Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Blue Ginger, Tanjong Pagar Road

Blue Ginger, rice

I've been wanting to try Blue Ginger (97 Tanjong Pagar Road, tel : +65 6222 3928) for a long time. The restaurant has been around for at least a couple of decades but I never really knew how long they've been in business until they were listed under the Bib Gourmand last year.

Blue Ginger, achar

Each table was served with some achar and sambal belachan. The dangerous pairing of pickles and chilli were just the tip of the iceberg to what makes some eat copious amounts of rice in such restaurants. But if I had to put in another two cents, the achar would have benefitted greatly with more generous amounts of crushed peanuts. I suppose the matriarch either didn't know or didn't care.

Blue Ginger, ayam panggang

We had a serving of their signature ayam panggang which was topped with a lemak curry gravy. It's not bad. I was hoping for a "wow this would make me come back" but it wasn't quite that. The grilled chicken didn't quite have that edge that many freshly grilled chickens do. While I enjoyed that coconut laden gravy, it was just half of what made the dish.

Blue Ginger, sotong keluak

Their sotong keluak was interesting. There was something that tasted like fermented bean in the gravy for the squid besides the buah keluak. The menu mentioned tamarind juice but we couldn't taste any of that. Still those squids were impressively tender and together with its gravy, made very good pairing with servings of their white rice.

Blue Ginger, kangkong lemak

We sidestepped the usual chap chye and went for a kangkong lemak that was cooked with sweet potatoes in coconut milk, dried shrimp and whatever spices it was that flavoured the dish. Not bad at all. It was fragrant from both the coconut milk and hae bi. It wasn't not too rich yet still enjoyable. I had secretly hoped that it would be more lemak.

Blue Ginger, Tanjong Pagar Road

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