Ms Maria and Mr Singh’s degustation menu starts from S$48: Here’s what you get

For the bougie broke among us, Ms Maria & Mr Singh’s latest degustation menu is perfect for a day out to impress.

And it’s starting off from a rather reasonable price of S$48, in a town where gastronomy often costs three-digits and up. And especially so, considering you would otherwise need to travel to Thailand to sample lauded chef Gaggan Anand’s food.

Just a recap: Ms Maria & Mr Singh is Anand’s Indian-Mexican casual restaurant, one whose Bangkok’s flagship took the 33rd spot on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list this year.

Its Singapore outpost, located at Craig Road, is its first international location and opened just last year to much fanfare.

Since then, the menu has been revamped somewhat — now narrower and focusing on its fan-favourites, with some new additions from its Bangkok repertoire.

A la carte options continue to be available, but if you’re just looking to try chef Anand’s chart-toppers without poring over the menu, the tasting menu is surely the way to go.

As one of the best-value degustation menus around town to date, prices start at S$48 for a five-course lunch menu, while an eight-course dinner starts from S$78. (There is also a S$68 vegetarian version available).

For now, the S$48 lunch menu contains all the best hits — papdi chaat, cold curry scallop ceviche, pork vindaloo taco, chicken tikka masala with bread, and churros with sticky rice ice cream.

We understand the menus will be updated every quarter.

What we tried

We got the chance to try the S$78 dinner menu, with some hits from Ms Maria’s more premium S$138 lineup.

The meal opens with a papdi chaat — a riff off a classic Indian street snack and Anand’s signature Yoghurt Explosion dish — a toothsome mouthful to whet the appetite.

Drawing inspiration from yet another traditional snack is the golgappa, a hollow, deep-fried snack, which is served here with a tequila-based verdita shot to wash it down with.

If you’ve chosen the S$138 dinner menu, this appetiser is served with a delicate tongue of uni (sea urchin) carefully perched atop the airy morsel.

This is followed by the guacamole ikura, comprising a liberal dollop of salmon roe in a bed of avocado-laden dip. Grab a sliver or two of the accompanying blue corn tortilla and papadam crackers to scoop up all that briny, creamy richness.

To wrap up the opening quartet of dishes, the Ms Maria & Mr Singh ceviche arrives next — a spin-off of Anand’s classic cold curry scallop dish. Here, cured and diced hamachi (yellowtail fish), leche de tigre (tiger’s milk) and prawn fritter balls are prettily plated with edible flowers. Be sure to mix it thoroughly for the best results — it certainly left us wanting more.

The meal moves into its next phase with Ms Maria’s version of an atas taco — the scallop tostada, featuring sweet, thinly sliced Hokkaido scallops on a fried tortilla base and a Mexican salsa of dried peppers, nuts and oil.

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There’s also the mole madre pipian with seasonal root vegetables. Lotus root is slow-cooked until tender and served with black and green mole (a Mexican sauce made with chillies, spices, nuts and seeds). You are advised to spoon the sauce and veggies onto a soft tortilla shell for the most efficient delivery into your mouth.

We found the lotus root had a nice bite — solid with a good crunch without being overly tough and soaked through with all the earthy goodness of the mole sauce. (We scraped the dish clean — as politely as possible, of course.)

A more traditional-looking taco arrived next — Ms Maria’s pulled pork vindaloo taco. It was a welcome intermission from the meal thus far, with its roasted pineapple bits, salsa and acidic-driven base of vindaloo curry.

We moved on to the carb-rich section of the meal — a choice of bread or South Indian coconut rice with chicken tikka masala and Ms Maria’s dal.

The former sees chicken chunks richly marinated in a spice-infused, tomato-based curry, while the latter runs more tangy than spicy and is chock-full of chickpeas.

We had another addition — Gaggan’s crab curry — which is available as part of the S$138 menu or a la carte. Sporting generous crab pieces, this is one of Anand’s signatures and is a well-loved dish.

And to round off the dinner: Sticky rice ice cream atop a warm, deep-fried churro with a drizzle of dulce de leche (caramelised milk sauce) for a satisfying end.

This was a hosted tasting.

For more eats in Tanjong Pagar, check out our updated guide on the best Tanjong Pagar food places to try. Otherwise, book a table at the newest openings in town.

You can book a ride to try Ms Maria and Mr Singh’s affordable degustation menus.

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