Kubana, kunafe, and cocktails: Leila is Keong Saik’s latest darling

In a nightlife enclave littered with casualties, Leila Singapore strides onto Teck Lim Road with the seductive promise of Middle Eastern and Balkan flavours, sultry lighting, and cocktails with just enough swagger to suggest Keong Saik’s fortunes aren’t dead yet.

Among the latest entrants to Singapore’s dining scene is Leila, tucked along Teck Lim Road on the edge of Chinatown where far too many eager speakeasies and restaurants open, and ever so often, die in writhing ignominy. Yes, business has been brutal for the Keong Saik nightlife enclave of late, with many — including Michelin-starred eateries and award-winning cocktail bars — having either flown the coop or shut for good.

But Leila, this new contemporary Middle East meets the Balkans gastrobar burgeoning with so much hope and ambition, looks determined to reverse the area’s fortunes. And judging by the crowds since opening, it may have a fighting chance.

The attraction is evident. Step inside and you’re enveloped in terracotta warmth and soft, conspiratorial lighting, the sort that makes everyone look slightly more attractive and your life feel infinitely more glamorous. It’s less a restaurant, more a stage set for an evening where you’ll definitely drink too much arak-laced cocktails and almost certainly make questionable decisions.

Except when you’re ordering, because it’s hard to go wrong.

The menu is a romp across the Middle East and the Balkans with a detour through Greece by way of northern Africa that’s built for sharing, although anyone who tells you sharing food is about generosity has clearly never tried wrestling with fellow diners over the fabulously fluffy and sweet Kubana Bread here. This Yemeni brioche, golden and pillowy, comes with tahini and tomato paste and is as addictive as anything peddled from dubiously dark alleyways. There’s a Spicy Plate too — peppers, harissa, garlic confit — which is essentially an ode to the noble nightshade but bursting with flavour.

The Arais Cigar is a must; these crisp deep-fried cylinders stuffed with seasoned minced beef a clever reworking of the traditional Middle Eastern fried stuffed bread arayes, but are infinitely sassier and quite impossible not to eat with indecent haste especially when dipped into silky tahini.

Seafood arrives in the form of Oysters with a perky Mediterranean mignonette, or the Balkan Anchovy Bruschetta, a hunk of toasted challah slathered with velvety eggplant cream and topped with cornichon, pickled onions and, of course, anchovy. But the one dish that lingers, whispering darkly in your ear long after the plates have been cleared, is the Tripoli Freekeh Fish. A fillet perched on nutty freekeh and smothered in tomato sauce that’s spiced enough to intrigue without searing your palate into oblivion? Yes, please.

For the carnivores? You’d be tempted by the Beef Kebab Skewers which come as smoky, herb-flecked lances of meat dripping with intent and a sauce rendered from roasted peppers. We reckon the Manseef, a supposed Balkan specialty, is a must-order: robustly flavoured chicken and sautéed onions served up with the Middle Eastern trio of hummus, tahini and harissa.

Desserts, often an afterthought in places like this, are anything but. The Knafe, that beloved Middle Eastern mess of cheese, pastry, and pistachios, is reimagined with mozzarella and a scoop of ice cream. It’s sticky, crunchy, gooey, and — let’s be honest — a dietary catastrophe… but one worth every bite. Then the Chocolate lands the knockout punch: dark, rich, olive oil-slicked decadence.

And the cocktails? Oh, the cocktails. A Balkan Sunset glows with vodka, ouzo and raspberry; the Dardar is rum, Campari and passionfruit gone slightly astray. Green & Tonic adds olive oil to gin and cucumber, proving that even your salad dressing has dreams of being a drink.

Leila is alluring. It seduces you with plenty of spice and smoke, and ply you with drink until the world seems softer round the edges. And frankly, it succeeds.

Maybe there’s hope for Keong Saik again.

Leila

Address 12 Teck Lim Rd, Singapore 088390 (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 6pm to 1am Tuesdays to Saturdays; 10am to 5pm on Sundays; closed on Mondays
Web www.leilasingapore.com
Instagram @leilasingapore
Reservations book here