Modern Asian grill Tribal is a convivial communal dining space offering wood-fired plates of Asian-inspired flavours perfect for sharing.
Asian flavours are on the rise. Tribal, newly-opened at Mondrian Singapore Duxton, is one of the latest dining spots to open up in town that takes culinary cues from across Asia, following the recent openings of Jiak Kim House and Restaurant Imbue.
Tribal is a great name for what it purports to do. Firstly, fire. The restaurant leans heavily on the use of wood-fire cooking, inspired by the various tribal ethnic cuisines we find across our vast, diverse continent. Then there’s its focus on communal dining, particularly with sharing-style dishes commonly found across dining tables in this part of the world.
And the space. From its dark teak-style wooden counters and seats to the rattan latticed ceilings – designed by acclaimed Indonesian architect Andra Matin – 58-seater Tribal exudes a cosy yet mysterious vibe, like stepping into the modern equivalent of a rustic Dayak longhouse or a traditional Vietnamese beam house.
The food is even more contemporary.
Here Executive Chef Keith Wan pulls together Asian-forward dishes built around ethical produce sourced from small-scale farmers across Asia. Each dish is a melting pot of influences, familiar yet different.
Small sharing plates include the likes of simple grilled Flatbread with miso butter, an umami bomb of a salad that’s Amela Tomatoes tossed with smoked eel, bonito, and wasabi cream, and Fried Duck Neck, which comes dusted in a spice blend and deep-fried, among others.
And larger communal dishes, of course. We opted for King Prawns, which retained enough succulence despite being grilled but is otherwise unremarkable. The sharing rice pots are a must-order. Our Wild Mushrooms – featuring a medley of confit mushrooms and lashed with black truffle – was fantastic.
You can supplement your courses with various sides of grilled vegetables. Our Sugar Loaf Cabbage came flavoured with Chinese jinhua ham and garlic butter, which complemented the prawns.
For dessert, pick the moreish Bibingka – a twist on the Filipino rice cake dessert and served with kaya ice-cream – over the Smores, which is uninspiring despite the use of Javanese long pepper.
On hindsight we should have stumped up for some of its signature wood-fired meat options from its seasonal beef menu featuring those sustainably sourced cuts from farms around the world, or even its signature Santori Organic Kampung Chicken. It may have given us an even better understanding of what Tribal can do.
Next time, maybe.
Tribal
Address 83 Neil Rd, #01-07, Singapore 089813 (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 6pm to 11.30pm Mondays to Saturdays; closed on Sundays
Tel (65) 9789 4699
Web www.tribal.sg
Facebook tribaldining
Instagram @tribaldining
Reservations book here
Follow us on Telegram to get updated on events and other spirited announcements!
