My friend Cynthia was the first person who told me about Fiasco, back when they were still at the original location in Tiong Bahru. I never got to check them out in Tiong Bahru, but fast forward to months later, she told me they’ve moved to Kallang – just a few minutes away from where I live. I no longer have any excuse not to check them out, and thus off we went on a bright sunny Sunday afternoon to Fiasco for lunch.
Fiasco is located on the upper floor (Level M) of the 66 Kampong Bugis building. It’s a spot that you’re not likely to pass by unless you’re coming here with an intention. If you remember, this spot was previously occupied by Lucali BYGB before they suddenly shuttered down, and Kilo back in the days.
Our family’s lunch is usually at noon on the dot. Fiasco only opens at noon for lunch, so we had the entire place to ourselves for awhile. The crew was even still setting up when we arrived, which gave me a chance to capture their space without anyone in it!
And I’m very glad I did, because it’s such a beautiful, cozy space.
Looking back at old photos, they’ve kept the floor and lighting from the previous tenant Lucali, but everything else had been renovated to turn the space into the similar vibe Fiasco had in Tiong Bahru. I love the effortless mismatched furniture, and royal blue and clay-ish orange color combination.
Before long, we were seated and I was browsing their menu. The lunch menu is not too big, it fits nicely in a single A4 page. There is a “specials” chalkboard with additional 2-3 items.
Our lunch group was four adults and a child. We ordered 3 appetizers and 4 mains, and it was sufficient to feed all of us.
Appetizers
This first appetizer we ordered is off the specials board: Fiasco’s Stracciatella ($15) – creamy soft cheese with roasted beetroot, pesto and Roscoff onion. We were served toasted bread to go along with it.
I wiped off every single bit of this. The roasted beetroot and the onion paired really well with the creamy cheese, and when you slather it on top of the lightly toasted bread, it makes the perfect opening to any meal.
Next is one of my all time favorite bread, Pao de Quiejo ($15), Brazillian cheese bread served with sauce of the week. Unfortunately I forgot what the sauce was, I think it was something with mustard and honey in it?
Pao de Quiejo is a must order for me whenever I see it on the menu. Fiasco’s version doesn’t disappoint. I don’t even need a sauce for it. My only complaint is that I need more of it – they’re super tiny!
The last appetizer is Bebek Guling ($14), their take on the Balinese Babi Guling, served with sambal matah sauce. I’m not sure if there is any connection to Bali aside of the ingredients, because I did not really taste any Indonesian flavors (I’m Indonesian by the way). It’s not a bad thing though, because it was still really delicious. I also don’t think they used too much sambal matah, it wasn’t spicy at all to me.
But that wasn’t the last of our appetizer. The Iberico Presa (one of the mains we ordered) was going to take some time, so they served us an extra item on the house to tide us over. It was described as charred cauliflower served on cauliflower puree, topped with crispy duck skin crumbles.
Looking at the menu online, I think this is supposed to be from their dinner menu. I love charred cauliflower, and occassionally you get bites of the crispy duck skin, and it was just heavenly.
Mains
We ordered four mains with the intention of having them separately, but once they were served, it felt like it made sense to just share them among all of us.
I have to pause and appreciate that all of the mains were served together. When dining in a group, it really just adds a nice touch to the whole experience!
My choice of main is Steak Frites ($35) – Argentinian striploin with Cambodian red pepper sauce, served with Trippple cooked chips (yes there are 3 P’s, it’s not a typo). And I stand by my choice – the dish was perfect. I had misread the red pepper sauce as Kampot pepper (which to my defense, it’s also a Cambodian spice) so I was a little confused when it came out without any trace of black pepper. But I wouldn’t change a thing – everything about this dish just works.
We ordered a main off the special board – the Iberico Presa ($28) with mustard sauce and aromatic oil, served pink. Iberico Presa is a cut from the shoulder area of a Spanish Iberico pig.
At first, I was really unsure about having pork served pink. It goes against everything I was previously taught about cooking pork. But later on, I read that this is how Iberico Presa is usually cooked – completely safe, and makes the pork taste better.
I just love the way this dish was presented. Having the aromatic oil marbled on top of the mustard sauce creates that beautiful terazzo-like pattern that I just love. The sauce also tasted so good too that we ended up dipping our chips into this sauce. And the meat? So delicious, tender and full of flavor. I have never had pork done this way before, but I’m certainly going to remember it in the future.
Casarecce Pasta ($18) – Casarecce (the shape of the pasta) served with confit garlic and lemon emulsion, capers, parsley, brown butter crumb and grana padano.
It’s my first time having casarecce! Apparently, this shape originated from Sicily. This was a surprisingly light and bright pasta. I’m glad we ordered this, because the zesty lemon sauce helps to contrast the other cream and meat-heavy dishes we were having.
Last one is Burger Frites ($22) – Dry aged mince beef, bacon onion jam, burger sauce and rocket salad. Served with the same Trippple cooked chips as the steak frites (yes, that is still not a typo).
It’s not a bad burger by any means, but when put against the other mains we’ve been having, it pales in comparison. It’s just a little… too average. I also think the bacon onion jam makes the burger a tad too sweet for my liking.
Dessert
To close off the meal, we had Balinese Vanilla Ice Cream ($4).
This was a surprise initiative from the restaurant. We were actually there to celebrate a birthday of someone in the group, but I hadn’t indicated this on the booking and we didn’t make a big deal about it. Yet somehow, the host must have heard, and served the ice cream with a candle at the end of the meal. What a nice gesture.
The ice cream itself is a salted vanilla ice cream. I didn’t think it was super special, but at $4, I think it’s very reasonably priced.
Conclusion
I came to Fiasco with no expectation but walked out very pleasantly surprised. I honestly haven’t had such a lovely dining experience in a long time, whether in Singapore or anywhere else.
First of all, the service was just amazing – from the pacing of serving each the appetizer one after another, to serving the mains at the same time – it makes such a pleasant experience. Then the fact that they knew we were here for a quiet birthday celebration, and surprised us with the ice cream.
While booking, I also did not indicate that we’re bringing a baby (whoopsie on my part) and I guess Fiasco doesn’t normally expect children so they didn’t have any baby chair. But, they managed to borrow one from their neighbors without us even having to ask for it.
Lastly, the price. Dining out in Singapore can be outrageously expensive, but I thought Fiasco was very reasonable. Our bill came out to be $213.85 with two alcoholic drinks for 4 adults and 1 kid, so assuming the 1 kid counts as half an adult, that’s just a little under $50 per person.
Needless to say, I would 100% come back here again for dinner to try the wine and their dinner menu. And I really hope you will too. This building at Kampong Bugis has been struggling to keep a tenant on their Level 1, but I truly hope Fiasco stays.
If you noticed all the wine bottles decoration and wine glasses on every table from my restaurant shots above, well… Fiasco is known for their selection of natural wines. It’s also more of a Friday or Saturday night hang out place. I’m told that they’re usually very busy on weekend dinners, so I better book ahead!
See you again soon, Fiasco.
Looking for a place to eat in Singapore? This post is part of my reviews of restaurants and other food places in Singapore. For more posts like this, check out “Dining Out in Singapore” category