Sinpopo Brand Restaurant @ TANGS

I was attracted to have dinner at Sinpopo Restaurant at Tangs due to the Peranakan buffet they had, jump into my feed every 2 days. When we arrived, however, we were informed that the buffet had ended and only a la carte dishes were available

Located on the 2nd floor of Tangs Orchard, the restaurant is a semi-open concept design with the main drinks counter and different sitting areas in different spots of the mall. The only connection between the areas is the similarity in decorations and standees indicating the areas are all under Sinpopo

The menu offered some traditional Peranakan delights like Nasi Lemak, Lotong and curry as well as modern fusion items like calamari and you tiao rojak

For starters, we had the rojak which was very generous in prawn sauce with peanut powder. There were no fruits in the rojak as it was a fritter and cuttlefish rojak where the cuttlefish is the grilled dried cuttlefish. Due to the lack of fruits, the dish is slightly dry and the prawn sauce was not as fragrant as other rojak stores outside

The ayam satay was grilled nicely with a smokey flavour and light seasoning. The satay was provided with cubes of cucumber, onion, and pineapple as well as a small bowl of peanut sauce. The satay was nice but slightly tough as it was mainly lean meat so the juice from the fats was lacking

Next, we ordered a couple of their signature dishes like the sotong hitam, chap chye and salted vegetable duck soup. Priced in the range of SGD 14 to SGD 20, the serving is petite and not quite enough for sharing in bigger groups. The dishes are more suitable for sharing between a maximum of 4 persons. The flavour of the dishes is authentic but not really cooked to perfection. An example is the chap chye is not as soft and infused with flavour and the soup was salty but missing depth and some of the duck flavours

The mains we ordered included Nasi Lemak, Mee Siam and Lontong and they were priced between SGD 20 to SGD 22 which is quite steep for local delights. Amongst the 3 dishes, the Nasi Lemak has the best value for money with prawns, meat, sotong as well as some fried chicken wings. The mee siam has assam prawns and quail eggs while the lontong has chicken and a boiled egg topped with sambal. The nasi lemak is fragrant and paired well with the side dishes while the mee siam was spicy and dry and a very small portion. The lontong has a creamy gravy with vegetables and rice cubes. I do like the chicken rendang topped on the lontong but the price we paid for the dishes is really not quite worth the meal

Overall, some of the dishes were well done but most of them were simply overpriced for the same local dish which would have tasted better in a local Peranakan restaurant

Address: 310 Orchard Rd, #02-22/27/29 Tang Plaza, Singapore 238864

Opening hours: 11 am to 9 pm