Along Craig Road, there are two Indian restaurants, Firangi Superstar which serves Modern Indian food at (what I think) astronomical prices and the other Ms Maria and Mr Singh by Chef Gaggan Anand who operated the now-defunct 2 Michelin-starred restaurant in Bangkok, which is also known as the best restaurant in Asia.
Maria and Singh has a twist: it serves Mexican x Indian food because Gaggan’s wife is Mexican. The food is served as tasting menus at $68, $78, $138 per pax for dinner – really, really good pricing for a top chef – and there are also limited, not many, dishes for a la carte ordering too.
What I like about Maria and Singh is that it makes explicable the food that I didn’t understand before. Like golgappa, an Indian street food: a deep-fried, airy puff. I had it at Chennai before, at a very popular sweet shop called Gangotree. But at that point, I didn’t see the attraction at all; it was not awful, just ordinary, not something I’d crave for, didn’t understand why it is passed down for generations. At M&S, however, the golgappa is approached from another angle. It’s stuffed with Hokkaido white corn puree and topped with uni, chased by a tequila-based green verdita cocktail. This, I get it. It is explosive and suddenly, just like that, I understand why Indians like golgappa and the heritage behind it.
What works best at M&S are dishes with both Mexican and Indian influences. Not only are they interesting, they are also delicious. The ceviche for example uses hamachi and leche de tigre milk with a sort of cold curry, defying the idea the curry must be served hot. Another dish I like is raw scallop tostada, a taco with fried tortilla, so juicy and sweet and umami and spicy. The daal, which isn’t on the menu, is super interesting too: it has shreds of ginger and what seems to be the Chinese doubanjiang, or at least that’s what I tasted.
What doesn’t work for me are the dishes that represent one culture singly. Like the guac topped with ikura just seems… ordinary; I make better guac than this. Or the Mexican classic, mole madre, the only dish I didn’t like, is too earthy for me. On the Indian side, the chicken tikka masala and crab curry are excellent but walk into any restaurants at Little India, they serve equally good Indian food. When I return to M&S, it won’t be for the Indian food.
I tasted 10 dishes and liked 8.5; some of them, I liked immoderately. It’s a homely, fun casual restaurant, suitable for friends’ gatherings, after-work, or just a fiesta. It’s worth visiting at least once, more times if you go with different groups of friends.
Ms Maria and Mr Singh
43 Craig Rd, Singapore 089681
T: +65 9654 4351
Lunch: F-Sun 12pm – 3.30pm
Dinner: T-Th & weekends 6pm – 10.30pm; F 6pm-12am
Food: 7/10
Price/value: 7.25/10
Decor: 7/10
Service: 6/10
You may be interested in…
– Mish Mash, Chinatown: Surprisingly Excellent Food at a Wine-and-Cocktail Bar
– New Restaurants & Promos: Soll (Havelock Road), Goldenroy Sourdough Pizza (Desker Road), The Alkaff Mansion (Telok Blangah), GOHO Kaiseki (Duxton)
– Semi-fine (S’Fun) Dining Part 1: Iko (Neil Road); Josephine Wine Bar (Amoy St); Kilo (Duxton); Kinou (Teck Lim Rd); Kongsee (Gemmill Lane)
– S’Fun Dining Part 2: Kulto (Amoy St), Mad About Sucre (Teo Hong Rd), Nixta (Amoy St), Sinpopo (Tangs Orchard), Bar.celona (Robertson Quay)
This is an invited tasting. Written by Dr. A. Nathanael Ho.
Leave a Reply