Ujong@Raffles | 3.5/5

SINGAPORE — Most Singaporean foodies know chef Shen Tan for her now-defunct Wok And Barrel, a no-frills eatery along Duxton Hill where she turned nasi lemak into “restaurant food” and bak chor mee into a pasta dish. A little more than a year after it closed, the former-banker-turned-chef has returned — this time as an employee of the Caerus Holding Group (the people behind Nuvo, Lady M and Procacci in Singapore).

Its new restaurant, Ujong @ Raffles, occupies the space vacated by the Empire Cafe behind Ah Teng’s bakery. In keeping with Tan’s homespun cooking style, it serves a menu of “updated” Singaporean favourites. In other words, the nasi lemak and bak chor mee pasta are now available again.

The financial backing of a large F&B company has done Tan’s food a world of good. Having a bigger kitchen and workforce means she can concentrate fully on the food. And it shows.

Her nasi lemak now lives up to its hype and price tag. The fluffy rice (S$2.90 for a single serving) is richly infused with coconut milk and good enough to eat on its own, though it is exceptional when paired with her menu of side dishes that include excellent beef rendang (S$17.90) and very tasty crispy fried chicken or pork ($15.90).

Since this is the only restaurant in Raffles Hotel that serves local food, its menu is suitably extensive and filled with Tan’s reinterpretations of classics such as chicken rice, laksa and chilli crab.

Some, like the chee cheong fan (S$11.90) and corned beef hash (S$17.90) from the breakfast menu, work beautifully. The former comprises silky rice rolls filled with hae bee hiam (dried prawn floss) and doused in a full-flavoured soya sauce, while the rustic corned beef patties have a nice spicy kick and are topped with runny sous vide eggs.

Our favourite dish was the claypot rice with five-spice pork (S$23.90). Tan infuses the rice with a stock made from dried oysters and adds plenty of salted fish, Chinese goose liver sausage and velvety stewed meat. The kitchen has yet to perfect the rice — the grains could be just that little firmer — but the umami-laden flavours make eating a joy.

Besides the bak chor mee pasta (S$25.90), Tan also does a host of noodle mash-ups, from a buttery hae bee hiam mentaiko capellini (S$25.90) to har zi meen (S$17.90) or prawn-flavoured noodles tossed in a sweet dressing inspired by Indomie’s instant mee goreng. These were novel but middling.

When we do return to the restaurant, we will opt instead for the rice dishes and the Shendol Delights (S$15.90) — a fine reinterpretation of chendol with smooth coconut pannacotta, topped with homemade red bean ice cream and with gula melaka drizzled over. ANNETTE TAN

Ujong@Raffles

Where: #01-10 Raffles Hotel Arcade

Telephone: 6635 6502

Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 8am to 10pm; Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 10pm