The Halia Restaurant has been on our makan list for the longest time, ever since we walked past its doors many many years ago while strolling through the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
Their culinary concept of creating dishes showcasing halia (Malay for ginger) was unique and intriguing. The idea of a ginger-themed restaurant was so memorable that we never forgot about its existence over the years.
When they opened an outpost in the more accessible Raffles Hotel Arcade, we told ourselves that we’d go there “soon”.
But soon never came, and the outpost didn’t stay.
Thankfully, the main (and now, only) restaurant in the Ginger Garden continued to remain in operation, even after the very difficult past two years.
The thing that finally pushed us to make a reservation, and trek all the way down to the Botanic Gardens, was the discovery of Chope offering S$100 vouchers at a whopping 45% discount.
It was too compelling to ignore, but there was one catch — they could only be used on weekdays from 2:45pm to 4:30pm. Which suited us perfectly since we were on our intermittent fasting routine and had to finish eating dinner by 5:30pm anyway.
And so, on a not-too-hot Friday afternoon, we took the MRT down to the Botanic Gardens station on the Downtown Line, and walked through the Bukit Timah gates.
A detailed map of the entire garden compound was printed on a fixed display just after the entrance. We took our bearings and started on our long walk to the restaurant.
Even though we had to cover quite a distance on foot, there was plenty of flora to admire and the occasional fauna to observe, mostly in the form of noisy roosters and their harem of hens.
They must have been quite used to people, because they were totally oblivious to the humans following them and taking numerous snapshots. To them, it was just another day in the (almost) jungle.
The other creatures that we encountered along the way were more sedentary, and were all holding signs with corny different messages nagging reminding visitors to mask up, or start moving at speed.
Thankfully, the sky was slightly overcast and we didn’t feel the usual overbearing heat. Having so much greenery all around also helped keep us cool, both physically and psychologically.
Like they say in Chinese: 心静自然凉.
Along the way, we walked past a really really tall tree that must have been really really old, and spent some time just looking at it in awe.
It was mostly likely standing there long before I was born, and will probably still be there long after I’m gone.
I’m a city boy through-and-through, but it’s good to get up-front and personal with nature occasionally. As long as no snakes appear, that is.
There were signboards marking the distance to various locations, and we gradually covered the distance and saw the clock tower just outside the Ginger and Orchid Gardens.
A few steps after that, we reached our destination.
Yes, I know that we could have taken a cab straight to Ginger Garden car park, but it was good to get out and take a long walk through nature once-in-a-(long)-while.
I can’t recall if they changed their signboard design over the years, but I really like the look of the cursive handwriting.
Halia has both indoor air-conditioned seating and an outdoor verandah that overlooks the Ginger Garden. Naturally, we chose the verandah, which was kept relatively cool by the super duper ceiling fans on high blast.
The décor was very much tropical island, with its woven rattan ceiling light covers and patterned tiles. It felt like we could have been at a high-end café in Bali or Samui. While Singapore is technically also a tropical island, there are very few places here that evoke that lazy breezy feel.
Completing the experience was a sign that said that mosquito repellent was available upon request. Since I’m usually a mosquito magnet, I asked our waitress if we could have some.
The slightly elderly but still spritely Alice replied “of course” and returned with an industrial-sized spray can, and even offered calamine lotion if we needed any to calm any existing bites. I passed on the lotion, but her genuine concern was much appreciated.
The menu came on two pieces of stiff paper, one for food and the other for drinks. We like it when menus are short and sharp, instead of the we-have-everything-under-the-sun-what-do-you-want kitchen nightmare catalogues.
Many of the items had an icon that looked very much like a wasabi plant, indicating signature dishes “containing ginger & its family”. I’m very sure it’s not a wasabi plant, but that’s what it looked like to me.
My initial plan was to order only their signature ginger-infused items, but I just couldn’t resist the Tomato Salad. I’ve always had a soft spot for tomato salads, and more often than not, they turn out to be a good choice to start a meal with.
Even though it didn’t contain any ginger-like substance, the flavours were bright and robust. The tomato slices were fresh and juicy, with the feta cheese and salted black beans offering a briny contrast and the bed of hummus imparting a pleasant creaminess.
Perhaps adding a few slivers of torch ginger flower would make things more interesting, but I’m sure the chef considered it but decided that, sometimes, less is more. In any case, it was a good and enjoyable tomato salad.
Our ginger adventure officially started with the Lemongrass & Ginger Prawn Salad, a hefty portion served in a decent-sized bowl.
It was a riot of colours, with turmeric-coated prawns and pinkish-purple ginger flower dressing on top of a generous bed of green greens, yellow mangoes and red cherry tomatoes. The amount was quite substantial and could easily have been a light lunch on its own.
Even though the prawns sported a shockingly yellow hue, the turmeric didn’t completely overpower the underlying flavour of the fresh and succulent prawns.
The most unique flavour of the salad was definitely the ginger flower dressing that was spooned onto a bed of glass noodles. Even if you’re a regular salad eater, I’m almost certain that you’ve never had dressing like this before.
