Nicco Santos and Quenee Vilar’s Sambar comes back for a day with Singapore’s The Coconut Club
- The Garlic Press
- Oct 22, 2023
- 3 min read
There are some meals you wish you could have over and over again. Such is this flavor-packed experience at the one-day-only Sambar collaboration with Singapore’s The Coconut Club (TCC).
Chef Daniel Sia of TCC brought their signature flavors to Café Aurora while chefs Nicco Santos and Quenee Vilar gave us another taste of Sambar, one of the few good things to come out of the lockdown.
Thankful I got to sit with foodies who were game enough to share our food so we can try as many as we could!
All three appetizers were excellent, but the Laap Puri stole my heart. It’s a wheat puff (like Indian Pani Puri) filled with a somewhat creamy combination of stir-fried chicken, mint, Thai chili, potato, and Laksa leaf.
My table-mates had the Nasi Lemak with Fried Chicken and Nasi Sambar with Fried Duck Leg, which were served with gigantic pieces of chicken and duck. The Nasi Sambar with Fried Duck Leg Confit came with Spring Lap Cheong Frittata (light, fluffy, and not too salty), Green Bean Salad (reminiscent of our own Gising-Gising), Tomato Sambal, and Coconut Koshihikari Rice with roasted peanuts and slices of Cucumbers on the side.
The Nasi Lemak with Spiced & Fried Organic Chicken comes with umami-rich Rempah crumbs, Coconut rice, crispy fried egg, roasted peanuts, cucumber slices, and crispy ikan bilis (dilis or anchovies).
The breading on both wasn’t too thick but still heavy on flavor. The chicken was juicy and flavorful and nostalgic. I enjoyed it so much that I had to order it again for take-out because the Sambar lockdown memories are strong on this one.
Each set meal comes with a small side dish, which all worked well to complement the main dish. I loved how they made sure each set has something ultra savory, something tangy, something slightly sweet, and of course the genius balance of textures we’ve come to love with Nasi Lemak.
I had the Nasi Lemak with Beef Rendang and it was amazing! I've been following the careers of chefs Nicco and Quenee for a while now and if I see Beef Rendang on their menu I am automatically ordering it because I know they don't shy away from putting in all the time and hard work to ensure the best flavor possible. I expected this Rendang (which they created in collaboration with TCC) to be amazing, but I was still blown away. Ridiculously good.
The beef cheeks, stewed for hours in rich coconut milk with spices, were tender and flavorful. I thought the serving was small (I mean, compared to the chicken and duck) but evey fiber of that beef was bursting with flavor — just enough to let you enjoy every component of that gorgeous plate.
We also tried the Nonya Laksa Lemak with Maine Lobster tail. The broth was so warm and comforting, the heat was just right, and the noodles were truly qq (chewy)!
We also tried all the desserts and the Pisang Goreng was our favorite. It’s crisp banana fritters (think Pinoy maruya but crispier batter) with a scoop of creamy ice cream made of Milo and Cempedak (a tropical fruit that looks like jackfruit/langka) and sprinkled with Kinako powder for that nutty finish. It was genius and it is my most fervent wish that they’d include this in Café Aurora’s menu.
This collaboration was made possible by the Singapore Tourism Board with award-winning author and chef Angelo Comsti. This partnership is the last collaboration for 2023 for chefs Nicco Santos and Quenee Vilar and I'm so glad I got to taste it! As for Sambar making a more permanent comeback, the two chefs still need to think about it. For now, they're focusing on building their upcoming restaurant, Celera, which we'll hopefully see come to fruition on February 2024.
Café Aurora is located at the ground floor of Pacific Star Building, Buendia Avenue corner Makati Avenue, Makati City. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram at @CafeAuroraPH.
Read more about Café Aurora on my Metro.Style feature from February 2023.
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