Food review: Sum Yi Tai

Singapore — If diners find that Sum Yi Tai’s sumptuous decor evokes images of 1980s Hong Kong gangland, then its owners have succeeded in their quest to provide an atmospheric dining experience. But having classic Cantopop hits wafting through hidden speakers, lustrous jade walls, richly filigreed Chinese panels and embroidered silk soft furnishings only count for so much in a restaurant. Once you have settled into your velvet-lined banquette benches, you will want food to match its impressive surroundings.

Thankfully, Sum Yi Tai (which translates to “third wife” in Cantonese) doesn’t disappoint. While its ground floor bar serves a pleasing menu of simple Chinese eats, its posher dining club on the second level — which only opened in mid-May — has been the talk of the town. Managed by the people behind Blue Lotus at Quayside Isle, the kitchen dishes out a solid menu of Cantonese classics that would earn the approval of any discerning Chinese triad chief.

There are plump Canadian oysters (S$24 for a pair) steamed and piled with fragrant fried garlic. Beneath these is a delicate nest of rice vermicelli that soaks up the delicious juices from the molluscs and the delicate soy-based sauce. There is also a braised pork belly with preserved vegetables in claypot (S$24) that we cannot recommend highly enough. The slices of pork are buttery-soft, the preserved vegetables practically melts, and the sauce that it’s all stewed in is thick, rich and velvety. If there is just one dish to dig into, this is it. All you need is a bowl of steamed white rice.

Naturally, there are roast meats: A sweet-sticky maple honey-glazed char siew (S$12), crisp-skinned roasted pork (S$12) and well-executed suckling pig (from S$29 and only available on Fridays). But these are not half as memorable as items such as the minced pork and salted fish claypot rice (S$26), with its grains cooked just so, and French beans so deftly fried that they had enough snap to the bite, tossed with minced pork and an umami-laden XO sauce.

With flavours such as these, it seems fitting to pair a meal here with quality spirits (Sum Yi Tai has an impressive collection of good whiskey or sake), but there is a list of gourmet teas as well — just in case the need for sobriety prevails. ANNETTE TAN

Sum Yi Tai, 25 Boon Tat Street. Tel: 6221 3665. Opening hours: Mondays to Fridays 11.30am to 2.30pm, 6pm to 1am; Saturdays 6pm to 1am. Closed on Sundays. http://www.sumyitai.com