Five of us gathered for lunch at One Bowl restaurant at The Sultan hotel along Jalan Sultan in Singapore. (Two were repeat customers to this month old little restaurant 😄 ) The menu consists of familiar dishes from owner Tammie Loke's personal repertoire. We enjoyed ourselves as the food was tasty and reasonably priced for the ambiance and location.
The Sultan is a pretty boutique hotel along Jalan Sultan (looking charming
One Bowl is on the ground level. Once you entered through the front door of The Sultan, just walk straight ahead (entrance of One Bowl is just to the left of the hotel reception as you walk in).
The space inside is quite compact, the decor is understated but elegant. Chinese ceramic bowls and soup spoons cleverly arranged to look like the sun and stars, or is it flowers and starfish 😄 The chairs are sturdy and comfortable. I especially like the heavy raw wooden tables cut straight from logs.
I was early but all the seats quickly filled up on this Sunday noon. The atmosphere was cheerful and casual. Carefree banter rang around the intimate space like an echo chamber. A large happy group was celebrating a birthday when we were there.
The menu is eclectic. They are home chef turned restaurateur Tammie Loke's private repertoire - personal interpretations of familiar local favourites. The taste profile of the dishes have the strong personal stamp of Ms Tammie.
Five of us, we ordered 6 dishes to taste and share.
First to arrive were these highly regarded two-bite size, Signature Charsiew Mantou.
The well marinated pork belly with fat and lean meat was roasted till the juicy meat was almost mushy tender. The fat melted into savoury sweet gravy when warmed inside our mouth. Buddy Jill aptly described it as "cottony melt" laced with honeyed sweetness. The dominant savoury sweet flavours were from the marinade.
The little fried bun, crisp golden brown outside and tender spongy inside added more sweetness to the dish which everybody enjoyed.
Signature Char Siew Rice.
The fatty char siew that won our hearts earlier made an encore appearance, set on a royal yellow sheet of sautéed beaten egg. It's half the battle won already.
The fried rice underneath the egg and char siew was nice. I like it that the rice were in discrete separate grains, with the right moistness, punctuated with gritty toasty caramelised bits here and there. Layers of savouriness in the garlic fried rice balanced with savoury sweetness from the char siew. The rice was a tad greasy but we all still liked this dish.
Signature Char Siew Noodles.
The same delectable char siew - win already lor.... 😄 It's called Char Siew Noodles, after all.
I didn't ask Ms Tammie Loke what does One Bowl mean - maybe it means one bowl of char siew is not enough 😛
I tossed the slender egg noodles in the sauce vigorously and diligently, but there doesn't seemed to be enough to moisten up the noodles fully. I like my egg noodles done al dente but this felt slightly stiff, approaching wiry. The greasy sauce which tasted of a blend of savouriness with sesame oil aroma, was a little flat.
No wanton soup with this noodle, but a homely corn and cabbage soup.
Tofu.
We were chatting and enjoying each other's company, and I forget to pay attention to how the tofu tasted 😂
But, all of the rest said they liked it as the savoury sauce and the soft tofu whites inside were nice. (One of you ate my tofu issit, hah? 😕 )
Pig Trotters in Vinegar and Ginger.
Not very photogenic but packed with pungent robust flavours and distinctive aromas of this familiar homely dish (often served as a confinement tonic).
The taste of vinegar and ginger was strong - it affected how I tasted the rest of the dishes 😂 So, next time I shall leave this dish to the last.
The pork trotters were stewed till the meat fell off the bone and soft as moisten bread.
The flavours were intense and I could easy eat two bowls of plain rice just with this and thoroughly enjoy it. (The plain boiled white rice which I didn't take a picture of, was very nicely done - tender and subtly nutty.)
If I come back alone, this will be my order.
On the waiter's suggestion, we had these greens stir fried in oyster sauce and slices of garlic. It's just like how mum or dad does it at home.
Our bill. We thought the price was reasonable for the food and drinks we had in a nice place like The Sultan hotel.
Restaurant name: One Bowl
Address: 101 Jalan Sultan, The Sultan Hotel lobby, Singapore 199002
GPS: 1°18'11.9"N 103°51'40.0"E | 1.303300, 103.861121
Tel: 6291 9020
Hours: 7:30am - 10:00pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 21 Jan 2018
One Bowl at The Sultan is steps to the south of the beautiful Masjid Malabar at the intersection of Victoria Street and Jalan Sultan.
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