Slightly more than two years ago, we had a wonderful Spanish meal at FOC Sentosa. The food was delicious, the beer was ice cold and the atmosphere was super chill.
We found out that they were actually the island outpost of FOC Restaurant in central Singapore, and told ourselves that we had to check out the mothership soon. That was back in March 2020, and we all know what happened soon after.
Two years and four months later, we finally turned up at FOC to try out their Restaurant Week Chef’s Signature Series menu.
We’ve been dining at participating restaurants for many many years now, and while there have been some ocassional misses, most of our meals have been really good.
This particular run though was different from their usual offering. The restaurants were fewer, the menus were more elaborate, and correspondingly, the price points were higher. Surprisingly, we saw FOC on the list and found ourselves at 40 Hong Kong Street on a Wednesday night.
Chef’s Signature Series Menu
The five course menu was priced at S$88++ per person and, based on the courses and their lengthy descriptions, it seemed to be thoughtfully put together. There were no choices to be made. You simply had to turn up, sit down and they would feed you their signature dishes.
Dinners like this tend to include an optional wine pairing but there wasn’t one advertised. Undeterred, I asked if there was a pairing available and indeed there was.
We don’t drink much nowadays, so we ordered just one set of their 5 x 75ml selection to share. Plus an additional glass of their sparkling Blanc de Blanc from Penedès.
Naturally, all the wines in the pairing were Spanish. But more on them later.
Snacks
True to their Catalonian roots, the meal started with a set of four tapas. But unlike those that you’d typically find in bars in Barcelona, these were fancied up a notch. In terms of both presentation and taste.
The Mediterranean Red Prawn Tartlet included apple and avocado cubes and was generously doused with a citrus dressing. I’m not sure if it was intentional, but the acidity of the dressing was quite sharp.
While it did help open up our palates, I felt that it could have been toned down. And that was the only flaw in the entire meal really. All the dishes that followed were great, starting with the Smoked Cantabrico Anchovies.
The individual fillets were served on a charcoal brioche with salted caramel butter. I was expecting an initial hit of fishiness tempered with some acidity. But instead, my tongue was utterly confused on the first bite.
It was struggling to process the strong contrasting flavours of smokiness, saltiness and sweetness; all at the same time. But when the last morsel was devoured, the conclusion was clear — it was delicious.
If you generally don’t like anchovies, these will almost surely change your mind.
The next item was labeled as ‘Patatas Bravas” FOC Style, but it bore little resemblance to the traditional Spanish comfort food.
Instead of the roughly-cubed and deep-fried potatoes with lashings of sauce, these were thinly-layered slivers cut precisely into small batons and artfully topped with alternating blobs of red and white.
They were almost too pretty to eat, the key word here being “almost”, because they too were quickly devoured. Likewise the Ibérico Ham Croquetas, the most traditional-looking tapa of the lot. Simple, but so full of flavour.
Interior Décor
As we were happily munching through our first course, Karmillah, who took wonderful care of us the entire night, enthusiastically pointed out the many interesting features in the space. Such as the larger-than-life head sculptures of the restaurant owners which gave off “Attack on Titan” vibes.
She also pointed out the tiles that covered the entire length of bar counter bottom wall. At first glance, they seemed like a haphazard polka dot pattern. But they were actually individual pieces of dominoes, painstakingly glued on individually.
I couldn’t help but wonder what the renovation contractor did to deserve this cruel and unusual punishment.
The hanging lights also seemed vaguely familiar, and it took me a while to realise that they were repurposed porróns, normally used to decant and serve wines in Spain.
I remember our glasses of txakoli being poured out dramatically in San Sebastian tapas bars many years back. They’re quite fun to see in action, since you can really shoot out the wine from a distance.
Sadly, no porróns were used to serve our wines that night.
Starter
Of all the items listed on the menu, I was only worried about the Beetroot Salad. Because I hate strongly dislike the taste of beetroot, and having an entire salad made with it was, frankly, a scary thought.
When the plate was served, half of my fear dissipated because of how beautiful it looked. I’m a sucker for pretty plating and this must have been the prettiest dish I’ve ever been served.
Just look at the contrast of colours, shapes and textures from the beetroot, strawberry, macadamia, quenelle of ice cream, blobs of cream and green tendrils from the garnish.
Even if it tasted terrible (because of the beetroot, which, if you haven’t realised yet, I hate strongly dislike), I would have grudgingly eaten it just because of its appearance.
But it didn’t taste terrible. In fact, it tasted the exact opposite of terrible.
Yes, there were menacing cubes of beetroot, but the earthy grassy flavour wasn’t allowed to dominate. It fused strangely well with the sweetness from the strawberries, the smooth smokiness of the olive oil ice cream, the brightness of the dressing and the unexpected kick from the horseradish cream.
I wasn’t going to suddenly convert to being a beetroot lover, but it was fantastic enough for me to want to eat it again. The Wife felt the same way too.
Ala Carte Menu
We asked Karmillah if we could take a look at their regular ala carte menu, and there it was! Right smack in the middle of the “From the Farmer” section, together with other interesting items like the Josper-grilled leek with hazelnuts and romesco sauce.
We shared with her how much we loved the beetroot salad, and her eyes lit up as she exclaimed: “Me too!” and started describing why she loved it so much.
I took the chance to ask her which items on the menu were good, and without missing a beat, she replied: “Everything”, accompanied by warm and infectious laughter.
Pulling out a trick I’ve used before, I followed up by quietly asking: “So, what’s not so good on the menu?” Immediately, without being flustered at all, she responded: “Nothing! Everything is good. Really.”
She started pointing out specific items that she particularly liked, and explaining in detail why she liked them. Ok, I was convinced. So convinced that I wanted to order additional items to go with our dinner.
