A HEARTY WHIFF OF SINGAPORE’S STREET HAWKER CULTURE

I have often wondered why Delhi doesn’t have a decent Singaporean hawker-style restaurant, considering how many of us have been to the Hawkers Centre in the spiffy financial heart of the island city and to the seafood shacks that thrive on the East Coast Road.

Despite its remarkable story as the most successful of South-East Asia’s ‘tiger economies’, Singapore has worked very hard at preserving its multinational cultural identity, defined by its Chinese, Malay and Indian settlers, and the surprising richness and variety that lie at the core of its food culture. This tiny nation, which grew out of nothing, hasn’t let its wealth blinker its vision of its past. It is proud of it and it shows in the pride with which they talk about their Chilli Crab, Fish Head Curry and Hainanese Chicken Rice—paired without doubt with their other national favourite: Tiger beer.

If you have been missing a Singaporean restaurant with the same intensity that I do, then rest assured that your wait will be over in the coming week – and deliciously so – with the opening of Mai Bao at the glittering new DLF Avenue, Saket, which will also see the Yum Yum Cha founder, Varun Tuli, launch his new potpot.in and TBSP. restaurants, flanked by the city’s Singaporean newbie and The Big Chill.

Avantika Sinha Behl, a NIFT graduate who studied luxury brand management in London (her Master’s thesis about India’s luxury hotels is still quoted with respect at her alma mater!), got seriously interested in restaurants after her marriage. Her husband, Pranay Bahl, who heads Embassy Catering, is from the Ghei family, which has the distinction of launching a slew of popular restaurants in India, starting with Kwality (in association with the legendary Pishori Lal Lamba) and The Embassy in Connaught Place. Avantika made her debut with Kampai, a contemporary Japanese restaurant with a seriously traditional menu targeted primarily at the Japanese expat community working out of the Aerocity.

She exceeded expectations with her eye for detail and her steadfast refusal to flirt with the local palate. Kampai was instantly rated as Delhi-NCR’s No. 1 Japanese fine-dining restaurant. And it has acquired a sizeable Indian following, which has helped Avantika weather the sudden desertion of the city by the Japanese community because of Covid-19 fears. “They have more than made up for the loss of my Japanese clientele,” Avantika said, assuring me that the restaurant business seems to have finally shaken off the ill-effects of the pandemic and gotten back on its feet.

It was more than a year ago that Avantika announced she was opening a Singaporean restaurant. Then came the lockdown and those long months of despair when “I was ready to just lock up and stay at home”. To get over the depression, she attended an online course on vegan baking and it did have its desired positive effect.

Avantika went back to the drawing board of her new restaurant, visited Singapore thrice and checked out all its regional delicacies in their infinite variety, roped in a Singaporean chef to smoothen out the rough edges in the menu developed by Nitin Bharadwaj, a brilliant Japanese chef (ex-Sakura and Guppy by ai) who presides over Kampai, and has now also got seriously interested in Singaporean cuisine. Its name Mai Bao, by the way, like many famous restaurant names, means nothing—although I can assure you that you’ll fall instantly in love with the restaurant’s baos.

Singapore couldn’t have asked for a better representative of its food culture than Mai Bao. Unlike Kampai, which celebrates fine dining, it is all about smart casual dining. I visualise it becoming the next big hangout for trendy young people washing down their Ayam Goreng, Satay, Rendang (served with the must-have blue pea rice) and Laksa with buckets of beer. It may not be impossible for it to even spread its wings to Singapore. Now, that would be its crowning moment!