It was sweet, sour, fruity, floral and earthy, all at the same time; but my description doesn’t do it justice. It’s one of those flavours that you have to try first-hand to truly know how it tastes like.
If you’ve had good Chinese rojak before, you’ve already had something similar, since they mix in small freshly-cut pieces of torch ginger flower into the thick shrimp paste dressing. They don’t even have to add much because a little goes a long way.
To our surprise, Alice told us that they actually bottle the dressing and sell it separately. The Wife immediately ordered one to bring home, and started thinking about what she could cook with this unique sauce.
While we were enjoying the last few bites of the prawn salad, our main course of the Paperbag Oven-baked Halibut Fillet arrived. It came with Japanese rice with wakame, pickled cucumber and truffle aioli.
The contribution of ginger to the dish was in the soy and ginger broth, which was dominated by the soy component. I thought that the ginger could have been more prominent, but I assume the chef didn’t want to overpower the natural sweetness of the halibut.
To counteract any potential fishiness, ginger slices are usually added when Chinese cooks steam fish. In this case, since the fish was so fresh, a gentle ginger touch was warranted. The fish fillet was cooked just right, slightly flaky and just on the border of doneness while retaining a firm bite.
The rice didn’t look particularly special, but oh boy! was it packed with flavour. The umami explosion from the wakame and aioli was powerful and immediate. Once some of the soy ginger dressing is mixed in, it can be a meal on its own.
We double-checked the menu and they didn’t offer the rice as a separate side that could be ordered. So, the next time we come back, I guess we’ll just have to order the halibut again just to get the rice. Of course, it helps that the fish itself is also good.
Before we were able to finish the food already sitting on our table, Alice came back with a huge metal tray with our Charred Broccolini, served with a side of pickled ginger mayo.
The broccolini itself was a slightly stringy and a bit too charred, but the mayo saved the day.
It took me a while to identify the taste, but if you’ve ever had the pink pickled ginger (i.e. gari) that’s served with sushi, imagine it blended with mayo then finely-strained through a tamis.
Unfortunately they didn’t bottle the ginger mayo and sell it separately, or I would have definitely added it to our growing takeaway stash.
After an hour of pretty much non-stop eating, we were done with our early dinner. To aid with our digestion, we placed an order for their Hot CGC (cumin, ginger, cinnamon), Hot Cardamom Milk Tea and Yuzu Cheesecake with ginger flower sorbet.
The Hot CGC was served in three glasses — one big one that contained the main drink, and two separate shot glasses with ginger and honey. The cardamom milk tea came in a French Press filled with cardamom pods and black tea, with fresh milk on the side.
I was expecting the milk tea to be similar to teh halia sold at sarabat stalls like those at Adam Road Food Centre, so I was disappointed at the fancy treatment. The CGC was much better, and after tweaking the tea to ginger to honey ratio, it kept our bellies nice and warm.
The yuzu cheesecake was topped with a goopy sauce with pomelo bits, and probably should have been named pomelo cheesecake instead, to better reflect the dominant flavour. But despite the misnomer, it was a really nice cheesecake.
The sorbet tasted interesting, but melted too fast and was difficult to scoop from the flat black slate it was served on. The melted liquid quickly flowed to the edges and we had to scramble our paper napkins to absorb the overflow. Our conclusion was that it just not worth the effort.
We asked Alice for our bill and she managed to upsell us more bottled goods. In addition to the ginger flower dressing that The Wife had already reserved, there was a one-for-one offer on their chilli crab sauce and so we got two of those. She also recommended their kaya jam and we dutifully ordered one to try.
Since the Ginger Garden was just next door, we spent some time wandering around and reading all the informational posters covering different types of ginger.
Bet you didn’t know that bananas are part of the ginger order! Fun fact from the National Parks website:
Falling under the ginger order (Zingiberales), this group includes eight plant families as diverse as the heliconias (Heliconiaceae), orchidanthas (Lowiaceae) and even bananas (Musaceae)!After making one round of the Ginger Garden, we decided to head towards the other entrance of the Botanic Gardens. The route was shorter than our way in and much more scenic, with the Swan Lake being the main highlight for us.
In addition to the impressive swan sculpture in the middle of the lake, we also managed to spot actual swans floating gracefully on the surface.
It wasn’t too crowded as we continued our slow stroll, but there were families enjoying their walkabout, many with their dogs of all sizes on leashes.
Not long after, we reached the Tanglin Gate and crossed the road to the Gleneagles Hospital to catch a bus to Orchard Road for a bit of grocery shopping at Isetan, before taking the bus home.
We were really happy that we finally made the trip down to Halia Restaurant after procrastinating for so long. Given the unique theme of their food, our expectations were high going in and I’m glad to share that Halia did not disappoint.
I can understand why they’ve been around for more than 20 years, despite their relatively inaccessible location, and I hope that they will continue to thrive for many more decades to come.
If you’ve not been there before, I would strongly recommend that you give it at least one try. There are not many restaurants that are truly special in Singapore, and in my opinion, Halia is definitely one of those.
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