I recently tried the "TikTok famous" AIR CCCC restaurant after my friend managed to reserve a dinner slot about 2 months prior. The farm-to-table restaurant has been receiving lots of buzz since opening in Singapore on 31 January 2024. So here's my honest, no-holds barred review of the dishes that 4 of us tried, then you can decide if it is worth waiting to go.
It was a small 5 min walk up a curved wooden pavement to reach the Bali-esque restaurant from the Long Beach restaurant carpark (it is not immediately obvious where the restaurant is from there). We actually had our photo taken by the restaurant's forager who was just in some of the foliage beside the walking path, foraging! How cool's that.
The restaurant itself has a low flat ceiling, which is possibly to accommodate the second storey which we did not visit. A large part of the premise on the ground floor is occupied by the bar and open kitchen, where I believe assembly happens, as we see lots of kitchen staff hurrying around.
There are also quite a lot of friendly servers around, which means we are never left waiting too long and that's great. The noise level inside was tolerable. While the smell of food from the open kitchen is not super strong, we definitely had a faint smell of it clinging to our hair and clothes after leaving the place.
Here's the food menu. Diners can get the Chef's Choice or choose ala carte, which is what we did. We were briefed that everything is for sharing, which is fine by us, and what Asians do anyway.
Here is the drinks menu. Pretty decent but we chose to get an Italian bottle of white for $122 to share between the 4 of us.
Here's the California head chef who is known for his sustainability-forward creations, Matthew Orlando, who opened the restaurant with another celebrity chef, William Goldfarb of Room4Dessert Ubud fame. Apparently the Indonesian entrepreneur who opened Potato Head was also a collaborator, which explains the Bali-esque vibes.
We started with their Fermented cassava bread with whipped mushroom "XO" butter (S$15), which was quite small but sufficient for us small eaters. The whipped butter was super delicious with a strong umami taste from the mushrooms and went well with the chewy but average bread. I've had more mind-blowing ones! 3.5/5
The best dish of the evening had to be a non-meat dish - the Crispy Oyster Mushrooms (S$30) with Sarawak black pepper emulsion, pickled chillis and garden herb spice. The green chillis in particular lent a pop of sour freshness to the super crispy mushrooms. 4/5
One of the most disappointing dishes however was the Grilled Tiger Prawns (S$38) with pickled shallot butter, daikon, garden herbs and puffed rice. While we all appreciated the puffed rice's texture, the prawns were mushy. And there was no evidence that they were grilled. It was just very lackluster for something of that price. 2/5
We also got two mains, including this Glazed 1/2 Kampong Chicken (S$48) with snake beans, lemongrass stuffed in the chicken, curry leaf tonkotsu and andaliman pepper. First up, the snake beans were horrible. It might be my first time trying it but they were bitter, plastic-ky and tough. The chicken, while being incredibly tender, was overpowered by the lemongrass. The sauce it sat on was also non-descript. Overall still edible, but not tasty. 2/5
The better main was the Whole Coral Grouper for Two (S$64) where the confit filet lies on a puddle of caramelised onion butter, served with a side of baked fish bone and garlic crisps and a smoked collar rillette so every part of the fish is used. It was very interesting that every part of the fish is used and the bone crisps was super innovative. The fish itself was very fresh and light, while the onion butter sauce was a decent accompaniment. However, the rilette was too fishy for our taste, and the use of some sort of mayonnaise in there also further made it more "gelak". 3/5
The Roasted Local Greens (S$14) with red dates, peanuts and citrus was also quite a disappointment. The fried shallots on top was the most delicious part of it, being savory and sweet, but the greens themselves were quite plain and I definitely did not taste any dates or peanuts..or citrus. Now I am wondering if this is the dish we ordered. 2.5/5
We also got a side of Fermented Fried Potatoes (S$14) with lime skin emulsion since we did not have any rice (they suggested for us to have some, but we are not big rice eaters). The potatoes were freshly fried and heavily seasoned with some sort of powder that had a very nostalgic flavour. I appreciated the softness and the flavoring of this! 4/5
Even though we were quite full, we decided to just get the most interesting dessert on the menu, the Ice Cream Sandwich (S$18) with coffee ground cookie, peanut crumble and frozen gula apong (palm sugar) custard, to try. It was quite delicious with the different textures surrounding the coconut ice cream, with the peanuts giving this a Snickers vibe. 3.5/5
I did not have high expectations for this place and thankfully so because it would have fallen short. Don't trust everything you see on TikTok! While there were some interesting items, it was overall quite overpriced and underwhelming. Perhaps it's because I know I can get something much better and less expensive in Bali.
🙅 Thank you, next ✔️
🤷 Try if curious
💁 Bookmark this
🤷 Try if curious
💁 Bookmark this
AIR CCCC
25B Dempsey Rd, Singapore 249918
Wed-Fri 11.15AM to 3PM; 5.30-11PM
Sat & Sun 11.30AM to 3PM, 5-11PM
Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays
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