Como Cuisine, Dempsey: Indian-Inspired Modern Cuisine Recommended by Foodie

By Rubbish Eat Rubbish Grow on December 11, 2017 • ( 6 Comments )

When Como Cuisine, one of the four restaurants housed under Como Dempsey, first opened, we were invited to a tasting but for the sake of a fair and honest review, we rejected the tasting. Recently, I have been asking foodies which the best restaurants this year are and my longtime friend named Como Cuisine.

Como Cuisine is helmed by Anglo-Indian Executive Chef Timothy de Souza who has worked at three resorts by COMO Hotels and Resorts. Como Cuisine markets itself as “contemporary cuisine” but I wonder why it doesn’t market itself as “Indian-inspired modern cuisine” since, looking at the menu, there are many Indian dishes. To be fair, there are some Western and Middle-Eastern dishes and a Japanese dish, but by far, the Indian-inspired dishes outweigh the rest.

Burrata Salad

Maybe the direction of marketing is because, as some Indian restaurants owners tell me, majority of Singaporeans aren’t receptive to Indian food. But no fear here: it was full house when we were there on a weekday afternoon and they had to turn away walk-in customers. We took the lunch set (2 courses $38, three courses $48), and ordered, from the a la carte menu, samosas ($12) and lobster roll ($34).

The samosas ($12), which come with mango chutney and a mint dip, are just okay for us. The spiced minced lamb within isn’t gamy–always a good thing. But the shell may be too thick and fried too hard.

There is a kingfish sashimi ($20) on their a la carte menu but in their lunch set, which we had, offers a different rendition: the sashimi is curled beautifully with a slice of cucumber, like a clog. Lightly dressed with a Japanese sauce, it’s nice and light.

The vegetarian curry for the lunch set is basically a, well, vegetarian version of their fish curry ($32). It comes with a bowl of saffron rice. The vegetables include cauliflower, pumpkin, okra, and kale. I LOVE IT. The curry is robust and strong with a tinge of appetising sourness. Wonderful.

The chicken breast for lunch also has an equivalent on the a la carte menu for $28. While the a la carte chicken breast comes with grape, radicchio (something like purple cabbage), barley and walnut, the lunch chicken breast is simpler. It is merely accompanied by polenta and half a roasted tomato.

The chicken breast is sous vide–I know because I have a sous vide machine–and I don’t really like to purchase food I can cook at home, but they sear the skin, which provides a crispy contrast to the smooth meat. I like how the tart tomato serves to undercut any heaviness. I don’t usually like polenta but this one is good. On the whole, not bad at all.

We didn’t order desserts because they don’t sound appealing, and we preferred to go to Henri Charpentier. We paid $148 for three persons… wait! You may realise that we ordered a lobster roll and it didn’t come. I only realised it when I got home and checked the bill. Luckily, it wasn’t on the bill. Which probably means the waiter did not key in our order. The service has been impeccable except for this peccadillo. In any case, I’m considering this remissness as a win: The waiter helped us save calories and money!

I can see why my close friend recommended Como Cuisine. The ambience is fantastic, the service excellent, and the food is elegant. I definitely want to return to try more from their a la carte menu.

Menu