As the face of Tempt, Candice Leong, owner and private chef is in a unique position to humanise and showcase her brand by bringing her authentic and charming personality dashed with a powerful persona and charisma, to delight, to share and to build a relationship based on food and the essence of it, with each client, that walks through her gastrobar at 31 Purvis Street.
A lovely photo of our tasting panel - we are serious about good food! absolutely serious whilst having a great conversation on food origins, ingredients, life) and enjoying a tasty set for dinner, at Tempt (L-R, Candice - our host, private chef and owner of Tempt, Kenneth, Warren, Chavelle, Charlotte, Jin and Edward)
Each time when I visit Tempt, my days of worries and stress is instantly removed as Candice brings out new ingredients sourced from different parts of the world and within in Singapore to the table, through innovation, trials and taste, to give meaning and purpose to each dish that is brought before me, and with an entire array of unique cocktails, spirits, champagne and wine; I am certainly spoilt for choice. Innovation makes me happy!
Rosette Media Food Panel Rating : 9.3/10 (any score over 9 is an excellent rating)
The Concept
The conservation shophouse is fully exposed with its raw and industrial interior, including original brickwork from 1893. The cuisine is cross-cultured, drawing from the chef owner's years of gallivanting across the globe, enhanced by in-house fermentation of regional produce and old-school preservation techniques. It aims to TEMPT and entice the diner towards being open-minded to new flavours along with the bold variation of meats and cuts offered. The bar is agave spirits forward, with a small but well-crafted cocktail selection, which Candice is immensely proud-of, and we can tell why, because it truly is innovative and special; they also stock award-winning limited production sakes, and a wine list that encompasses both recognised labels and artisanal low-intervention wines.
The Curated Menu
On 30 July 2024, we visited Tempt again, to chance upon their new exciting 2024 seasonal menu and were treated to an amazing plethora of exciting dishes, prepared by their head chef, James Yap. Our first course was termed Tempt's Sexy Salad which is nice spin to express the charred crystal lettuce which is well tossed with tahini-miso-Peruvian pepper dressing along with homemade sesame crisps; the super crisp, fresh & sweet greens hail from an urban vertical farm, GroGrace which is gathered only several kilometres from Tempt.
Next came long the Red Prawn Tartare, which was a distinctive Cauliflower mousse, melangé with smoked ikura, sea grapes, shoyu-dashi gelée and wasabi foam - all dashes of amazement from Japan. The third course is one of Tempt's "by popular demand" Kangaroo Tartare from Australia, and those who appreciate this meat (I have lived and travelled across 6 States and numerous cities in Australia).. would be game to sample the beautiful delight - no signs of any gamey-feel and strong inclination whatsoever.. with a juxtaposition of green peppercorn oil, toasted quinoa, pickled yellow beets, shoyu garlic puree, tarragon oil and crostini.
The fourth representation is the Oxtail Croquette which was bursting with flavor in the form of an oxtail done up nicely in a croquette format with laksa leaf chumichurri (from Argentina & Uruguay). Tantalizing! Brave! Superb!
What came next was a pleasant surprise, an ozzing red yolk (gathered and prepared in a special manner), minced chicken, cabbage, potatoes, shallots, piccalilli (UK)- the full works and it's basically a "cross between a scotch egg and bubble & squeak that's been one year in the making..." as aptly termed by Candice. So it's called the Scotch Egg.
For the sixth course, we had the Chilli Crab Soup, which was a combination of Japanese king crab meat and laksa gelato (truly unique) and then a distinct flow of flower crab broth was then introduced, to surround the masterpiece - truly exquisite, full of umami and bursting with flavors and goodness! true chill crab broth style! Immaculate!
What appeared next on our dining table was the Tagliolini Al Ragu di Rana Pescatrice (Italian style) - a simple but delightful dish of monkfish ragu pasta with venus clams, yes simplicity is best and that's the way we love it! The Conchiglioni Al Cocco, brings about local Asian, Thai, Singaporean and Malaysian influences into the picture with an overflow of giant shell pasta nicely consolidated with a mildly spicy coconut sauce, kaffir leaf, lemongrass, fried tempeh and monkey head mushroom - such ingenuity in the choice of ingredients and originality!
The 9th course brought out the Octopus al Cartoccio (which is truly special indeed), wrapped in the style of how they do Salt-baked chicken in some Asian restaurants, but with a nicely wrapped format, and unfolded literally - opened right in front of our eyes - the explosion of the smoked paprika-sake sauce sat very well with the slow roasted Spanish octopus, fingerling potatoes and the GroGrace wasabi-rocket salad.
The 10th delight was an Eggplant Schnitzel, a crispy batter of Ajvar - Balkan pepper dip and seasonal salad - any vegetarian would love this! Brilliance always comes in vegetarian dish settings and this is no exception. I was so looking forward to the next dish, as we are beef lovers and Candice shared her stories on Wagyu with us, whilst we were going on with our Hanging tender - Wagyu Onglet - what an excellent cut, that was super tender, succulent and nicely prepared with all that smoked potato purée and squared off with charred broccolini and stuffed morels - simply delicious!
The last dish before dessert was the mighty-termed *RM 5000 Tandoori Recipe, which was essentially a Red snapper that comes with a thick spicy mint sauce and fermented chayote - Candice's Dad bought this recipe done with chicken over an open fire at a pasar malam in Kuala Lumpur in the early 90s. She remembered this and kept it all these years for the right opportunity to showcase it... and finally they tweaked it to TEMPT their clients with fish or paneer.. of course, and ultimately, it's all about the spicy sauce!!
We ran through an entire series of cocktails, along with some gorgeous wine and my favourite Champagne Billecart-Salmon throughout the entire course and ended with the lovely Tempt's Adult "Bounty" Bar, for dessert - looking so innocently tasty yet dangerous - comprising of shredded coconut cream, Malibu coconut liqueur and dark chocolate shell. Cleverly executed piece of sweetness!
About Candice
Candice Leong, started travelling extensively from a young age which has exposed her to many flavours, cultures and has developed her penchant for exploring and discovery. With a background in the performing arts and having lived on five continents, her dinners have always been imbued with a playful sense of the theatre.
She is a self-proclaimed glutton who is voracious in her appetite for life and all the flavours it has to offer. Dining at her table is a story told with food, inspired by curiosity, sourced with passion and served with a persuasive sparkle in her eye… and that's what we like about her, genuine, sophisticated in a humble manner, yet true and sincere!
Contact
more information on the website https://tempt.sg/
Tempt
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+65 8299 7382
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