A South-East Asian Selection

A couple from home were in Singapore for a stopover, so we met up with them for drinks and dinner after their day of sightseeing. They’d eaten at Raffles the night before, so we weren’t going to compete on fine dining, so we instead went for atmosphere and took them down to Indochine’s Siem Reap II on the river. I think this is a great place to bring first-time visitors to Singapore, where you can enjoy a relaxed drink and dine al-fresco amongst the fairy lights, with a view of the Singapore skyline and river.

I love their menu also, which offers a selection of dishes from around the South-East Asian region – in fact we quite often come here for a drink after work, just to have the Cha Gio (Vietnamese Spring Rolls). Tonight we started with their Siem Reap Platter, which has a selection of favourites – the aforementioned Cha Gio, Goi Cuon (Fresh Rice Paper Prawn Rolls), Pik Kai (Laotian Chicken Wings), Xin Lord (Laotian Sun Dried Beef) and Chao Tom (Deep Fried Prawn on Sugar Cane).



This is a great way to start a meal and, in fact, I’d probably just be happy having only this for my meal, all the elements are so very moreish. We did choose mains, however, opting to share the Yam Pak Nam, the Indochine House Salad which comes with shredded chicken, watercress, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, egg and fried shallots, finished off with a Luang Prabang egg dressing and topped with roasted peanuts;



the Nem Nuong Ga, a BBQ Chicken Set, which comes as a plate of grilled chicken skewers with vermicelli, star fruit, cucumber, mint leaves and coriander, which you wrap into lettuce leaves lined with rice paper, then dip into the chilli sauce;



and the Bun Bo Xao, which is curried stir-fried beef scattered on rice vermicelli, cucumber and lettuce and garnished with mint leaves, basil, crushed peanuts and served with sweet and sour chilli fish sauce.



It was a satisfying selection, and the dressings definitely make the dishes, as do the accompanying Lychee Martinis!

So stomachs lined, relaxation achieved, sightseeing accomplished… it was time to whisk our friends down to Clarke Quay to show them where the action really is… despite their 6am flight to Perth the next day…

Siem Reap II – www.indochine.com.sg