Three new hotspots that draw on the Lion City’s strong sense of local identity
- Popular gastrobar Laut uses locally sourced ingredients wherever possible, while The Clan Hotel plugs guests into the Chinatown neighbourhood’s rich heritage
- Famous for its Dumpling Bags, Beyond the Vines has opened a flagship store and will this month launch an outlet stocking exclusive eco-friendly products
When Singapore went into lockdown in April 2020, businesses not offering essential services closed for two months. While life in Singapore has since returned to some semblance of normality – save for a recent flare-up in cases and resulting retightening of restrictions – the business environment remains challenging because of social distancing measures and a lack of visitors to the city.
Laut
The owners of this new restaurant in Singapore’s central business district received their operating licence on the second day of Singapore’s lockdown last year. Instead of an opening party, Frank Shen and Leon Tan, both in their early 30s, scrambled to put together an online platform for delivery orders.
A year on, Laut is now well known on the gastrobar scene. And for good reason: the owners use locally sourced ingredients wherever possible, with up to 70 per cent coming from Singapore – unusual in a place that imports 90 per cent of its produce.
The menu at Laut (which means “the sea” in Malay) could be described largely as “seafood with a twist”. Prawn Raja, for example, is Hakka thunder tea rice reinterpreted as a comfort dish of rice cooked in a pesto of Asian herbs topped with grilled king prawns. Diced century egg and petai (a pungent offering known locally as “stink beans”) are stirred in before serving. To drink, heady concoctions made with spirits from Compendium, a Singapore distillery, are on offer.
