The new Foca Kumpir at Siglap Centre serves loaded Turkish baked potatoes for potato lovers
You might have seen videos of Singapore’s youth going cuckoo for spuds, even lining up at pasar malam stalls selling loaded baked potatoes, even before they open.
These over-the-top loaded spuds are often richly laden with heavy sauces, and even mac n’ cheese and Bang Bang sauce!
But if you prefer potatoes more stripped down, here’s an under-the-radar find at Siglap that might be your cup of tea: Foca Kumpir — Singapore’s first kumpir restaurant!
Instead of the usual potatoes you see on social media, Foca Kumpir serves up kumpir, a Turkish street food favourite.
The spuds we’re used to seeing usually draw on British or American traditions, with toppings heaped into the split of a baked potato.
However, for Turkish kumpirs, the potato flesh is mashed up and mixed with cheese and butter after baking, before the toppings come into play.
The restaurant is located inside Siglap Centre, in a small, no-frills space with pops of blue.
Loaded Turkish potatoes
There are a few kumpir options on the menu: plain (S$6), classic (S$9), Ultimate (S$12), and Build Your Own (varies).
Plain gets you the most basic baked potato with butter and cheese, while the classic and Ultimate include three toppings each.
Building your own gives you free rein over what goes into your potato, and the final price is determined by your chosen toppings.
Foca Kumpir’s toppings are split into classic (S$2 per ingredient if you’re building your own potato) and Ultimate (S$3 per ingredient) categories.
In the classic column, you get more veggie-based components such as sauteed mushrooms, jalapeno pickle, ezme (tomato-based mezze), and atom (spicy yoghurt & fried chilli).
The Ultimate section is where Foca Kumpir keeps all the proteins, with bolognese sauce, shredded chicken, and tuna as some options. Off-menu toppings are also available time-to-time — shakshuka was available when we visited.
We chatted up the Turkish chef for his recommended toppings, and landed on a classic with ezme, atom, and kisir (bulgur salad), and an Ultimate with shakshuka, cucumber pickle, and olivier salad (Russian salad), which cost S$9 and S$12, respectively.
In the former, the ezme and atom provided a very tangy and fragrant base, while the bulgur (a type of grain used in Mediterranean cuisine) adds a pleasant grittiness, similar to couscous.
Foca Kumpir’s baked potatoes themselves were all pretty well done — nicely seasoned, fluffy, and slightly creamy with the addition of butter and cheese.
For the latter, we enjoyed the creaminess and clean piquancy of the olivier salad, which worked in tandem with the tomato-rich shakushka, and the sharp pickle acidity was the perfect cherry on top.
Foca Kumpir’s menu also has a slew of non-potato items, including salads, pastas, and beverages.
The chef highly recommended the spaghetti bolognese (S$12.90) — although they were out of spaghetti for the day — so he modified the dish and used penne instead.
Compared to the pasta bars in the CBD, the profile of the bolognese is homelier, tasting hearty with a good dose of tomato twang — it’s not incredible, but definitely a comforting and rustic pasta dish!
We were actually surprised by our overall experience at Foca Kumpir, and this unassuming Siglap spot feels like a gem that’s worth revisiting more often.
If only we stayed in the East!
For more ideas on what to eat, read our stories on Michelin-starred Nae:um’s new Korean-Italian concept and the Queenstown hawker stall wok frying its pasta!
Tue 11am - 9pm
Wed 11am - 9pm
Thu 11am - 9pm
Fri 11am - 9pm
Sat 11am - 9pm
Sun 11am - 9pm
- Siglap
- Kembangan
Evan started off writing about food on Instagram, before joining outlets such as Buro and Confirm Good to pursue his passion. His best work usually comes after his first whisky shot in the morning.
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