Indocafe The White House
I purposely booked Indocafe The White House because I was craving delicious Peranakan Food. I didn't tell Thy who I was going to meet for the very first time about my plan. Thy was in a long distance relationship and his boyfriend who lived in Perth had entrusted me with her Christmas gift. After a few hours of meeting her, I told her that I was going to have dinner and she better accompanied me since I didn't have anyone to share the food with ;-). I mean,... a lot of great food should be enough to break the ice between us, right?
The Indocafe restaurant was within walking distance from Royal Plaza on Scotts. We were both slow walkers so it took us about 12-15 minutes to reach the place. The colonial white house was very beautiful both in terms of exterior and elegant interior. I loved the framed kebaya on the wall, rattan chairs and the dark wooden table that they had in the restaurant.
The staff was very friendly since we first arrived and they offered us the colourful menu book. He also explained the concept of communal sharing to us. I was so happy to see some Penang style Peranakan food such as otah, ayam buah keluak, and babi pongteh. After some discussions with Thy, we decided to order the Otah, Babi Pongteh, Kiam Hu Tao Pok and Sambal Kang Kong.
While we were waiting for our food, the staff served us a plate of various crackers and sauce on the side.
Left: Kiam Hu Tao Pok, Right: Classic Otah
The classic Penang Otah (the yellow one in the picture) was served in chawanmushi style with egg custard. It was creamy and velvety with plenty of fish fillet. This dish also had a spicy kick in it which we both enjoyed. The Kiam Hu Tao Pok was also very yummy, the stuffed tao pok had generous minced pork in it.
Babi Pongteh - pork belly braised in fragrant soya bean paste & aromatic spices
The old style Babi Pongteh was very tasty and the pork belly was of course really tender. This dish was very fragrant that we both got super hungry after the staff put the plate down in front of us.
Spicy water spinach
The sambal kang kong was quite spicy compared to the usual one that I ate in Perth. We had an option to add prawns to it but we felt that the prawns didn't add anything to the taste.
I'd easily recommend Indocafe the White House for anyone who's looking to have great Peranakan food in Singapore. The restaurant was quite spacious and can fit about 35 people in one go.
Thy and I even took a photo together with the Christmas tree at the Indocafe to commemorate our very first catch up! This was the first of many more catch ups that would happen in the future years :-).
