This all-day dining spot fronted by Executive Chef Leandros Stagogiannis is focused on uncomplicated plates grounded by big flavours
Hosted On The Patio has resurfaced as Portico, this time with Executive Chef Leandros Stagogiannis at the helm. Some might recognise Stagogiannis from his stints at The Fat Duck, FiftyThree and most recently — St Pierre, but most would recognise him for his wild mane of black, curly hair. Crowning glories aside, the food he turns out at this all-day dining spot is focused on uncomplicated plates grounded by big flavours. It’s essentially Modern European cuisine that draws from local produce wherever possible.
Inspired salads stay well away from the tropes of Caesar or Nicoise. A fruit-based quinoa salad mixed up with vibrant sugar snap peas and sweet hunks of compressed watermelon is simply tossed in a fruity drizzle of Spanish olive oil.
It is here that we have our virgin taste of heart of palm, culled from the inner core of palm trees from Bali. Served raw, the vegetable is reminiscent of artichokes. Stagogiannis dresses it lightly with balsamic vinegar and a sprinkling of coffee powder before siding it with a sweep of onion purée and morsels of crispy sweetbread.
We also enjoyed his take on the classic fish and chips, featuring impeccably fresh sea bass sourced from a local fishery off Pulau Ubin. Take time to appreciate the crisp, wafer-thin crust achieved by piping a Tiger Beer-enriched batter through a syphon before the fish is swathed and deep-fried. The fish is sided with curly fries and a winning combination of crushed pea, mint, and butter.
For dessert, you can opt for a refreshing mint-spiked tropical fruit salad topped with lychee shaved ice or an unorthodox lemon tart paired with onion ice cream. The jury’s still out on whether this flavour pairing hits the sweet spot. While we find that the onion ice cream rounds out the flavours of the citrus tart nicely, others find its pungency unnecessary.
Drinks-wise, the Pink Porn Swizzle wins our vote for its uncomplicated-yet-winning combination of fresh pink guavas muddled in Ron de Jeremy spiced rum.
#01-10, 991B Alexandra Road. Tel: 6276 7337.