Head to modern Thai restaurant Fourgather at Amoy for homely vibes & unique, authentic Thai dishes

Stepping into Thai restaurant Fourgather, I felt like I had entered someone’s home — a very stylish home with eclectic artwork and furniture, high ceilings and plenty of sunlight streaming in from its glass ceiling. 

Given that I had to cut through Fuk Tak Chi Museum — formerly a Chinese temple from the 1800s — to enter the restaurant, the juxtaposition between the past and present, and its muted shades and the temple’s eye-catching colours, couldn’t have been more evident. 

Turns out, the homely vibes were completely intentional.

How it all began

Fourgather is a play on the word “foregather”, which means “to meet in a group”. The concept was started in end-January by four friends — Ade Lau, Cecilia Ng, Jasmine Chen and May Chaya — who came up with the idea when they were looking for a space where they could all hang out together.

Three of them (Ade, Cecilia and May) initially ran Thai home-based business Arai Gor Mee for a few months in 2021, in the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic, selling items such as cold crab platters.  

Ade, who is also a photographer with The Celebrity Agency, said: “I’ve always had an interest in cooking and food, because I’m very particular about taste.”

Her family runs dormitory supermarkets, which stock Thai food products, and is also behind well-loved bun brand Zhen Zheng Handmade Pau. 

She tells us that her dad had always wanted her to be involved in F&B, but back then, she preferred to focus on her creative work and didn’t want to be tied down with running a business. 

The pandemic put a minor standstill to that line of work — she wasn’t able to return to Australia, where she was based as a photographer at that point of time. 

Covid-19 travel restrictions also meant the trio weren’t able to travel to Thailand for food, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. Tapping May’s culinary expertise, they made the dishes themselves.

Once pandemic restrictions eased and the team’s respective responsibilities began piling up, they shuttered Arai Gor Mee in October 2021 — but on an optimistic note. They always intended to return as a physical business once the time was right.

From Arai Gor Mee to Fourgather

In the two years since, the trio became a quartet — Jasmine, a friend of the group, joined them in 2022 after getting to know Ade through in-line skating. 

They have been conducting research and development, trying out Thai food and flying to Bangkok for inspiration, as well as looking for suitable additions to their crew. 

In their search for a head chef, the team even ran a mini cooking competition among selected chefs in Bangkok late last year.

Opening at Amoy Hotel was by pure happenstance. 

The team always knew they wanted an outdoorsy spot where they could “create the Bangkok vibe”, and once they came across the Amoy Hotel space, formerly occupied by a Japanese fine dining restaurant, they knew that this was it. 

In more ways than one, we can see why it works — the restaurant is spacious, a far cry from the usually cramped seating you’d experience in most authentic Thai restaurants here, and its high ceilings give you the feeling of dining in the streets, sans the heat.

Just like how things fell into place, everyone easily settled into their respective roles, too. 

Jasmine is a former Mediacorp producer who easily handles ins and outs of the business, Cecilia  — who has a corporate background — handles aspects such as procurement and paperwork, while May consults on the food. 

The space is artfully decorated and curated by Ade, who has a hand in every nook and cranny. Yes, even the quirky shark head umbrella holder that stands by the door, which she personally sourced for — see if you can spot it while there!

She tells us the aim was always to make the space photo-worthy, such that she could potentially even organise shoots here. 

Trying Fourgather’s menu 

Fourgather’s menu is refreshing — it’s made of ubiquitous Thai favourites such as tom yum chicken soup (S$18.90) and moo ping (grilled pork skewers, S$10.90) and also has vaguely familiar dishes that aren’t too commonly found here, but yet aren’t too foreign that you wouldn’t are to try them.

There’s the Thai watermelon salad (S$16.90), for example, which is Fourgather’s take on a popular Thai street food typically eaten in the summer. In Thailand, it’s simply cut watermelon topped with dried fish and sugar. 

Recognising that Singaporeans have an appetite for dishes with more sauce, May decided to develop a sweet and salty sauce for the salad, while retaining the dried-fish topping for crunch. 

Having helped with her family business, which sells papaya salad, since she was young, May has a keen palate and curious approach towards the food that she comes across. “When I see any food that (I feel) is interesting, I will want to try to cook it myself,” she adds.

Her skilful hand at adapting classic Thai dishes into something more palatable for the local audience is also evident in the roasted rice pork dish or moo koop foon (S$18.90). 

In Thailand, the pork slices are usually served with a wide selection of condiments. However the team realised that non-locals tend to not know how to mix and match the condiments, or even use them. 

The team’s solution was then to premix these condiments to marinate and flavour the meat, before coating it with roasted rice and chilli powder for added crunch and kick. 

The dish is also served with raw cabbage leaves, which you can have the meat with, to offset some of the heaviness you might experience with fried food. 

Another outstanding dish was its Fisherman’s Harvest (from S$44.90), which comprises fried fish fillets, fresh herbs, flowers, and vegetables with a platter of Thai dipping sauces. 

Right off the bat, we were told to have it “Korean barbecue-style” — to take our pick from the many leaves and sauces in front of us and wrap the fish within the leaf.

For someone that doesn’t typically enjoy fried fish, it was an interesting take. The many sauces and condiments further enticed me to try the different permutations as I wanted to test how they would taste. 

If you’re there with your friends (as the team intended) and want to kick back with a drink or two, Fourgather also has a decently sized drinks menu, comprising Thai beverages, mocktails, beer, soju, and cocktails. 

We tried its Thai Sling (S$15), a gin-based cocktail made with Thai tea that was refreshing and went well with the heavier dishes, while soy lovers shouldn’t miss the Thai Soy Joy (S$18), a vodka cocktail that’s almost like a soya bean dessert, complete with cinnamon and thyme. 

We hear a happy-hour menu is in the works, so if you work in the area or are looking for a vibey spot to chill over authentic Thai nosh, you’ll want to follow its social channels for more updates.

Otherwise, if you’re simply just looking for a simple, fuss-free lunch in the hood, it has lunch sets starting from just S$9.90 for an omelette with rice.

You can be sure the quartet will make sure it’s a place that’s cosy and good enough that you’ll want to hang out at it.

As Ade puts it: “At the end of the day, all of us just want to have a physical space where we want to hang out together.” 

This was a hosted media tasting. 

Want to read more food stories? We speak to Li Xuee, the owner of Li Jie De Dian, a coffee shop in Ang Mo Kio serving up affordable fare starting from S$1.20, and also to a water sommelier for World Water Day. 

Book a ride to Fourgather at Amoy Hotel. 

Do explore the GrabFood Dine-in service for awesome deals.