5 Senses at Odeon 333 is a new eatery serving up Hainanese classics & elevated local fare

How 5 Senses at Odeon 333 came about

Speaking to HungryGoWhere over a laidback meal, he tells us that he grew up eating “a lot of good food at home” and adds that growing up in this manner helped him build a passion for the F&B industry.

His hospitable father, Raymond, 66, often cooked for family and friends, and having them over for food was a common occurrence.

In fact, he’d always received comments that he should open his own restaurant or cafe, but Raymond had his hands full running a three-decade-old coffee brewing business of his own, till he sold off the business five years ago.

For Raymond, Bras Basah (where 5 Senses is currently located) was a place of fond memories as he would head there for good food with his father, and eventually him with his children, too. When Raymond noticed that the then-Odeon Towers was being refurbished, he reached out and inquired about available opportunities. 

It was also perhaps good timing that Shaun, who had been in F&B for seven years by then finally felt ready to run a business on his own — and hence, 5 Senses was born.

Raymond is the brain behind the name and the concept of 5 Senses — he wanted to bring forth traditional local fare, while interweaving southeast-Asian elements within. 

5 Senses is also a nod to how the father-son duo wants to engage their customers, through sight, smell, feel, taste and even sound — such as the firing of the woks in the kitchen or the hum of the coffee machines.

Shaun adds that the coffee served up by 5 Senses also happens to be a blend of five different single-origin beans — from Brazil, Ethiopia, Colombia, India, and Indonesia. The resulting brew is balanced, more mellow and isn’t too acidic or bitter.

The restaurant marks Shaun’s first proper foray into the food side of things of the F&B industry. 

While Shaun may have had past experiences at his father’s brewing company and doing sales at coffee chains such at Jewel Coffee roasters and Gloria Jean’s, he’d never gotten his hands deep into the business of food. 

Besides his father, Shaun is also joined by his uncle, who had worked in a hotel kitchen and in a canteen — in other words, prior experience serving up food to large crowds.

Trying out 5 Senses’ menu

5 Sense’s space at Odeon 333 is no-frills, casual and unpretentious, just as though you’re stepping into the Foo family’s home.

Furnishings are kept to a minimum, and so the focus really, has to be the food, which it delivers on, thankfully.

Prices here start at a reasonable S$7.80 for its zi char-style rice dishes, with its priciest dish being its traditional Hainanese herbal mutton soup at S$19.80 — a fair price to pay for the portion size and effort put into the dish. 

As both Shaun and his father are of Hainanese heritage, I had high expectations for its signature dish, the Odeon Tower traditional Hainanese beef noodles (S$12.80).

Beef noodle enthusiasts will know that one of the best beef noodles used to be served up at Odeon. However, while the version here isn’t the original “Odeon beef noodles”, it more than holds its own. 

The big bowl of noodles comes with a generous serving of beef brisket, shin shank and beef tendon, but ingredients aside, its sauce is what really stood out. It’s robust in flavour without being too gamey, and also boasts a slight herbaceous hint, which helps cut through the usual heaviness of the dish.

Shaun tells us the thick, viscous beef sauce is made using the family’s own herb and spice concoction — an elevated take on a traditional Hainanese recipe. 

If you’re a fan of heavy traditional flavours, then get the traditional Hainanese herbal mutton soup, too, though we must caveat that it is only available in limited portions on Fridays and Saturdays.

The soup is plenty gamey (as all good mutton soups should be, Shaun says), thick and warms you from the inside out. He even goes so far as to claim that the flavours they serve up in the soup are “more intense and stronger” and “you won’t get this anywhere else”. 

By now, it’s clear that the theme of 5 Senses’ menu is: Comfort done well, and its curry chicken (S$8.80) is a shining example of that. 

Digging into it, it felt like I was trying a bowl of my late godma’s curry chicken dish that she’d prepare for family gatherings. 

The recipe here isn’t exactly nyonya-style — it’s less lemak and less cloying, owing to less coconut milk being used, but it still packs a punch, without being too spicy or overpowering. 

5 Senses serves it with rice or baguette, but you know what I could really have this with? A simple plain fried bee hoon would be perfection. 

Its Hokkien prawn noodles (S$8.80), too, didn’t look like much, since it came served to us looking pretty pale, and lacking that charred appearance I’d come to associate all solid Hokkien mee renditions with.

But I should’ve learnt by then not to judge a book by its appearance, because it delivered both on umami (in the broth) and wok hei. I also appreciated the thick chunks of pork belly it came with, a rarity given the rising cost of raw ingredients. 

Aside from these seemingly heavier dishes, 5 Senses also serves up zi char-style dishes such as fried hor fun (from S$8.80) and kung pao chicken with rice (S$7.80). 

But one of its sleeper hits is definitely its seafood mee goreng (S$10.80). I’m not a fan of the yellow mee typically used in mee goreng, but the chilli paste used in this dish packed a substantial amount of heat and flavour that I couldn’t stop myself from seconds. 

Given that the Foos have a strong background rooted in coffee, you shouldn’t leave without having its coffee, whether on its own, as a white or black version (S$2.80), or in its unique 5 Senses Dirty Horlicks latte (S$3.80). 

The Horlicks latte is a combination of espresso, Horlicks pre-mix and milk, resulting in a substantially malty and milky drink that is perfect for the upcoming rainy season. 

Despite being a mere three months old, Shaun isn’t resting on his laurels yet. He intends to bring in his rendition of an Odeon area classic — chicken rice — among other new dishes that he is consistently experimenting on. 

For him, it’s more than just bringing dishes from his childhood and heritage to a wider audience: “It’s not just about my concept. It’s about leaving a legacy of our Singaporean heritage and our Singaporean traditions.”

This was an invited tasting.

For the latest articles, read about this Peranakan fusion spot in Joo Chiat that serves up buah keluak chicken chop and find out about Elijah Pie’s latest 10th anniversary menu. 

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You can also book a ride to 5 Senses at Odeon 333.