{"id":41172,"date":"2016-07-19T07:21:27","date_gmt":"2016-07-18T23:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/?p=41172"},"modified":"2016-07-29T02:46:02","modified_gmt":"2016-07-28T18:46:02","slug":"fat-lulu-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/zh\/2016\/07\/19\/fat-lulu-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"Fat Lulu’s, River Valley: From Five & Dime Cafe to Small Plates and Dessert Bar"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"fat-lulu-singapore-review\"The owners of Five and Dime have rebranded the cafe\u00a0to\u00a0Fat Lulu’s at River Valley<\/strong>, serving small plates\u00a0and plated desserts. The food\u00a0section is handled by head chef\u00a0Sam Chablani, alumni of\u00a0Culinary Institute of America, who has experience in New York Michelin-starred kitchens and Singapore’s Lolla<\/a>; while pastry chef Song is in charge of the desserts.<\/p>\n

\"fat-lulu-river-valley\"Their website writes that Fat Lulu’s is a “modern asian barbeque kitchen and dessert bar. This new concept incorporates bold Asian flavors, grilled meats & seafood, and a spirited dessert program.” To be honest, if I didn’t read the website, I wouldn’t have an inkling what Fat Lulu’s is about; the flavors are not entirely Asian, and it appears\u00a0to be another tapas bar. There is nothing bold in the food we ate.<\/p>\n

\"fat-lulus-singapore-menu\"The food menu is divided into three sections: veg, seafood, and meat, with a total of 14 small plates. If you come in a group of 6, you can easily order everything on the menu.<\/p>\n

\"fat-lulus-river-valley-review\"From the veg section, although I strongly advised Mr Fitness not to order the pico de gallo salad<\/strong> ($9, above)—the\u00a0burnt corn<\/strong> ($9) is the speciality—he\u00a0insisted on ordering it for fibre. Pico de gallo is a Mexican salsa, that could be used in tacos or used a dip for nachos. Here, they peel carrots and julienne the rest to make into a too acidic, too sour salad, without any balance.<\/p>\n

\"fat-lulu-sg\"There are only 4 plates for the “Meat” section, and since our Buddhist friend doesn’t eat beef, we only ordered 1 plate from this section, the\u00a0open beef ravioli\u00a0<\/strong>($22). It is very tasty. All the flavors work here: The sweet and tender shortribs braised in red wine, with a very sweet carrot cream, and cheesy parmesan.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the spinach is over-cooked and lost its crunch. And I didn’t fancy\u00a0it\u00a0to be “open” like an open-faced sandwich; it is trying too hard to be different.<\/p>\n

\"fat-lulu-sg\"We did order 4 plates of seafood to make up for losing the beefy proteins. The\u00a0burnt squid<\/strong>\u00a0($12) is not burnt, sliced too thinly which loses the mouthfeel, and not original. I had a better and cheaper version at Naughty Nuri’s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I also didn’t enjoy the\u00a0nori salmon\u00a0<\/strong>($17): salmon in a seaweed wrap with crumbs, drizzled over with yuzu sago. It didn’t taste good—but it didn’t taste bad—and it is too gimmicky.<\/p>\n

\"fat-lulu-ikan-bakar\"The\u00a0tuna tartare<\/strong> ($15) is worth ordering for its creativity. It’s paired with frozen pear (granita?) and avocado wasabi puree, which make it almost Mexican-meets-Japanese craziness. The good kind.<\/p>\n

The best dish of the night,\u00a0ikan bakar<\/strong> ($22), is a hamachi collar cooked exceptionally well, so moist within. The flesh-side is slathered with a creamy chilli butter, a smidgeon of spiciness, tasting almost like mentaiko; while the skin is bbq-ed to a delicious fatty crisp.<\/p>\n

\"fat-lulu-singapore\"We vacillated between ordering one dessert, or two desserts or the 3-course tasting dessert menu<\/strong> ($35). In the end, Mr Fitness’s black face won; we ordered only one to cut down on our sugar intake. The\u00a0black forest<\/strong> ($16, below) sounds the best on paper but turns out to be extremely underwhelming, just a black forest cake deconstructed to different bits. It’s boring, over-done, and not tasty. The nitrogen-frozen chantilly cream is a shtick and the chocolate ice cream melts rapidly.<\/p>\n

There is a thin line between creativity and overeagerness. Creative dishes give sublimity; but overeager dishes are pretentious. And the latter is how the food comes across: overeager at times, and at others, boring. Don’t get me wrong. The food on the whole is ok, and\u00a0palatable, but it’s unlikely we would return.<\/p>\n

We spent $134 for 3 persons<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Fat Lulu’s
\n<\/strong><\/a>297 River Valley Road,\u00a0Singapore 238338
\n+65 9236 5002
\nSun-Th\u00a06pm-11pm,\u00a0F&Sat\u00a06pm till late,\u00a0Closed M
\n\"chope-reservations\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

Food: 6\/10
\nDecor: 6\/10
\nValue\/Price: 6\/10
\nService: 7\/10
\nOverall rating: 3.125\/5<\/p>\n

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

The owners of Five and Dime have rebranded the cafe to Fat Lulu’s at River Valley, serving small plates and plated desserts. 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