Singapore lunch - 2: House

This Sunday it's homemade brocolli soup and garlic bread for lunch. There's only Kid and I (both with stinking colds) and with this being the F1 weekend I'm not tempted to venture far today. 

I did want to share the Sunday lunch V, Kid and I had two Sundays ago (the day I introduced the brunch preamble) in Dempsey Hill. 

We often go to Dempsey Hill, 5 minutes away in a taxi (like everything in this zone 1 city) to a restaurant called Margarita. It's the haunt of vegetarian Indians and guests from India because they do a mean old style veggie nachos. I like it for the crumb fried fish and fajitas but frankly I am so bored of it from overuse that even this short paragraph makes my tummy churn. 

So anyway, two Sundays ago we woke up with no plan. Nephew on the other side of town had some plan so it was going to be just the 3 of us for lunch. So I booked a last minute table for noon at House on the basis of a review I read somewhere. V had some office calls that morning and they dragged on and on so Kid and I left and got there at noon as planned. 

House in Dempsey is not on the main thoroughfare of well sign boarded, fairly posh restaurants and shops and art galleries. It's at the back in a parallel in an incongruous green grey block at odds with the rest of Dempsey's shiny look. Down a set of worn wooden steps and into this huge concrete and wood space. The unexpected wall of glass looking on to the green forested area made the restaurant look bright and inviting. It was also FULL to the brim and the gentle hum of voices made it feel like being IN the forest. It had a shabby chic feel, not like someone had tried but like someone had got it right just by throwing things at it and seeing what would stick. Very welcoming for a lazy Sunday.

We, and by that I mean the Trains, had a look at the menu and ordered fish and chips for Kid and wagyu rolls ( with chilli and maple syrup inside) with Asian slaw for myself. V called to tell us he was on the way and I ordered him a warm mushroom salad. 

The meals arrived just as V got there (typical!) and we tucked in with gusto. The halibut was fresh but the batter too thick for my liking - I peeled off most of it and let Kid eat just the fish. My rolls were excellent, the wagyu tasty and encased in thin spring roll pastry. But the maple syrup totally overpowered the chilli, the balance off kilter to the sweet side. But I didn't mind because that slaw was AHH-MAZING! Thinly shredded red cabbage and raw papaya and mango covered with a peanut soy chilli vinegar dressing. 

V's salad was also excellent - loads of lovely warm mushrooms and artichoke and not drowned but just drizzled with enough watercress spinach dressing to make it interesting and enticing. Most other mushroom salads tend to be over garlicked; this wasn't, it was flavourful to the hilt. The brunch menu also had some fresh juices and Kid and I shared a lovely watermelon and carrot lemonade off the daily specials board.

Walked around Dempsey to have a look at the monster giant Fish and buy a tub of ice cream from the Ben and Jerry shop. A kind and gentle afternoon. I thought House was a tad expensive for such a simple meal but I've learnt that good quality food in Singapore tends to be. Especially in expat land Dempsey. V liked it as well and we might revisit this one if only to try another of the dishes on their brunch menu. 

I'm hoping Kid and I feel better by this afternoon and can manage a supermarket trip and an early dinner in the always dependable Din Tai Fung. Nothing like a steaming basket of xiao long bao (soupy filled dumplings for those not yet in the know) to tackle a weekend cold. Have a good one peeps.