For breakfast and brunch, we highly recommend its Sri Lankan Chicken Curry with String Hoppers which features a fiery Sri Lankan chicken curry served with string hoppers and tomato and date chutney. Paired with a Kampong chicken thigh, this is truly a nostalgic dish that will have you craving more. 

Of course, many Indian dishes place a strong focus on vegetarian dishes and Rempapa delivers with its delectable Chickpea curry that can be paired with either strong hoppers or crispy roti that has been fried to perfection in ghee. 

Surprisingly, the highlight of its breakfast and brunch menus is not one of D’Silva’s but one that comes from his staff. Ever the teacher, D’Silva has passionately encouraged his fellow chefs to put forth their best heritage dishes and has featured some of them on his menus at Rempapa.

One of these is its Stir-fried Chee Cheong Fun which is fried chee cheong fun with prawns, egg, and yellow chives. Created by Ah Seng, a young chef at Rempapa, this dish originates from Penang and is reminiscent of local carrot cake or char kway teow. With a distinct wok hei and a strong flavour profile, this is one dish you should not miss. 

Moving on to its lunch dishes, a must-try is D’Silva’s rendition of Nasi Lemak which features coconut rice with sambal, silverfish, egg, and sliced cucumber. Guests can choose either deep-fried Kumpong chicken thigh or fried selar fish to go with their meal.

While the dish holds firmly to its classic flavours and presentations, the older generation might notice the way D’Silva chooses to use broken Jasmine rice, which was used in the days of coastal kampongs simply because it was more economical.

The rice is soaked in water overnight, drained, then dry steamed for an hour. Fresh young coconut milk is added and the rice is left to soak for 30 minutes. Then, it is steamed three more times before it is ready to be plated and served with a jammy egg, fresh sambal and your meat of choice. 

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Another stand-out dish is D’Silva’s pork chop curry rice. Armed with the knowledge that pork katsu-don is a favourite amongst young Singaporeans, Damian crafted a dish that takes inspiration from the traditional Hainanese curry rice as well as Kastu-don to create a truly spectacular dish that is flavourful, familiar and yet, surprising. 

To create the dish, D’Silva crumbs the pork with hand-pounded cream crackers as per the classic Hainanese recipe before deep-frying it. He then reworks the curry by tempering dry spices of cardamon, coriander, cumin and fennel, and removing the spices before adding curry powder so as not to overwhelm the palate.

The end result is a curry with more nuance and depth of flavour but that still holds a lot of nostalgia and heart in it. 

While its breakfast, brunch and lunch menus are truly a feast, the real star is in the way it does its dinner menu. 

Guest can delight in dishes such as Baca Assam, a heritage Eurasian dish that features tangy beef brisket, its lamb leg rendang, which is tender, flavourful and spicy, or its slow-cooked belly pork with Ah Seng Sauce which features slow-cooked pork belly in a mildly spicy sauce. 

For a refreshing side, we highly recommend D’Silva’s tomato salad with local lettuce, shallot oil and sesame seeds. The cold salad features pickled tomatoes, lettuce, and sliced onions tossed in a dressing and was inspired by the fact that D’Silva used to enjoy eating achar and other pickles that his grandfather would pickle when he was just a child. 

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And we can’t forget the dessert. D’Silva beautifully presents his authentic Malay kueh platter that includes favourites such as Kueh Kosui and Kueh Ku, Kueh Bengkah, Pulut Bengkah, Talam Keladi, Sago Ubi, Lapis Pulot and Rempah Udang.

Another highlight of its dessert menu is its Talam Keladi, a Malay dessert that features a two-layered Kueh with gula melaka custard on top and mashed yam below.

At its heart, Rempapa is a truly spectacular show of authenticity and D’Silva very clearly displays his pride and finesse in almost every one of his dishes. 

A clear labour of love, Rempapa is truly a restaurant that is out to change our perception of food and its legacy.

Rempapa | 2 Paya Lebar Rd, 01-01/02/03 Park Place Residences at PLQ, S(409053) | 9459 1603 

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