Hotspots: Quenino

Indonesia Mud Crab

Where are we dining?
On the fourth floor of Artyzen Singapore, Quenino is MICHELIN selected and proudly Singaporean. Its name, from Malaccan Creole Portuguese for “little one,” hints at both the restaurant’s intimacy and its playful personality. Chef de Cuisine Sujatha Asokan, known as Chef Su, has launched a menu built around rediscovery, with a focus on transforming overlooked or polarising dishes into creations that surprise and delight.

Who is Chef Su?
Chef Su boasts multicultural roots. With a Malaysian Chinese mother and a Singaporean Indian father, her cooking is rooted in both cultures. She trained at Stellar at 1-Altitude, Pollen, and Esquina before leading Botanico.

What’s the feel?
Quenino is stylish but not stiff. The dining room is contemporary and chic, service is attentive yet relaxed, and the dishes arrive with both elegance and humour. It feels like fine dining that wants you to enjoy yourself, not tiptoe through the courses.

How does the menu begin?
The Focus Menu (S$180) opens with a tart featuring tamarillo from Cameron Highlands, paired with rasam jelly, balonglong, and coriander flower. Next comes the fried yam dumpling, a twist on wu gok. Here, Indian spices inspired by vadai season offer a filling of pork and prawns, lifted by a poached oyster in house-made kicap oyster sauce. Crisp pastry meets briny depth, balanced by refreshing yacon and celtuce.

Which classics are reimagined?
Street food and hawker favourites are central to the experience. “Cuttlefish and kangkong” is reworked as grilled octopus with caramelised shrimp paste snow, macadamia, and a terrine of green mango and jicama, finished with a ginger flower and lemongrass foam. It’s playful, aromatic, and layered with sweetness and umami. Meanwhile, white pepper crab takes centre stage in a dish developed with Commis Chef Bon –a pepper sauce infused with crab roe crowns steamed egg custard, with wild rice, celtuce, and shallots adding texture. It feels recognisably Singaporean yet entirely new.

Stone Axe M9 Wagyu

What about dessert?
Dessert continues the theme of challenge and reinvention. Green chilli ice cream, inspired by festive flavours, is balanced by elements of pineapple tart, almond cookies, bak kwa, and mint jelly. Petit fours and mignardises finish the meal featuring childhood treats like sour candy and min jiang kueh.

Is there a lunch menu?
Yes, Quenino offers weekday lunch from Tuesday to Saturday. The Accent Menu ($98) delivers a curated snapshot of the restaurant’s signatures, while the Insight Menu ($138) offers a more immersive experience.

How does the wine list complement the flavours?
Oh it has a mischievous streak of its own! Where else can you sip a pour of 2019 Sassicaia, 2019 Melbury Red, or even a 2011 Les Forts de Latour without springing for the whole bottle? It’s a rare chance to taste some of the world’s great wines by the glass, turning a single course into a moment of indulgence.

Quenino
9 Cuscaden Road, 249719
 quenino.com