Cover Dirty Supper
Dirty Supper
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Aussie chef-owner Pete Smit, who shares the space with the storied restaurant, presents his signature whole animal cooking combined with bold progressive flavour combinations alongside savoury cocktails
Hua Bee Restaurant is iconic for a few reasons. First and foremost, the old guard, established in the 1940s, is still slinging out rustic bowls of fishball noodles today. In 1995, it was even featured in Eric Khoo’s Mee Pok Man, one of Singapore’s first indie films that showcased a glimpse of the island’s alternative social fabric. More recently, it shared a home with Bincho, a now-defunct Japanese yakitori restaurant, that sizzled the evenings along Moh Guan Terrace over the past decade.
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Above Chef-owner Pete Smit of Dirty Supper
Chef-owner Pete Smit of Dirty Supper
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Today, the latest permanent addition to the 90-year-old coffeeshop is Dirty Supper, a popular supper club pop-up by chef-owner Pete Smit. For the uninitiated, Smit champions the philosophy of whole-animal cooking, open-fire grilling and a knack for honing in on mouth-watering flavour combinations. His unique—and rustic—culinary style is developed from his years of experience cutting his teeth in kitchens of luxury properties across Australia and London before arriving in Singapore to helm Adrift by David Myers as its executive chef.
Above Kingfish pastrami
Above Aged duck
Kingfish pastrami
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In the open-concept kitchen, Smit’s menu is lean yet ever-changing—as with whole-animal cooking, dishes will largely depend on the produce available for the day. Snack on small plates such as duck liver parfait laced with a red wine gel and vessels of Belgian endives; crispy chicken skin crowned with smoked mackerel; raw prawns paired with black lime and pickled chilli; lamb tartare with accompaniments of black garlic and shavings of cured yolk; and unctuous pig head nuggets.
When it comes to large format mains, things get communal as hearty proteins—executed in varying techniques including ageing and smoking—quickly steal the limelight. Tuck into the likes of olive-brined lamb rump with caramelised cauliflower; flame-kissed lamb neck and juicy zucchini; pork-fat-doused barbecue squid with pickled tomatoes; and pork with roasted leek and burnt pear. For indecisive eaters, Smit suggests the all-encompassing Dirty Supper dinner experience where he smothers gourmands with the kitchen’s and season’s best.
Above Pickled lemon martini
Pickled lemon martini
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Keeping it grungy, Dirty Supper also shakes up approachable cocktails that weave in a touch of savoury in line with the kitchen programme. Think boulevardier made silky with Wagyu fat-washed rye whiskey, a stiff martini brightened with pickled lemon, and a downright dirty mezcal-based espresso martini. Enough said, the Tiong Bahru enclave just got a whole lot more exciting.
Credits
Images: Dirty Supper
