{"id":33062,"date":"2015-03-13T07:35:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T23:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/?p=33062"},"modified":"2016-04-26T20:50:36","modified_gmt":"2016-04-26T12:50:36","slug":"long-chim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/zh\/2015\/03\/13\/long-chim\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Chim, Marina Bay Sands: Chef David Thompson from the Best Restaurant in Asia, Nahm, Forays into Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"longLast year, Nahm Bangkok was #1 on the Asia’s Best Restaurants List. This year, it slips to 7th place (Gaggan<\/a> is first), announced on Monday. Two days after the announcement, when I saw owner-chef of Nahm, David Thompson, at Long Chim, he looked like a hobo, unshaven and dishevelled, seemingly despondent. (OK, maybe that was his normal look.) He shouldn’t be disheartened because such lists are at its worst, unreliable, and at its best, references; and because his foray into Singapore is spectacular.<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n

\"longAt Long Chim (which means “come and taste”), Thompson presents Thai street food <\/strong>at unbelievably reasonable prices. For starters, the grilled squid gorlae<\/strong> ($10, above), coated in dry curry, was umami with a smokiness, but William found the coconut overwhelming. There was no false advertising in naming the aromatic beef<\/strong> ($11, below) satay, grilled to medium, redolent of heavy spices like cumin and turmeric.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"long<\/p>\n

The mains, which come with rice, were almost as good as the starters. The pork in stir-fried rice noodles with sriracha <\/strong>($19, below) was pure fats, hence heavenly. There was a pleasant, addictive chewiness to the noodles. But unfortunately, no wok hei<\/em>. An angmoh lady chef caught our eye as she was stir-frying loudly, spatula against wok, fire flaming to her eyebrows. William tsked, “All sound and fury, signifying nothing. Noise and fire make a wok hei<\/em> not.”<\/span>\"long<\/p>\n

The sour orange curry of snakehead fish with water mimosa<\/strong> ($20, below) sounded interesting, but was in fact forgettable.<\/span>\"long<\/p>\n

A dispute arose between us regarding the tom yum with chicken wings and chicken feet<\/strong> ($16, below). Pinky Piggu<\/a> claimed that the tom yum wasn’t spicy or sour enough and tasted like the instant tom yum packs she has. But I liked it very much. True, it lacked heat, but the sourness lingered and tingled at the sides of my jaws, an amazingly shiok<\/em> feeling. I guess our tolerance for spice and sourness differs, like how we see the blueblack, goldwhite dress.<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, my philosophy on food has only been whether it tastes good or not; I’m not a stickler for authenticity. And taste-wise, the tom yum was distinctive. The broth permeated into wings, imbuing it a sweetness. But too bad the chicken feet weren’t cooked long enough; still too hard and bland.<\/span>\"long<\/p>\n

Regarding the question of heat, does an angmoh<\/em> chef lessen the spices to suit western tastebuds?<\/strong> The answer depends on whom you ask. Pinky Piggu thought the tom yum could be spicier; William found the food so spicy he was sweating throughout the meal. Me, people told me I have an angmoh tastebud, and almost all the patrons sitting around us that night are Whites. I believe food shouldn’t be too spicy because heat numbs the tongue, and overpowers all other flavors. For me, the food at Long Chim was well balanced; just enough heat to excite, but didn’t rob away the sweetness, saltiness, and sourness, characteristics of Thai cuisine.<\/span><\/p>\n

But unfortunately, one bad dish can spoil an excellent meal: we three agreed that the mango sticky rice<\/strong> ($10) was terrible. While the sweet sauce was umami, the mango was superlative sour, rice undercooked, and mung beans extraneous and irritating. Biting it felt like bits of my teeth chipped.<\/span>\"long<\/p>\n

When a Thai lady (Manager? Boss?) asked us how the meal went, and we groused about the mango rice, she waived it off the bill. The service<\/strong> here was very good, and the Filipino waitress serving us that night was knowledgeable, and friendly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily for us, besides the mango rice, we ordered the black sticky rice with pandanus noodles<\/strong> ($10), which doesn’t mean panda anus noodles. It is the green wriggly thing found in chendol, and yes this is chendol. But we three felt paying $10 for this bowl of chendol was worth it, because it was unique, with a smokiness, from a Thai ingredient called “Candle’s Tear.” The chendol tasted sulphuric, like the scent at the moment you extinguish a candle–and it was a good kind of taste.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"longOne flaw of the restaurant is the hipster menu writing. Quiz time.
\nA. What is “Banana roti”?
\nB. “Black sticky rice with pandanus noodles”?
\nC. “Aromatic beef”?<\/span><\/p>\n

Answers
\nA. Banana prata
\nB. Chendol
\nC. Beef satay<\/span><\/p>\n

Why not simply call them by their well known names so that customers know what they are ordering? Don’t so hipster and change their names, can?<\/span><\/p>\n

In general, this was very good Thai food, but from David Thompson’s fame, I was expecting some surprise elements, and I found none. Perhaps I was expecting too much. After all, we three paid only $37 each.<\/strong> The less critical part of me should focus on Long Chim serving very good food at affordable prices with very good service in a swanky but uncanny setting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Uncanny because this used to be Guy Savoy<\/a>, where I celebrated my 30th birthday. But now, the fine dining French restaurant has transmogrified into a casual Thai restaurant that looks like a nightclub. In fact, the entire storey of celebrity restaurants (going for $350++\/pax) is gone, leaving Hide Yamamoto<\/a>, Imperial Treasure<\/a>, and Waku Ghin<\/a>. Yes, there is no space for memory in Singapore but I kinda like this democratization of food where middle-class people like me can come often to dine at nice places.<\/span><\/p>\n

Long Chim Singapore<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, #02-02, Atrium 2, Singapore 018955
\nT: +65 6688 7299
\n7pm-12am
\nRating: 4.281\/5<\/strong>
\n\"chope-reservations\"<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Written by\u00a0A. Nathanael Ho.<\/a><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long Chim MBS serves very good Thai street food at affordable prices with very good service in a swanky setting.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":263488,"featured_media":33137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"NEW POST: Long Chim @MarinaBaySands : Chef David Thompson from the Best Restaurant in #Asia 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