thankfully, Me@OUE serves up reasonably priced set lunches ($48++ for two courses, $58++ for three courses), a real steal for a menu designed by Michelin-starred chefs.
Me@OUE is located at 50 Collyer Quay, Level 19, OUE Bayfront.
Perak-born, Kuala Lumpur-based Malaysian chef Justin Hor started his culinary journey when he was just 13 years of age, having trained in the blazing-hot kitchens of several prominent Chinese restaurants in Kuala Lumpur. He headed the Chinese kitchen at the six-star Tower Club in Singapore for a few years and later returned to Kuala Lumpur to start the Oriental Group of restaurants.
Chef Hor most recently joined swanky ME@OUE as one of its resident guest chefs, along with fellow chefs Laurent Peugeot (of LP+Tetsu) and Masayasu Yonemura (of Restaurant Yonemura fame). He shuttles regularly between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, and we managed to catch him for a quick chat over the new venture as well as some of the latest menu additions at ME@OUE.
1. What attracted you to be part of ME@OUE?
You can call it fate. This restaurant was designed to combine three different cuisines together under one roof - Chinese, Japanese and French - and the concept was very attractive to me.
In the culinary world - at least in Southeast Asia - the concept of three different chefs from totally different backgrounds working on a single menu in a single venue is very new. And since no chef can be good at every cuisine, this is a great way to be able to offer customers the opportunity to be able to mix and match top-notch dishes from three different cuisines, either from our set or ala-carte menus.
I'm pretty sure we can attract customers with such a concept, but that said, we still need to try very hard to make it work.
2. Why do you say so? It sounds like you've faced some challenges in the kitchen.
We definitely had challenges! But the difficulty wasn't so much the fact we can't work together. After all we work in our individual spaces in the kitchen.
The biggest challenge lies in the area of logistics.
As a Malaysian Chinese, I bring Malaysian-style Chinese food to the table. But we have our way of preparing the food. That means we require different equipment, use different cooking techniques, and perhaps more importantly, we can use completely different ingredients from our Japanese and French sections.
For example, I import produce from Malaysia such as river fish and prawns - but these can't be used in the other sections. Logistically, it's challenging.
3. You say you work in different sections in the kitchen. How can chefs Yonemura, Peugeot and you, along with ME@OUE executive chef William Wong, then work together to produce a cohesive menu for the restaurant?
Our cuisines may be very different, but we share a similar philosophy in the preparation of our food.
The approach was very simple - let's focus on our individual cuisines. But let's bring out all the classic flavours from each cuisine, while adding a touch of modernity in terms of preparation, the use of ingredients as well as presentation.
Let's take one of my specialties here at ME@OUE, the pan-seared abalone (above). In our part of the world, we're more familiar with abalone being braised, Hong Kong-style. But pan-frying the abalone brings out its delicate flavours, and this way it pairs better with wine. It's a modern interpretation of the traditional dish, yet retains its familiar flavours. When you eat it you know its cooked in classical Chinese style.
Another one of our dishes is lightly baked cod served with pomelo and orange (above). Pomelo is a fruit that's widely available in Ipoh, Malaysia, yet its addition in a fish dish provides a different culinary experience for diners, but is still comfortingly familiar. Look at it as high-end Malaysian Chinese cuisine!
Both these are appetizers on our new set menu.
4. What other ingredients have you used that are not commonly found in Chinese cuisine?
I've used truffle oil and Iberico pork, for example. But despite the use of such ingredients you'd still identify the Chinese roots in my dishes. And I don't think of it as fusion food; it's modernization of food.
Many people ask me what the future of Chinese food, or Malaysian/Singapore Chinese food, will be. I think we shouldn't change the foundations of what Chinese food is, but we certainly can tweak in terms of presentation, as well as incorporating new ingredients and cooking methods.
I've been in the industry for 30 years. Every day I interact with customers and my peers - I take all that feedback and put it into my recipes.
5. If there's one observation you can make about the culinary world, what would that be?
Many people miss the flavours of old - they reminisce about the food and flavours they had when they were younger, and many remark how food has changed since.
There's nothing wrong with that. But we should open up our minds and embrace the new culinary normal. Try different things. It's part of what we try to offer here at ME@OUE.
