ingaporeans love to eat. On that steamy tropical island, the air is heady with the smells of chiles, coconut, curries, ginger and spices. You can buy chile crabs, frog legs, spiced satays and hot curries from food hawker stands all over the city.
Maggie Lim brings these flavors of Singapore to diners at her new Shiok Singapore Kitchen, which opened last month at 1137 Chestnut St., Menlo Park. She notes it's kitchen, not restaurant, because Shiok serves home cooking, just like Mom used to make. In fact, Mom is making it; her mother, Rosalind Tan, is the chef.
The food at Shiok (the word mean "yummy") is billed as "an exciting fusion of Chinese, Indian and Malay cuisine." Singapore food is the world's first fusion cooking, says Ms. Lim.
After working in Singapore's corporate world, Maggie Lim came to the Bay Area four years ago when she married Scott Clawson, who now works at Oracle. Missing home cooking, she frequented a little (four table) Chinese restaurant in San Carlos. Last year when the owner said he was selling, she decided to take over the place, bringing her parents from Singapore to help out.
"We were packed from the first day. We even ran out of food," she says. A reporter from the Straits Times, a Singapore newspaper, happened in that first day and wrote about the restaurant for his paper. "Relatives sent e-mails to their kids studying here. They came in clutching the e-mails," she recalls.
After the success of her first venture, Ms. Lim decided to expand into larger quarters in Menlo Park. Formerly the site of La Luna, Vida, and, most recently, Ariel, the restaurant seats about 50 diners. She has closed the San Carlos operation, but will re-open after remodeling.
There is a large Singapore colony in the Bay Area, with many of its members working in Silicon Valley. Patrons have become friends, even helping Ms. Lim and her husband redecorate the new restaurant. They also helped select the best wine to go with fusion food. The winner was a white Alsation wine bottled by Gentil Hugel.
When I saw chile crab ($24) on the menu, I had to have it. Known as Singapore's national dish, it's fresh Dungeness crab cooked in a special house gravy, made with eggs, catsup, shallots, lemon grass and chile. The last time I had chile crab was in 1991 in the fishing village of Ponggal outside Singapore, where we sat at picnic tables eating crab with our fingers and drinking beer. It's a wonderfully messy and delicious dish, meant to be shared.
I was put off by the brown paper table covers at Shiok, but when I saw the mess I made with the chile crab, it seemed like a reasonable idea.
Singapore chicken rice ($7.50) is another signature dish at Shiok. Poached chicken is served with chicken-flavored rice, with pickled vegetables and a ginger-chile sauce on the side for dipping. This is a beloved Nonyan (blend of Chinese and Malaysian) comfort food, traditionally served at room temperature.
Along with chile crab and chicken rice, Maggie Lim suggested we order crispy tofu ($7.75). The tofu is topped with shitake mushrooms and carrots in sauce and garnished with scallions and fried onion. I found it pleasant, but rather bland.
While Westerners use catsup and salsa, Singaporeans use sambals to spice up their cuisine. Shiok serves five different sambals, which are multi-purpose condiments, usually chile-based. The fiery blends give dimension and kick, especially to rice dishes. Ms. Lim imports all her spices from Singapore.
Laksa ($7.50) is another favorite with transplanted Singaporeans. Broad rice noodles in curry broth are topped with prawns, chicken, bean sprouts and hard-boiled egg. Next time at Shiok I'd like to try Nasi Lemak ($7.50), coconut-flavored rice served with either fried chicken wings or prawns, omelet, frind peanuts, cucumber and a special sambal. The pepper crab ($24), made with Dungeness crab, Chinese seasings, black pepper and Malay bird's eye chiles, is a knock-out, says Ms. Lim.
Shiok's oyster omelet ($9.75) features pan-fried Pacific oysters combined with eggs and scallions, and served with sambal and lime.
Food is presented on handsome green plates resembling a banana leaf, which would be used in Singapore. A drink made from from Kalamansi lime juice helps cool the palate, although the Alsatian wine or Tiger beer goes well too.
A stick of spearmint gum comes with your bill. That's tongue in cheek, since Singapore, which has streets so clean you probably could eat off them, forbids chewing gum.
Shiok is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday though Saturday. Call 838-9448 for reservations or take out.
