Food Picks: Modern Indian with a Western twist at Firangi Superstar
Firangi Superstar has added new items to its menu.
SINGAPORE – Do not be fooled by Firangi Superstar's plain terracotta exterior. There is nothing minimalist about the experience here.
It overwhelms before the first bite even hits the table, spinning you through rooms crammed with memorabilia. Think American film-maker Wes Anderson on a trip through Delhi, a kind of kitschy fantasyland for colonial nostalgists wrapped in ornate wallpaper and studded with vintage firearms.
Thankfully, this meeting of worlds is far more amicable when confined to the kitchen of this modern Indian restaurant, which opened in 2021.
Firangi Superstar's decor is as bold as its menu.
PHOTO: FIRANGI SUPERSTAR
Have a seat. Red? Blue? Cushion? Chair? Oh, here comes the menu, recently revamped and folded into a newspaper – with actual clippings, by the way, just in case you were done gawking at the mounted moose heads on the wall and wanted something else to look at.
Open it up. Today's big story is a list of dishes, both old and new, Indian and international, all with characteristically eyebrow-waggling names.
Some riff off old iterations – This Is Also Not Aloo Gobi ($18++) still holds the traditional curry at arm's length, even as it borrows its taste. Others squeeze in a winky pun – We're Goan-Ing To Porto! ($96) beckons to diners with grilled Iberico pork and sorpotel chilli sauce.
Big personalities work only if backed up with big flavours, and Firangi Superstar's bite is as good as its bark. Starters like Papi's Jammed Gun ($29++), wagyu beef tartare with caviar, grated egg and gunpowder spice, and Big Baller Peperoner ($28++), its version of paneer Manchurian, with fried burrata and Manchurian chilli sauce, expertly fuse Western ideas with south Asian flair.
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The Bengal Bake-Off from Firangi Superstar.
PHOTO: FIRANGI SUPERSTAR
Off to a riotous start, I move on to mains. The Bengal Bake-Off ($108++) is trotted out in show-stopping fashion: a salt-baked seabass emerges from its crust, tender and steaming, and is robed in Kasundi cream.
Back In The Saddle ($21++ for 100g) triumphantly rides in on tandoori-spiced lamb, crowned with confit garlic and chilli leaf. All these dishes also come in vegetarian form, should you so desire.
In the middle of this lip-smacking extravagance, a few humble sides quietly sneak their way onto the table. Turn your attention immediately to the black garlic naan ($14++). Look how pillowy the bread is, breathe in its nutty fragrance. You already know it is going to be a knockout.
End the night with some banoffee fritters ($14++) or Rasmalai 'tres leches' ($16++). Recline back on your throne of pillows, cocktail or royal melon lassi ($20++) in hand.
Firangi – Hindi slang for foreigner – or no, one really does feel like a superstar here.
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