Despite being without air-conditioning, the Kilo’s flagship Singapore restaurant @ Kallang Bugis (they opened one in Bali this year) is a crazy hit and is almost always fully booked. Simply put, the food has to be pretty darn good for Singaporeans to subject themselves to the tropical heat. Housed in an old and lone multi-storey warehouse at the edge of the idyllic Kallang Basin, Kilo Singapore promises a unique and interesting experience for its patrons.
The expansive space of the restaurant is without much nooks or crannies. Its openness seems to create a festive environment where the constant buzz of activities puts any dinner group into a sociable mood. Industrial decor is hardly new to the restaurant/cafe scene in Singapore but Kilo manages to adaptively reuse the building’s original form, which successfully imbues the space with the qualities of authenticity and bohemian sensibility.
One of the cardinal characteristics of a good restaurant is its ability to create a cohesive and distinctive narrative across its entire menu. An amazing restaurant does that while providing an exciting food journey for all its diners. Kilo is one such amazing restaurant. It is Italian-Japanese fusion at its best but what truly wins the diners’ hearts at Kilo, is the ability to provide interesting juxtapositions of flavours in all its dishes. To me, this creates a cacophony of tastes throughout my entire meal.
A refreshing start
Let’s start with an amazing prologue to this food story. The Truffled Tai Yuzu Roll is without a doubt, my favourite dish there. The white snapper that is infused with the scent of yuzu manages to add freshness onto freshness, and the spring onion garnishing balances the sweetness with a fresh bite. Everything in this dish is done to unparalleled precision. The perfect snapper slice with the appropriate amount of rice, soy and nori, makes this starter an immaculately balanced sushi. This Roll definitely has to be the starter to start the night.
The Grilled Broccolini and Stracciatella looks innocently primitive on the plate but the freshness and crispness of the ingredients shine through unimpeded. Together with a dazzling splash of its olive oil seasoning, the flavours confer a very honest and direct story to the palate. An absolute treat, this is, for all greens lovers.
The next chapter would be the undeniably sexy Cream of Ebiko Pasta. Unlike the previous two items, this pasta is rich, tasty and unabashedly bursting with flavours, creating a perfect climax to the story. The creaminess of the sauce is further intensified by the roe and the prawn ingredients. The flavours are then eagerly captured by the angel’s hair pasta base. It is no wonder that the strong-flavoured spring onion is used to provide a juxtaposition of taste to break the otherwise plush concoction of rich ingredients.
A restaurant is not complete without its dessert story. The dessert is the epilogue to a food novel and should never be treated as an afterthought. It is a pity then that we have had a disappointing ending to our epic food journey. Their seasonal dessert, Peanut Ice Cream with Candied Ginger, for example, attempts to marry clashing flavours and failed in doing so. The spices overwhelm the sweetness that ought to bring the entire meal to a closure. In the end, it left us with a slightly unsatisfied aftertaste. Definitely, this is one dessert that sees no need to make a reprise.
Review Rating: 8/10
Kilo Singapore (Map)
66 Kampong Bugis
Singapore 338987
Tel: +65 6467 3987 – Ring after 4.30PM
Email: reservations@kilokitchen.com
Hours: 6.00pm to 12.00am (Mon-Sat)
Nearest station: Lavender MRT (About 8 – 10 min walk)
