Temasek

Just in case you were in any doubt as to what cuisine Temasek serves, the menus at this highly-rated Parramatta eatery is emblazoned with the Mer-lion, and the walls are filled with posters with the word "Singapore" written across them. However, I have heard the food described as Malaysian, which isn't really surprising, given the large Malaysian population in Singapore which must have influenced the cuisine. Being multicultural, Singaporean food is also influenced by Indonesian, Chinese, and Western cuisine. 

Getting to Temasek at nightfall is a daunting task - the directions provided by Google maps isn't at all accurate, leading you down abandoned back-streets near council parking lots, which is no fun for a woman the size of a child with strength to match. Fortunately, another wary woman was found, and  we marched purposefully towards our mutual friend's birthday dinner.
The first thing that hits you as you near Temasek is the amount of food reviews and acclamation stickers plastered in its windows; and the second thing is how bustling and busy this eatery already was before 6pm hit. Both of these signaled a delicious meal to come.
Unable to make choices, we settle for the banquet menu, which is a whopping 7 courses (alas, no dessert).

Curry Puff and Spring Roll

One thing that always amuses me about the difference between Asian restaurants and Western restaurants is the way food is described. As one member of the party is allergic to pork, we tried to consult the menu to see what fillings are in these fried golden parcels, and the menu helpfully stated, 'curry puffs and spring rolls'. If we were at a modern Australian, French or Italian restaurant, the menu would have read something along the lines of 'potato pieces in a garam masala, tamarind, cumin, galangal and tumeric sauce, encased in puff pastry, and fried; accompanied by savoury minced pork, finely chopped vermicelli, and fried in a thin wonton skin pastry'. 

I like the way tomato sauce is the chosen accompaniment to the curry puffs and spring rolls; but the items themselves were just OK. I am happy with them as starter to a banquet menu, but I wouldn't have ordered them separately. 

Gado Gado

Gado gado literally means 'mix mix' in Indonesian, which gives you a good idea of what you're supposed to do with the dish. It is like an egg, cucumber, potato and bean sprout salad slathered in peanut sauce. It is what one calls a great rice-accompaniment: not quite meant to be eaten on its own (way too salty for that), but it is savoury, hearty and tasty. 

Ngoh Hiang Pork

Ngoh Hiang means 'five spices', which has a Chinese origin, but Ngoh Hiang Pork has transformed into a distinctly Hokkien and Teochew dish. A quintessential hawker food, the sausages are very salty, very soft, and of course, totally processed (aren't the best tasting things always?) Dipped into a sweet chili sauce, these barely-need-to-chew sausages will satisfy your taste buds for sure, but be careful - if you are sensitive to MSG, these will give you a hell of a headache afterwards (I would know). 

Curry chicken potato

The flavour of this dish was delicious, but it was way too soupy! The chicken pieces were tender (though there weren't many of them, unfortunately). 

Black pepper beef

This is an example of how any cuts of beef can work if you only knew how to make them work. The meat had to be finely sliced and chopped, as it was in this case - because the cut of meat is one of the chewiest and least fatty; but drenched in a delicious black pepper beef, this dish is very moreish. 

Sambal Prawn

I must commend Temasek for its treatment of prawns: the prawns were butterflied so that their intestine can be removed, and I'm certainly a fan of that. The sambal sauce is not overly spicy, it is more of a sweet, tomato-like sauce with a gooey texture. Again, this is a perfect rice-accompaniment. 

The final dish is a stir fried vegetable dish, which I did not taste and did not photograph - because I was too busy being distracted by the flavour-punches delivered by the rest of the banquet. 

Overall, the food is very authentic and delicious. Healthy? Definitely not. It was an overwhelming symphony of oil, salt, sugar and fat; but as long as you don't make a habit of banqueting this way regularly, diving into a cuisine as diverse as Singaporean cuisine is a worthwhile experience. 

Score: 3.5/5 

Some diners thought some of the dishes came out a bit cold - and I agree. Some of the dishes certainly could have come out in a more timely manner so you could enjoy them piping hot, as they are meant to be. 

Cost: $30pp 

Address: 71 George St, Parramatta