THE TEMPT REVIEW

Tempt was barely 2 weeks old when our buddies, The Fleischers, invited us there for dinner. Housed in an old 2-storey shophouse along Purvis Street, the dimly lit space exuded a charm quite unlike the others along the same street. There was zero social media presence. Is it French? Italian? Asian? Nobody knew. It was like going on a blind date!

The menu isn’t very big. But read like a multi cultural bible of ingredients. From Japanese soy milk, to Spanish jamón, Greek fish to German lard and Chinese sprouts, among many others. We picked out a number of dishes which Owner- chef Candice supportively approved. More on her later!

SCHEXY SCHMALZ ~ After some complimentary rice paper chips to nibble on, our first starter promptly arrived. One of my favorite snacks from Germany, Tempt’s Schexy Schmalz of homemade rendered pork lard with crackling was the last thing I’d expected to find in Singapore! We wiped the chilled gunky fatty spread onto the rustic sourdough bread. It bore a warm fragrance of pork flavor, and contained tiny specks of crunchy crackling. Absolutely delicious and addictive!

OXTAIL CROQUETTES ~ Admittedly, I do not give croquettes enough credit; choosing to skip this pimped up mash potato dish 9 out of 10 times, unless it is highly recommended. Well… Tempt pimped their croquettes with one of my favorite beef cuts, oxtail meat; then further flavors the humble spud with Asian Laksa leaf, giving the perfectly fried creamy beefy croquette an aromatically sweet & citrusy local touch. I’m converted!

PUFFED BEEF TENDONS~ Why have bread when you can have beef tendon crackling? Jamon on crunchy beef tendon puff seems like the smarter option all along. Think smooth oily Spanish ham on an airy light crackling made from beef tendon (#jawdrop the last thing I’d imagine beef tendons to evolve into are puffs!); further heightened with a little explosion of caviar. All in one mouthful! The beef tendon puff bore hardly any beefy flavor. But the lightly crisp texture was extraordinary with the ham and caviar.

KANGAROO TARTARE ~ A first for me, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to try this! Marinated in green peppercorn oil with toasted quinoa mixed in; served with pickled yellow beets and pickled garlic puree. The Roo Tartare was nothing like any tartares I’ve tasted. Contrary and further assured by Candice, the Roo meat was not gamey at all. It did not have a strong flavor and I would have been at a loss in guessing what meat it was if I hadn’t known. Having said that, it was beautifully seasoned. The meat was chopped to a fine and smooth finish. The accompaniments added zing to the otherwise clean flavor. I did not have high hopes for this, having tasted very unmemorable kangaroo meat countless times; but this had surpassed my expectations.

15-MINUTE EGG ~ We are a bunch of eggdicts and we’re not ashamed to admit it! So put an egg on the menu and chances are, we’ll order it! And who doesn’t love an immaculately Sous vid-ed egg broken into cured tuna heart shavings and meaty mushrooms cooked in a slurry brown sauce. Unfortunately, instead of highlighting the dish with its brined savoriness, the tuna heart got somewhat lost in all that mushroom and egg porn! Though the whole concoction did not come up as exciting as I had wished, it was still very decent. The mushrooms were very nicely cooked with aplomb.

A little soup is always welcomed. And we had a taste of both the 5-INGREDIENT CREAMY LOBSTER BROTH , and the JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE VELOUTE ~ While the Lobster broth was an explosively umami beach party in the mouth; the Artichoke veloute was a warm woody tummy warmer. We all preferred the beach party!

VEAL TONGUE ~ While it did not agree with everyone of us, I personally did not have an issue with the veal tongue despite its slight gaminess. It was soft with a tender bounce. The watercress salsa adds warm herbal after notes while the goji berries, a tinge of sweetness.

HAY SMOKED PORK BELLY ~ Sweet fruity marinade contrasts the savory flavor of the pork belly. I really enjoyed this… the meat isn’t overly fatty; hay smoking gives it an earthy finish. The meat is tender yet gives a firm bite. I liked that the sweetness isn’t derived from sugar but from fragrant Jambu Air, a juicy fruit otherwise known as Rose Apple. The sweetness is clean and crisp, much like a pear’s. Very good pork!

Listen to Candice talk about this fantastic beef ribs!

BBQ BEEF SHORTRIB ~ My favorite dish of the evening would be this excellent beef rib. Broiled to tear-apart tenderness. The beef is grilled with a fruity bbq glaze that compliments the rich beefiness of the meat. Very juicy, and superbly delicious. The accompanying baby corn was crispy and sweet; it’s nice, but simply too small!

TEMPT’S ADULT “BOUNTY” CHOCOLATE BAR ~ Made with shredded coconut, Malibu coconut liqueur and ice cream, coated in dark chocolate shell. The only person in our group that loathes the original Bounty Chocolate Bar practically ate this entire Bounty Chocolate Bar by himself! I guess that explains how good it was!

CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE ~ Another liquor laced dessert in the form of everyone’s favorite Lava Cake. Needless to say, this was a hit! Warm oozy chocolate within a crusty cake and ice cream. What’s not to love!?

ROASTED BEETROOT ~ This was a challenging one.. and produced different opinions from all. Goat cheese gelato was hard to swallow for some, and let’s be honest, beetroot really isn’t the first thing you think of when it comes to desserts! Plus the Sichuan peppercorn, buckwheat and kombucha, the entire combo feels like a romance novel with more than one love triangle! Do I love it? Do I not? Every element you can imagine is in there, sweet, tongue numbing and woody flavors against cheesy, sour, bitterish notes. I had to keep eating to decide if I liked it; and in the end, I ate it all..!

Owner Chef Candice Leong sharing her bottled-up passions!

Tempt is truly an exciting place to dine at. The food is exceptionally creative; the flavors are never straight up savory or sweet, spicy or sour. There is depth in every component which keeps you guessing why you like what you liked. And the most incredulous spices and ingredients are used if just to warp your mind when you eat! The restaurant is spacious and trendy, playing with the rawness of everything from floor to walls. A gorgeous private dining area on the second level makes you wanna throw a private party the very next day! Owner, Candice, is a contagiously affectionate person. Catch her in action from serving to topping up wine, to sharing stories from her vividly colorful life experiences, especially when it’s about food! She hasn’t decided what she wants to call the food served at Tempt.. but frankly, do you really need to put a name to it when they taste this good?