Executive Chef Maksym Chukanov at QĪN Restaurant & Bar marries progressive modern European culinary techniques and Asian inspiration for a uniquely inventive cuisine.
Chances are you’ve not heard of QĪN Restaurant & Bar. The contemporary restaurant doesn’t offer any frontage, ensconced as it is across two upper floors within The Clan Hotel Singapore despite being located in the city’s bustling Telok Ayer heritage district.
But dedicated gourmands are likely to know of its executive chef Makysm Chukanov. Chef Chukanov boasts a rather impressive pedigree, having been head chef at Cure Singapore in its early days, and was most recently executive chef at CÉ LA VI where, in my humble opinion, his culinary talents and take on modern Asian cuisine were utterly wasted on guests who were there at the Marina Bay Sands rooftop destination purely for the views of the Singapore skyline.
But that’s just me.
So I got all excited when I heard he was tapped by the TungLok Group to helm its chic chinois restaurant QĪN.
It’s hard to put a finger on QĪN. Is it a modern Asian restaurant that borrows fancy European techniques? A contemporary restaurant with Asian inflections? Or – gasp – a fusion mishmash of culinary influences from all over?
Turns out, it’s all of the above and more, presented as a curated four- or six-course degustation experience during dinner.
Even QĪN’s complimentary starter. It’s Japanese milk bread, glazed with gula melaka for sweetness, and with nutty Western-style browned butter served alongside.
The appetiser of crunchy white asparagus – garnished with chervil and doused with yuzu – is safe enough, but then you also have a crispy kueh pie tie filled with minced smoked trout spiked with kelp salt and grated horseradish for some kick. Likewise the little rye tartlet topped with a crudo of yellowtail, ginger, mayonnaise and yuzu kosho for a riot of flavours and textures.
An actual crudo then turned up to kick off the mains. This is the same yellowtail, but cut larger and served with crunchy rolled kohlrabi slices and a delightfully refreshing cucumber ponzu.
Utterly bizarre is a savoury take on Chinese xing ren dou fu, or almond cream. Here white asparagus and almond is turned into a custard, served with perfectly roasted white asparagus stems, topped with caviar and doused with a luscious almond milk. Some other more pompous restaurant would have christened this ‘textures of spargel’.
Then there’s a langoustine dish that was an absolute gem. This is beautifully charred langoustine tail, but the hero component is the accompanying tom yum broth rendered from the rest of the langoustine for spicy, briny goodness.
Finally, the main course of quail. This is one part seared quail breast glazed with a Szechuan pepper sauce, one part roasted deboned quail drumsticks covered in puffed quinoa, and one part steamed Chinese bun studded with green onion. And all parts yummy.
And just so the unusual combinations continue to issue forth from Chef Maksym, there’s a palate cleanser of shaved ice with notes of rhubarb and mascarpone before your dessert of a Japanese inspired milk sorbet sitting atop strawberry compote and slathered with caramelised sweet Japanese soy.
By now you probably realise that Chef Maksym is as creative as he is iconoclastic, offering a cuisine that is entirely his own. And maybe, just maybe, QĪN – so named for the Mandarin term 亲 that means closeness or kinship – probably describes Chef Maksym’s culinary approach best.
Weaving together the culinary ties that bind.
QĪN Restaurant & Bar
Address 10 Cross St, The Clan Hotel Level 4, Singapore 048417 (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 11.30am to 2.30pm and 6pm to 12am daily
Tel (65) 6980 3535
Web www.qin.com.sg
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