But she suggested that we hold off that decision until after our rice course. Because it was going to be quite filling and we might struggle and end up not enjoying our meal.
Rice
Right on cue, the Pan-seared Squid from Palamós with Creamy Rice was served. It was quite a substantial portion and similar in texture to a risotto, though slightly denser.
The rice was cooked in seafood broth with squid ink and was rich, creamy and full of flavour. Despite the heaviness of the rice, the other components in the dish prevented us from feeling jelak.
Especially the three strategically-placed blobs of herb aioli, liberal scatterings of toasted garlic chips and the garnish of microgreens and flower petals. Well, maybe the last item was more psychological than anything else, but I’d like to think that it helped.
Oh, and squid was cooked perfectly. Just enough to maintain its soft juiciness without turning into chewy rubber. The artichoke cubes also added a nice vegetal note and provided a good texture contrast.
How much did we like the dish?
This much.
Turns out Karmillah was right after all, and I gave up my initial idea of ordering more food. It didn’t help that our neighbouring table was doing their best to order everything on the menu, and every item had to go past us during service.
Well, there’s always next time.
Main
So far, we had carbs, seafood and vegetables. Time for some meat! Which came in the form of Charcoal-grilled Ibérico Pork Presa, served with a sherry sauce and some Japanese aubergine on the side.
The pork was dry-aged for 20 days in the restaurant’s own dry ager, which really helped to concentrate its flavour.
There was less fat and moisture compared to non-aged pork, but this only helped to accentuate its robust taste. As I sliced through it with my knife, it was evident that the meat was significantly denser.
The porkiness, in a good way, slowly developed as I chewed, with each bite releasing more and more flavour. I have to say that I’m starting to appreciate firmer cuts of meat, and while Ibérico tends to be on the fattier side, the dry aging process made it taste much leaner.
Dessert
I’m usually not a fan of deconstructed food, but I made an exception when our ‘FOC Lemon Pie’ was served. Each component of the dessert was isolated and presented individually. It was the second prettiest plate that night.
The lemon curd blobs (the chef seems to like blobs), torched meringue, green tea sponge, yogurt & coconut ice cream and lime & mint jelly were arranged carefully in a ring.
After admiring it for a while, we tasted a piece of each element and then mashed it all up to re-constitute the lemon pie. And yes, it did taste exactly like a refreshing lemon pie, especially the wonderfully tart curds.
It was a great ending to a fabulous meal.
Petit Fours
But it wasn’t the last thing we ate though, because petit fours arrived. They’re usually small morsels, but the passionfruit tartlets and chocolate brownies were quite substantial. I only managed to take a bite of each, before shipping the remainder to The Wife.
Wines
Throughout the meal, we shared a glass of each Spanish wine that Fazlan, our knowledgeable and enthusiastic sommelier, had carefully paired with each dish. Each time a course was served, he would promptly appear at our table to pour out the corresponding wine.
I requested for their wine list and happily browsed it for quite some time. In addition to the surprisingly decent wines available by the glass, it featured Spanish wines from different regions, accompanied by detailed descriptions.
Each glass of our paired wines was poured out from the Coravin system that used inert argon gas to lengthen the shelf life of each bottle. It was the first time I’ve seen it used in a restaurant setting, and I took the chance to pepper Fazlan with numerous questions.
I was tempted some time back to buy one, but the wines we drink at home weren’t expensive enough to justify the cost of both the upfront investment and the variable cost of each argon cartridge.
Our set of four tapas was paired with the Muga Rosada 2019, which was a light and cheerful rosé blend that complemented the heavy flavours without being overwhelmed. The sparkling Penedès cava that I had ordered separately was a good tag team partner to the Muga.
The beetroot salad came with the Abel Mendoza Viura 2015, which added to the fruity notes of the colourful and summery starter. It would have made for a nice glass just on its own, but also paired really well with the salad.
The Zarate Albariño 2019 was served with the rice, and managed to hold its own against the rich and creamy dish. In fact, the crisp and slightly minerally acidity really cut through the heaviness and helped cleanse our palate between bites.
For the Ibérico pork, Fazlan chose the Viña Muriel Gran Reserva 2011 which was as full-bodied as the meat. It reminded me of a heavy Australian Shiraz, but with more subtlety and less fruit-bomb characteristics. Of all the wines we had that night, this one was my favourite.
Finally, with dessert came the Lustau East India Solera NV sherry. While it had the unmistakable aroma of dried raisins, it was surprisingly light and made for a very nice digestif.
The Wife shared with Fazlan that her favourite aged vinegar was co-incidentally made by Lustau as well, but it was hard to find it in Singapore. He immediately offered to help source it for her with his suppliers, which was a wonderful gesture on his part.
Fazlan’s enthusiasm for the wines he served that night, and his interesting snippets of information about each one made the pairing even more enjoyable.
When we shared that we had spent two nights in El Ciego, Rioja almost a decade ago, he was visibly excited as he himself had spent a month there exploring the various vineyards.
We haven’t had Spanish wines for quite a while. But the six glasses we drank during dinner made me remember how good they were. Time to start stocking up! Once we run down most of our current alcohol stockpile, that is.
Service
It’s safe to say that FOC is now our favourite restaurant in Singapore.
The food is great, the wines are interesting, and most of all, the service is amazing. Both Karmillah and Fazlan were wonderful that night. They were friendly, enthusiastic and so generous with their time, even though the restaurant was packed (yes, on a random Wednesday night).
Even though it was our first time there, they treated us like long-time regulars. Their warm and sincere hospitality was very much appreciated, and I hope that the restaurant owners know how lucky they are to have them on the team.
So, Karmillah and Fazlan, hope to see you again soon. And thank you again for the truly enjoyable dinner.
