We kicked off our Singapore Restaurant Week expedition with a Saturday lunch at Aapon. It’s located along Robinson Road within the CBD; bustling during weekdays but practically a ghost town over the weekend.
Aapon was at the top of my shortlist in this edition’s bumper crop of 83 restaurants. The strategic use of “Aa” in its name guaranteed alphabetical dominance, but that wasn’t the reason why it was ranked in first place.
The main driver was plain old curiosity. While we’re no strangers to North and South Indian cuisine, we’ve never actually eaten food specifically from Northeast India before.
In particular, there were two items on the set menu that really stood out — jerk roasted watermelon and pink guava soup. I don’t know enough about Bengali food to determine if they were representative dishes of the region, but they definitely sounded intriguing.
To be more precise, I know nothing about Bengali cuisine. But half the fun of dining out is trying out brand new flavours and expanding taste boundaries. We set off that day with a sense of excitement and adventure.
As expected, Robinson Road had minimal human and vehicular traffic. We exited from Tanjong Pagar MRT station and reached Aapon after a leisurely ten minute stroll. The entrance is perpendicular to the walkway and up a short flight of stairs.
Like many Indian restaurants in Singapore, gold and red feature prominently in the colour scheme. There are a few tables on the ground floor, and most of the seating is at the mezzanine level, which seems well suited for private events.
My first impression of the interior was that it looked a bit old school and slightly gaudy. But after taking our seats and casually looking around the space, I felt that the high ceiling and modern touches made it feel more contemporary.
Especially the artfully-lit stylised chilli and spice logo, which adorned the upper portion of the front wall. The ceiling lights were shiny, golden and reflected the logo beautifully. The table setting was clean and simple, with the corporate logo adorning each piece of crockery.
Since we were totally ignorant about Bengali cuisine, we asked Praba, our friendly and attentive waiter, how it differs from North and South Indian food. He shared that the spices used are different, and that the main ingredient is typically seafood.
Compared to the dishes from the rest of the country, he cautioned that spice levels are generally higher, something that we should be aware of. We assured him that our tolerance was quite high, and to tell the chef to prepare our food based on typical Bengali palates.
The Restaurant Week lunch menu had four main course choices, including a vegetarian option. We asked for his recommendation, and he suggested that we choose the signature chicken curry and the mutton chop, which we did.
Since the entrée and desserts had two choices, we went with our standard operating procedure and chose one of each. One of the entrées was the highly anticipated pink guava soup, and the other sounded suspiciously like a Thai som tam.
Our gastronomic journey started with the amuse bouche of Jerk Roasted Watermelon on Savoury Coffee Sauce. It was served on a custom-made rectangular spoon, a perfect way to deliver the one-bite morsel.
And that innocent-looking morsel turned out to be a flavour grenade. I could still detect the underlying watermelony-ness of the small red cube, but that subtle sweetness was utterly overwhelmed by the robust spiciness of the sauce.
The garnish of raw alfalfa sprouts imparted an interesting vegetal note that somehow survived the explosion. Unlike the supposed coffee sauce, which completely surrendered to the heat (spice, not temperature) of the blast.
It was a wonderful way to start the meal.
Next up was the Pink Guava Soup. We were sharing one portion, but Praba came by with two soup plates and poured us individual portions from a small carafe. It was a nice touch, and saved us the trouble of eating from the same bowl.
There was no mistaking the main ingredient, and I could smell the pink guava even as the soup was being poured. But it still took me several seconds to process the thought of having what essentially was hot fruit juice as an entrée.
When I had the first spoonful, it took me another few seconds to figure out what exactly was in my mouth. Yes, it was a soup. Yes, it tasted of guava. But after that, any pre-conceived notions of what it should taste like evaporated.
The spice level wasn’t as intense as the watermelon, but its presence was definitely felt. Instead of a powerful punch, it was more like a warm embrace that lingers as it slides down the throat and into the stomach.
