Chef Willin Low's Roketto Izakaya takes off with tempting menu
I had a delicious time at Roketto Izakaya.
Almost everything I ate made my eyes roll back with pleasure - my eyeballs are still aching from all that exercise.
Opened in mid-July and located at Frasers Tower, it is Roketto Izakaya at night, and Relish by day.
The dual concept restaurant is united by one factor - Willin Low, one of the most famous and popular chefs in Singapore.
He is considered by many to be the godfather of Mod-Sin cuisine, and fans used to flock to his now defunct Wild Rocket.
And the fans are the reason Roketto Izakaya exists.
Chef Low said he wanted to bring Wild Rocket back to them, but a casual version.
Without the rigidity of fine dining, he can play with textures and flavours, creating a menu that is as playful and eclectic as his marvellous music playlist.
Now it is all about sharing plates, although I was not quite prepared to share the Krapow Prata Pizza ($15).
It is a minced chicken and basil stir fry on top with a roti prata base, with cheese and chilli. It is colourful, flavourful and wonderful, but not as spicy as it looks.
The Har Jeong Pork Keropok ($8.50) is everything I love on a plate. Har Jeong (or prawn paste) is one of the wonders of the culinary world, and who doesn't love pork belly? And to turn that to a texture of keropok? That's magic.
Roketto's take on rojak is the Aburaage Rojak Salad ($15), with tiger prawns, abura-age and pineapples, with a scoop of hae ko (prawn paste) ice cream.
One pet peeve of modern-anything food is when creativity takes precedence over taste, and it is just for social media.
This, however, is delicious. The hae ko ice cream melts quickly anyway, curtailing any attempts to spend 10 minutes photographing the dish.
I love curry chicken done any style. To me, it is the ultimate comfort dish. So I was definitely interested in the Curry Chicken Shepherd's Pie ($15.80).
The curry is mild but aromatic, with spices to tease the nose.
The thought of cheese with curry was a lot to stomach, but it was better than expected. It felt almost like a natural combination.
The Char Siew Rice ($20) was the rare one on my neutral list. It has a salted fish salsa verde (a win in any dish), but the braised soft bone pork just did not hit the right notes for me. I even found the meat a little tough. Which is fine because you'll want to save space for desserts.
Any of the four offerings on the menu - Wild Rocket Strawberry Cheesecake ($9.20), Wild Rocket Chendol ($8.50), Bur Bur Hitam ($7.80) and Fresh Pineapple Sorbet ($7.80) - would be worth the calories twice over.
Roketto Izakaya
#02-12/13, Frasers TowerTel: 6904-5458
Opens Tuesdays to Saturdays, 6pm to 11pm
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