Po Restaurant at The Warehouse Hotel launches first menu refresh

What’s new at Po Restaurant

Perplexed and intrigued at the same time — that was us when Po’s bold, cheeky spin on the Eurasian classic, singgang serani (S$24 for two pieces), landed at our table.

Instead of the yellow-hued fish curry you might expect, the restaurant reinterprets the dish as a mackerel stew enriched with turmeric rempah and coconut milk, alongside tomato jelly, atop crunchy toasted rice shells.

Trust me on this: You won’t want to share this appetiser. Each bite was creamy, refreshingly tangy, and satisfyingly crisp, all at once, and sadly gone in a few nibbles. 

Another starter that had me going “mmm” was the kambing masak lemak chilli api ($28).

Po swaps the usual chicken for slow-braised lamb, cooked in a spiced coconut curry and paired with steamed rice vermicelli. 

The spices hit all the right notes — fragrant, gently fiery, and deeply comforting. The lingering kick tames any trace of gaminess from the lamb, though there was barely any to begin with. 

Needless to say, this quickly became an easy crowd-favourite at our table.

For larger, shareable plates, the babi tohay (S$32) made a lasting impression with its fall-apart-tender iberico pork.

Said to be a nearly extinct Peranakan dish, Po’s version is meticulously slow-braised in its housemade fermented krill paste before being wok-fried with tiger prawns. 

The first mouth hits with a subtle tangy zing and fragrant garlicky notes. Honestly, this is one dish you need a bowl of rice for — that thick, luscious gravy is too good to leave behind.

If seafood is more your thing, the sotong masak hitam (S$30) certainly catches the eye with its striking all-black look and elegant plating.

The dish features squid marinated in fragrant spice paste, cooked in its own ink until tender, and finished with crispy fried tentacles.

That said, it fell a little short for me — I’m all for bold, in-your-face spices, but the umami depth I was hoping for in this dish didn’t quite land. 

On the plus side, though, the squid itself was beautifully cooked.

The showstopper of our meal? It has to be this plate of lobster mee (S$58) — a visual stunner, for sure.

Inspired by Kuala Lumpur’s dark Hokkien mee, Po’s rendition brings together udon braised in rich dark soy sauce with pork belly, squid, sakura shrimp, and cabbage. It’s then crowned with half of a fresh lobster and a dash of chunky, crispy pork lard.

As expected, the dish is imbued with fragrant wok-charred essence, delivering the savoury and deeply satisfying flavours you’d expect from a stellar Hokkien mee.

And of course, we couldn’t skip the kueh tingkat (S$22), which comes with three varieties of freshly made kueh — chosen, we hear, according to chef Desmond’s mood. 

Served in a traditional three-tier tiffin, it’s a charming nod to the past, and a sweet way to end off our meal.

What makes it all the more special is that these recipes are handed down from chef Desmond’s mother. These kueh fill us with the same nostalgia and comfort as the ones we grew up with at home!

With attentive touches like this, Po Restaurant does well at capturing the soul of Singapore’s Nanyang cuisine, while keeping it approachable, even for those new to these flavours.