Modern Singaporean at Wild Rocket - Singapore's 10th Best Restaurant!

Is there such a thing as Singaporean Fine Dining? Chef Willin Low certainly seems to think it's possible: He's busy creating and serving up Modern Singaporean dishes at his Wild Rocket restaurant on Mount Emily. The restaurant space and service standards probably aren't quite up to the more established (and more pricey) Western-leaning fine dining joints in town (yet), but the food's legitimately good - as evidenced by the 38th spot in San Pellegrino & Acqua Panna's Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2016 list (10th best in Singapore).


If you're in the mood to splurge, Wild Rocket's Omakase (leave it to the Chef) menu ranges from s$80-s$160 depending on time of day; Otherwise the three-course set lunch is priced at a remarkably reasonable s$35++. We dip our toes in the water with the latter choice, which starts off with some warm toasty garlic brioche, whose shape reminds us of the ubiquitous tau sar piah.


The appetizers are up next: Wild Rocket's “Roast-Chicken-Rice” wings with calamansi chilli sauce is glutinous rice-stuffed roasted chicken wings, with Singapore chicken-rice flavours and chilli sauce. It's delicious (if perhaps a tad bit under-seasoned), and evokes memories of three iconic Singaporean dishes: Lo Mai Kai, Roast Chicken Wings, and Singapore Chicken Rice.


The Beef Carpaccio with sesame ginger puree is a little more Western leaning. Carpaccio, tartare and other raw beef dishes live or die by the seasoning and accompaniments; Wild Rocket's choice of sesame and ginger puree adds a very nice Asian flavour profile.


The first of our main courses was the Sarawak Curry Chicken Shepherd’s Pie, i.e. A delicious baked base of curry chicken, covered with mashed potato and cheese. Curry and cheese aren't probably too high up on your mental list of "ingredients that go well together," but it really works. Of course it's not perfect - we do have some minor nitpicks like the curry could be spicier, the dish could have more mash - but these are really down to personal preferences.


The Roast Red Snapper with Tom Yum Bouillabaisse (s$8 supplement) was perhaps not quite as interesting. The fish was well-cooked - crispy skin and moist, juicy flesh, and the mussels were fresh and juicy. But we didn't really care much for the thin, watery Tom Yum broth, which was neither spicy nor sour nor flavourful enough.


For my dessert, I chose the Teh Tarik Panna Cotta with “Pearls” ("Pearls" referring to those little tapioca balls you get in bubble tea). It's a delightful, if a little small, dessert, though interestingly enough I thought it tasted more like Earl Grey (milk) tea rather than Teh Tarik.


The darling had the deconstructed Wild Rocket Strawberry Cheese Cake (s$2 supplement) - mounds of cream cheese on strawberries and biscuit crumble base together with walnuts and ice cream - which was definitely the better of the two desserts.


Final bill came to s$102 for the both of us after the price supplements, drinks, service charge and GST, which we think is quite reasonable for the caliber of food we had. Portions are a tad bit on the small side, perhaps - it was 'enough' for our appetites, but a growing teenager would probably be hunting for snacks by mid-afternoon.

Wild Rocket is at Hangout @ Mt Emily, 10A Upper Wilkie Road. I'm not sure if reservations are typically required, but you can make them online. Non-halal.