At Artyzen Singapore, Quenino presents “A Taste of Home” in its Discovery Menu that turns childhood cravings into polished plates, layered with technique that is somehow capable of making the present feel a little less complicated
What’s the story?
Quenino—Portuguese for “little one”—might sound sweet, but don’t you mistake it for soft. This is Southeast Asian cooking retold with confidence; familiar flavours reframed through memory, technique, and just enough mischief to keep you guessing. Set within Artyzen Singapore and led by Chef Sujatha Asokan (or more affectionately known as Chef Su), the restaurant’s current chapter, A Taste of Home, takes aim at hawker nostalgia, dawn-market rituals and neighbourhood bakes, elevating them without sanding off their soul. For us, it felt like many cultures sharing one table, seen through a personal Singapore lens.
Dinner begins with a Prelude that feels like a playful slap (in a good way): three amuse-bouches that arrive modest, but explode into a cacophony of flavour bursts and texture. One minute you’re crunching through kerabu-bright mango and yacon, and the next, you’re hit with the cheeky thrill of Old Chang Kee nostalgia reimagined as crispy octopus parcels, with green Szechuan pepper oil and jungle-garlic masala dust.
What’s good?
A few courses in, you’ll see Quenino doing what it does best: taking complicated ideas and translating them into flavours that feel strangely uncomplicated—easy to love, and hard to forget.
The Russian Hybrid Caviar is a masterclass in umami restraint. It takes the idea of fried carrot cake and chwee kueh, then builds it up with torched dragon-chive custard and chye poh foam; the scallop stands in for the “cake”, yacon provides the crunch, and tamarind chilli oil adds the right amount of lift. It’s bold, yet balanced; umami done exceedingly right.
Then comes the moment of pure refreshment: Hawthorn Sorbet, slipped in mid-meal as a palate reset and a memory trigger in one. Tart, tidy, and quietly emotional, it tastes like childhood hawthorn sweet slices getting a glow-up; especially that first second when it touches the tongue and everything else in the room briefly fades out. It was easily our favourite flavour of the night, purely for the way it made us feel.
And yes, the dish with quotation marks is exactly as intriguing as it sounds. Chef Su’s “Fried Rice” stitches together three Southeast Asian rice traditions—fried rice, mui fan and nasi ulam—into one plate that just makes perfect sense. Add ham floss, house-made XO, Chinese olive relish, and bright pickles, and you’ve got something nostalgic, clever, and deeply satisfying.
What else is there to know?
A meal at Quenino is basically a series of enthusiastic nods. Each bite whisks you back to slower days when comfort tasted straightforward, and joy felt easy. What’s impressive is how the kitchen achieves that feeling through dishes that are, in reality, meticulously constructed. Complex elements come together, and the end result still reads as simple pleasure.
The Michelin Selected Quenino offers this Discovery dinner menu at S$200 per head (and a lunch tasting menu, too), and the team makes a point of explaining the “why” behind each dish without making it feel like a lecture; just storytelling, with charm.
Address:
Artyzen Singapore
9 Cuscaden Rd
Level 4
Singapore 249719
