whine & dine

Culina has been not just one of Singapore’s major produce suppliers to restaurants, but also where most serious foodies-who-cook will make pit stops at to pick up items that may be difficult or near impossible to find in their local supermarkets, especially when preparing for a dinner party. Recently, Culina opened a third branch at Dempsey, alongside their existing Bukit Timah and Orchard Boulevard retail stores.

To be completely honest, I’m really not a fan of the Dempsey area. I used to go there to eat at Samy’s (southern Indian curry) when I was younger, and always associated it with a mildly rural-ish sort of feel, considering all those funny little bike huts and art galleries scattered around the area. I loved it then. I liked it still when a wine bar opened, and I was even quite anxious to check out PS Cafe when it opened. (I was quite disappointed, apart from the brunch.) However, ever since it’s become the hip new place, I’ve been steering clear of it. It’s probably similar to how I can’t stand One North @ Rochester Park – too often, I get scared by hip places as – and I know I’m stereotyping – too often they spell high prices, bad food, mediocre drinks, and horrific patrons.

However, just before I started work, Bunny and I had been not just trawling Sydney for the best food we could get our grubby hands on, but also exploring as much of Singapore as we could, seeing as I wouldn’t have much of a chance to eat out with her once I started in the F&B industry. One of the places we wanted to check out, was Culina Enoteca – or the little café/restaurant in Culina’s Dempsey branch. We popped by on a Monday just before noon, were pleased to find that we had almost the entire area to ourselves, and settled in for a quiet lunch.

Now, Bunny has a long-standing love-hate relationship with bagels. She’s probably be hugest fan of bagels one could find in Singapore, aka the land where “bagel” is synonymous with Starbucks, at best, and at worst, a ring-shaped brick of stale dough. You can imagine her delight when she found that the smoked salmon sandwich (pictured above) was served in a fresh onion bagel, that’s right, she went a bit mad. And she had every right to, as this bagel was amazingly fresh, and beautifully fluffy, all while retaining its crisp exterior. The filling, however, disappointed a little, as it looked a bit more like a cream cheese bagel topped with a light scattering of smoked salmon, instead of a smoked salmon bagel with a little cream cheese. The onions, also, were sliced a little too thickly and had to either be avoided, or they’d completely overwhelm the flavour of the salmon and cheese.

My steak sandwich (pictured at start of post), however, was delicious. The beef was really juicy and had just enough fat such that it was oozing with flavour, but no huge chunks to make me gag on. (I don’t like eating soft fat. I only eat the crisp sort – like on siew yoke.) The beautiful ciabatta buns were also smeared with english mustard, which had just enough kick to it.

It was, in fact, the most fruitful morning, as I even managed to pick up some truffle honey (I will make ice cream soon) and had a stroll through jones the grocer where I found a few other bibs and bobs.

While I can’t vouch that Dempsey will be as pleasant an experience on weekends, I had a lovely time there that Monday morning, and I intend to visit it soon on one of my off days.

Culina at Dempsey
Block 8 Dempsey Road #01-13
Tel: 6474-7338