[Review] Native Cocktail Bar on Amoy Street is now a full-service restaurant

Native is a homegrown culinary concept that occupies a three storey shophouse on Amoy Street – a restaurant on the first floor, cocktail bar on the second, and fermentation lab on the third.

When Native first opened in December 2016, it was known as an innovative cockbar bar, featuring intelligent fermentation and flavour extraction techniques to delight guests with their crafted creations.

Native’s philosophy is one that has guided them through the years: emphasising local and regional ingredients while finding the fine balance between the familiar and unknown. Drawing inspirations from the neighbouring regions, the team at Native seeks to push the boundaries on the natively sourced ingredients while ensuring the synergy of flavours between food and drink served.

Today, the foundation of Native remains and not much has changed, except that the beloved cocktail bar has grown to include a full service restaurant with a casual drinks programme, a cocktail bar and a fermentation lab.

The newly opened Native restaurant has a concise menu of dishes that seeks to bring back nostalgic flavours with new intepretations. You can see the full restaurant menu on the left and the drinks menu on the right below.

At the helm of the kitchen is Chef MJ Teoh, 35, Native’s Head Chef. She has trained at top restaurants like Pollen, Nouri and Appetite, with a vision to bring the food chefs love to eat to a greater audience, in a friendly, unimposing environment, much like how a family would share a meal.

For instance, the signature house-made Ah Moy’s Chili, served as a condiment for some of the dishes, is made using Chef MJ’s family recipe.

These were the items we sampled from their menu:

NATIVE’S MIANG KHAM: Wild Pepper Leaves, Pineapple Shoyu, Barlotti Tempeh Crisps, Ginger Flower, Aromatics – S$18

REALLY COLD SOMEN: White Kimchi & Tomato Granita, Charred Shishito Peppers, Shiso, Ground Sesame – $16

PETAI-SO CLAMS: Petai Miso, Granmorite Chenin Blanc, Venus Clams, Rice Sterns, Cripsy Youtiao – S$27

CHICKEN PAO FAN: Organic Chicken Thigh, Roasted Bone Broth, Puffed Rice, Ah Moy’s Chili – S$32

Our personal favourite for the night were the Chicken Pao Fan and the Petai-so Clams. Both are hearty comfort food, the kind you can envisioned serve to you at home when you need an extra boost. The flavours are rich, yet not too greasy and overbearing, leaving you wanting for more after the meal, but yet adequately full.

The Miang Kham is a fun dish to eat, picking and choosing your own handful. In terms of flavours, it has been adjusted from the traditional Thai version to better suit local palates. The Cold Somen has very strong, sharp flavours that will definitely perk you up a little.

Overall, you can see from the pictures that there is careful attention to details in the presentation of each of the dishes, with a focus on the natural, locally and regionally sourced ingredients. For flavours, expect new twists to Asian classics.

Native

Address: 52A Amoy Street, Singapore 069878

Opening hours: Mondays – Thursdays from 5pm – 10:30pm; Fridays – Sundays from 4pm – 10:30pm

Tel: +65 8869 6520