At Quenino in Artyzen Singapore, Chef Sujatha Asokan reframes Southeast Asian nostalgia through a sharply contemporary lens, proving the region’s flavours are ready for serious fine-dining conversation.
In recent years, Singapore’s dining landscape has somewhat entered a phase of self-reflection. After decades of importing culinary prestige from Europe, Japan and, more recently, the Nordics, the city’s most compelling restaurants are increasingly looking closer to home. Contemporary Southeast Asian cuisine — once unfairly boxed into “modern Asian” shorthand — has been emerging with clearer purpose, deeper research and far greater confidence.
Among the latest pushing the envelope is Quenino at Artyzen Singapore, where Chef Sujatha Asokan retells the region’s flavours not as pastiche, but as personal narrative. Recently recognised as a MICHELIN-selected restaurant, Quenino’s positioning is “Southeast Asian, retold”; what could have easily slipped into marketing vagueness is instead shaped by Chef Su, together with Melbourne-based Chef Victor Liong of Melbourne’s two-hatted Lee Ho Fook, into a razor-sharp menu that does not seek to replicate familiar local flavours, but to build on them.
The current chapter, ‘A Taste of Home’, sees Chef Su — who has Malaysian Chinese and Singaporean Indian heritage — lean deliberately into her own childhood cravings and Singapore’s everyday rituals for her creations.
So come expecting plenty of local references.
Think Yellowtail Kingfish, which features slices of raw fish in a clear broth simmered with Szechuan pickled vegetables and is a reimagination of her mother’s kiam cai arh (salted duck soup). It’s accompanied by crunchy jicama (raw and pickled) and watermelon radish, and finished at the table with a “snow” of green chilli powder — a throwback to the glory days of molecular gastronomy.
On the other hand, Caviar draws inspiration from Singapore’s signature chicken rice… except it has neither chicken nor rice. Instead, tender razor clams and scallop mousse are presented on top of a dragon chive custard, with grated yacon, fermented chili and a generous dollop of Amur caviar from Yunnan, China.
River Prawn comes as two parts. First, a prawn head espuma with garlic chili crumbs to be licked off the shell as a teaser, followed by a luscious butter-poached prawn tail in a tamarind curry, accompanied by Brussel sprouts, parsnip chips and young mango. Influenced by assam gulai, a sour and spicy stew that has its origins in Indonesia, this dish absolutely delivers, the sweetness river prawn pairing perfectly with tangy notes of tamarind.
And if you’re familiar with the herbal roast duck from popular local restaurant Dian Xiao Er, Chef Su’s Dry-Aged Duck is her interpretation. Aged for 14 to 20 days, minced duck thigh is added as a layer to the duck breast and crispy skin, served with the classic angelica (dang gui) sauce and sambal ijo.
For the final main course, “Fried Rice” takes the best parts of three Southeast Asian rice dishes and tosses them together: here you’ll find the slight smokiness reminiscent of fried rice, the porridge-like texture of mui fan (gravy-soaked rice), and the numerous condiments (ham floss, moringa leaf, cucamelon, olive relish, pickled bean sprouts, house-made X.O. sauce) of nasi ulam that need to be mixed in prior to enjoying.
Finally, the dessert that is Quenino Cereal Bowl taps into a distinctly Southeast Asian breakfast memory. Beautifully adorned with a patterned tulle, this comes as a sweet savoury combination of sorbet made with 70% dark chocolate sourced from Johor, Malaysia, puffed grains and seeds, Horlicks malt foam and kulim oil, the latter of which is derived from buah kulim (jungle garlic), a native Malaysian fruit which has a unique flavour profile that is often described as cross of garlic, shiitake mushroom, and truffle.
If you’re in any way familiar with the references that inform and define Chef Su’s ‘A Taste of Home’, you’ll find comfort and nostalgia in these tweezer-plated dishes. If you aren’t? They still make for an assertive, flavourful time.
And while Quenino’s tasting menus are priced on the higher end, its value proposition — a dining experience that is as much intellectual as it is sensory — makes it worthwhile. You’ll also go away with the bonus realisation that maybe, just maybe, contemporary Southeast Asian cuisine in Singapore has matured.
At Quenino, that maturation tastes bright, pepper-warm, and with a touch of youthful rebellion.
Quenino
Address 9 Cuscaden Rd, Level 4 Artyzen Singapore, Singapore 249719 (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 12pm to 3pm, 6pm to 10.30pm Tuesday to Saturday
Tel (65) 6371 6030
Website www.quenino.com
Instagram @queninosg
Reservations book here
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