[Singapore] Wildseed at the Summerhouse

[klyeoh (Peter)]

Month-old Summerhouse at the old Seletar army camp, now gentrified to become an up-and-coming F&B precinct in Singapore, is slowly getting the attention of the island’s trend-spotting (and fickle) foodie crowd.

Like other restaurants within the area, Summerhouse is located in an old British colonial “black-and-white” bungalow, the sort which dot the island, harking back to the time when Singapore was part of the old British Empire.

Wildseed takes a small ground floor portion of the building (the fine dining restaurant, Summerhouse, only opens for dinner in the evenings), offering an eclectic mix of tasty offerings. Order at the counter, and the food is delivered to the table.

What we had for lunch:

1. Bavette Pasta with rocket pesto, sous vide poached eggs, ricotta and almonds.
   

   

2. Three Herb Falafel with yoghurt-sesame-coriander dip. Traditionally, Singaporeans are more familiar with Israeli-style falafel due to the country’s close relationship with Israel.
   

   

3. Grilled beef pita with cheddar cheese, sour cream, pickled Bombay onion, lettuce and fried curry leaves.
   This is the best food item I’d had in recent months! Perfectly moist and tasty beef slices, with the right tastes and textures provided by the pita bread and other ingredients/condiments.
   

   

4. Pea Flower-Gula Melaka muffin. Just the thing to pull in the young social media crowd who’d only order their food based on how Instagram-worthy the item is. And you actually have a blue muffin here!
   The “inti” - traditional Malay/Nyonya grated coconut-palm sugar filling - inside the muffin was a bonus, though. Very scrumptious.
   

   

5. Laksa Banana Loaf. Thankfully, this one did not try to overdo its concept by introducing laksa spices in to the chocolate cake. Well, if they had, it wasn’t discernible. The only thing “laksa” about it was the sprinkling of chopped pink, torch-ginger (Malay: “bunga kantan”), which we often see in laksas.
   

The whole place exudes a languid, sedate vibe - surrounded by rolling expanses of greenery. I think I’d like to remember it like this before the mobile phone-camera clutching social media groupies swarm the place.

Address
Wildseed at The Summerhouse
3 Park Lane, Singapore 798387
Tel: +65 6262 1063
Operating hours: Tue – Sun 10am – 7pm.

[klyeoh (Peter)]

One never could tell why and how one F&B outlet in a certain area can succeed whilst another fail. Wildseed was a case in point: it opened together with a clutch of other eateries (ranging from a Chinese-Teochew family restaurant to a sleek continental fine dining) in January 2017 in this re-purposed area which was formerly the British Royal Air Force air base.

Back in 1928 when this area was first established, it was known as RAF Seletar, where 2,000 British servicemen, together with their families, lived - in graceful bungalows set amidst lush greenery, and with London road & place names: Baker Street, Brompton Road, Edgware Road, Hyde Park Gate, Lambeth Walk, Maida Vale, Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus, etc.

The Singapore authorities’ attempts to re-make the now-defunct airbase into a dining precinct did not turn out to be as successful as Dempsey Hill, another former army barracks-turned-dining precinct.

Over here at Seletar, 6 years after the area’s ebullient launch and the initial burst of enthusiastic response from the public, only Wildseed seemed to have established itself in the minds of Singapore’s fickle, trend-seeking dining public. I was just back here again last Sunday for breakfast with old pals from two of my former places of work (the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation and Singapore Airlines).

Wildseed was breathtakingly busy and packed with customers. Interesting to see how their menu has evolved from its initial offerings of mod-Mediterranean, with Middle-Eastern touches, to its British/Aussie big breakfast platters, poached eggs & omelette staples nowadays. So, Singaporeans prefer just the simple basics, no frills, no deviations into the fusion or “exotic”.

Our breakfast orders: the Big Pan breakfast platters with sunny-side up fried eggs, chicken Nuremberger sausage, bacon, Cameron Highland cherry tomatoes, Portobello mushrooms, Aussie avocado and toasted sourdough.