My Must-Eats…with singer-songwriter Dru Chen
- 1. What dish reminds you of your childhood — and where did you get it?
- 2. What’s your go-to eatery in Singapore? Why?
- 3. When you travel, what’s one dish you always miss?
- 4. What dish or cuisine do you want to try, but have not?
- 5. What’s the last thing you ate that impressed you — and where did you have it?
My Must-Eats is a HungryGoWhere series featuring Singapore’s public figures and their favourite food haunts. This week, singer Dru Chen spills all about his foodie recommendations in Singapore and in Melbourne.
For Dru Chen, 33, music has been a mainstay in his life since the ripe old age of four.
“I was one of those kids who would sit at a keyboard for hours by myself, just figuring out sounds,” he recalls.
And it shows, too. Chen has worked with Universal Music Publishing, Warner Music, Citibank, even multiplayer online battle arena League of Legends, as a recording artist, producer, and composer.
Chen’s sophomore album Slow Life has clocked in well over one million streams on Spotify — his most popular release, Summertime, has 1.6 million plays alone.
On June 30, his third and follow-up album, Slower Life, went live and features collaborations with the likes of Rangga Jones, Charlie Lim and Gentle Bones.
Besides his music career though, the Singapore-based Chen keeps busy as a lecturer at Republic Polytechnic’s School of Technology for the Arts.
The pop singer-songwriter, who moved to Singapore in 1998 with his family, spent his formative years in Melbourne.
In a chat with HungryGoWhere, he talks about how food is indelibly tied with his childhood and love for music.
1. What dish reminds you of your childhood — and where did you get it?
Fish and chips reminds me of my childhood. There were many chip shops in the suburban areas of Melbourne, Australia, where I grew up, alongside street-corner pubs serving chicken parmigiana. These dishes always bring back memories.
My parents are originally from Malaysia, so we grew up with an abundance of greasy char kway teow, laksa, nasi lemak, teh tarik, and thosai.
2. What’s your go-to eatery in Singapore? Why?
I love going to Casuarina Curry in Upper Thomson for its prata or Blooie’s Roadhouse at The Rail Mall for its fish and chips.
Another go-to — and slightly healthier choice — would be the amazing Peranakan nyonya cuisine at Peranakan Inn on East Coast Road or Daisy’s Dream Kitchen in Temasek Club, which was founded by actress Selena Tan’s mother, Daisy.
For date-nights or celebrations, I’ll scrub up and head over to Etna or Al Forno for Italian, and definitely celebrating the launch of my new album Slower Life at any of the GrooveTop events run by my friend Sophie Wee — amazing funk, soul, and disco parties at different venues all across Singapore!
3. When you travel, what’s one dish you always miss?
For Singaporean food, I always crave a big plate of nasi goreng ikan bilis from Spize when I get home.
If I’ve been away from Australia for too long, I’ll have to find an Australian or British or Irish-themed pub like Molly Malone’s in Boat Quay, and order a good meat pie or fish and chips.
4. What dish or cuisine do you want to try, but have not?
I would like to spend more time with New Orleans and Creole cuisines.
Also, I can’t get enough of African-American soul food, and would love to try every signature dish when I get the chance.
I’m fascinated by these cuisines because of my love for their music and culture.
5. What’s the last thing you ate that impressed you — and where did you have it?
I was really impressed by Tenderfresh, to be honest! My wife orders it all the time for a quick and easy Western meal. We get our protein from its traditional roast chicken. One late night, we had chanced upon its flagship outlet on Cheong Chin Nam Road. It has such a history of providing great affordable meals for the past 42 years, starting from its first hawker stall in Whitley Road Hawker Centre.
Another place that really stuck in my mind recently is when I wrote the lyrics to Summertime at Sofitel Singapore Sentosa while we were celebrating my wife’s birthday! This was right after downing the breakfast buffet at Kwee Zeen.
But I also wrote the music to that while on the bus on my way to my first Covid jab haha. I’ll never forget that.
Have a craving for nasi lemak? Check out So Lemak and its signature har cheong gai wings.
All restaurants mentioned here, with the exception of Etna Italian, Molly Malone’s and Kwee Zeen, are on the GrabFood delivery service and offer free delivery (up to S$3 off) with GrabUnlimited.
They can also be found on GrabFood Dine-in.
You can also book a ride to the stores mentioned in the article.
Foo Jia-En
Author
Jia-En has worn several hats in her career — first writing TV scripts, then food and lifestyle stories at Wine & Dine. But some things will never change: Her love of words, cats and caffeine.
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