Then and there, purely based on this soup alone, we decided that we would have to make a return visit to Aapon.
Our second entrée of Spicy Mango Salad was patiently waiting as we finished up our soup. It looked exactly like a som tam, and since we know first-hand how spicy a good som tam can get, we approached it with caution.
It was spicier that any som tam that we’ve ever had in either Thailand or Singapore. The flavour profile was not the same, given the different seasonings used, but the heat was unmistakable.
The Wife fished out the tiny but lethal bits of green chillies, and immediately had flashbacks to a year ago, when she was traumatically attacked by some innocent-looking Indian green chillies. Needless to say, I ended up having most of the salad.
Our main courses were next and at this point, despite my self-proclaimed spice tolerance, I was starting to doubt myself. If the next few courses were even more spicy than what we had so far, then I’d be in a whole world of hurt.
Especially since the Aapon’s Chicken Curry was the restaurant’s signature dish, and it even came garnished with an entire green chilli. As Anya from Spy x Family would exclaim: “ガーン!”
Thankfully, the chicken curry turned out to be relatively mild. Mild enough, in fact, for me to eat the chicken with cut up pieces of the green chilli, just to give it an extra kick.
It was closer to a braised chicken instead of a curry, and while it was rich and flavourful, it tasted (in my opinion) closer to a Malay dish. Somewhere in between a rendang and masak merah, which happen to be two dishes that I really enjoy.
The accompanying garlic naan had the right consistency, not too crispy and not too chewy. It was a perfect mopping tool to ensure that every single bit of the curry was soaked up.
If we had to nitpick, the portion of the curry was simply too small. It came with a small piece of thigh meat and we felt that it could have been more bigger. Perhaps the full ala carte version would be more generous.
We had no complaints about the Bura Kebab & Riceberry though. The mutton double chop was sizeable and was served on top of a riceberry, broccoli and bean mixture. It was hands down the most flavourful mutton chop I have ever eaten.
Chefs have a tendency to try and mask the gaminess of mutton with heavy seasoning. But those at Aapon embraced the strong flavour and kebab’ed it with a special spice and yoghurt mix.
The marinade didn’t seek to beat the gaminess into submission, but instead, aimed for a harmonious co-existence. I also appreciated that they didn’t trim the meat too much, and left abundant charred and fatty bits that added to the taste and texture of the mutton.
It would have great on its own, but the riceberry was a good complement. I can’t tell if the rich creaminess was from meat drippings or added ghee (or both?!), but it was truly indulgent.
The broccoli florets offered an occasional crunch, but don’t kid yourself, despite the token addition of vegetables and the use of purple rice, this is not a healthy dish. It’s as far away from it as it gets, but it was oh so svaadisht!
We reached the dessert course, and in typical Indian fashion, it was a sweet ending. A very sweet ending, in fact. The mini Malpua pancake was soaked in sugar syrup, and the Rasmalai came with saffron-scented sweetened cream.
In addition to the Restaurant Week menu, Aapon also offered a special set menu to celebrate Durga Pujo, a Hindu festival paying homage to the goddess Durga. I kept reading that menu throughout our lunch, feeling a tinge of regret that our small stomachs wouldn’t allow us to consume more food.
Here are some of the dishes that caught my eye:
- Kakori Kebab: Mughlai recipe which is prepared minced mutton, onions and lots of spices
- Kosha Mangsho: Chunks of goat meat cooked in a rich gravy with whole spices
- Katla Kalia: Boneless carp baked to sublime perfection with exotic medley of flavour – perfect treat to your taste buds
Drool…
I’m glad that I put Aapon at first place on our Restaurant Week shortlist, and even more glad that it lived up to our expectations.
Particularly so with inventive dishes like the Jerk Roasted Watermelon and Pink Guava Soup, as well as more traditional items like the perfectly executed Bura Kebab.
We’re already big fans of Indian cuisine, and the delightful Bengali lunch at Aapon further cemented our love for food from the Indian sub-continent.
