A Culinary Odyssey Through New Vietnamese Cuisine at Lộ Quậy

In the heart of Singapore’s Telok Ayer district, the newly opened Lộ Quậy beckons diners on a captivating journey through the nuanced flavours of Chef Quỳnh Brown‘s reinterpretation of Vietnamese cuisine. Pronounced “Lo Kway,” the restaurant’s name translates loosely to “discover,” and indeed, our culinary adventure unfolded with the Discover menu, a curated exploration of Chef Quỳnh’s vision of New Vietnamese Cuisine.

Ambiance and Concept

Upon entering Lộ Quậy, the stylish space exudes a blend of mid-century contemporary dining room and art gallery, bathed in earth tones and natural wood. The current exhibit, “Quỳnh and the Machine,” introduces diners to Chef Quỳnh’s life journey through AI-generated artworks, creating a unique and immersive dining environment.

The artworks are great conversation pieces and they provide hints of where Chef Quỳnh draws her culinary inspirations from.

The Chef’s Culinary Evolution

Chef Quỳnh Brown’s culinary evolution is palpable in each dish, drawing inspiration from her childhood in Saigon, rooftop farming with her grandfather, and her extensive experience in global cuisines. The restaurant is a part of The Dandy Collection, known for its diverse concepts, further emphasising Lộ Quậy’s commitment to bringing something new and unique to Singapore’s dining scene.

Heavily influenced by her training in classic Japanese and French cuisine, Chef Quỳnh is part of a new wave of Vietnamese chefs reshaping their country’s cuisine through a progressive, global lens, anchored by a profound respect for its history and traditions. In other words, no bastardisation or ‘deconstructed’ versions of Vietnamese classics, but more Vietnamese-inspired modern dishes.

The Discover Menu: A Culinary Symphony

The Discover menu, priced at $138++ per person, offered a symphony of flavours expertly curated to showcase Chef Quỳnh’s innovative techniques and homage to Vietnamese traditions. We were invited for a dinner tasting with wine pairing and below are the items we sampled.

1. Amela Tomato | Soursop | Shiso (Cold Snack)
A delightful opening bite featuring burnt Japanese sugar tomato with savory soursop sorbet and microgreen shiso, perfectly balancing sweetness, sourness, and richness.

2. Wagyu Tartare | Onsen Egg | Shrimp Salt Puffs + Amur Caviar ($38 supplement)
Hand-chopped Wagyu tenderloin topped with cured quail egg yolk, mayonnaise, kizame wasabi, and fresh shallots, served on salt shrimp puff crackers for a briny umami explosion. Lots of richness is packed into a bite-size starter and is so quintessentially French.

3. Hiramasa | Pomegranate | Umezuke
Sashim style Japanese yellow amberjack, topped with a medley of fresh tangy flavours such as sorrel leaves, fresh pomegranate seeds, passionfruit, umeboshi (pickled Japanese plum) and amazu (sweet pickled liquid).

4. Pate Choux | Scallop | Ikura
Kaffir lime pate choux with Japanese U12 scallop mousseline, ikura pickled in shiso amazu and house-made kimchi remoulade.

5. Oyster | Bone Marrow | Caviar (Hot Starter)
A baked starter featuring Murotsu Bay oyster, slow-cooked bone marrow, and Caviar Colony Kaluga Hybrid caviar, delivering succulence with a sweet and fruity taste.

6. Jackfruit | Tomato | Tamarind
A minced young jackfruit ball that tastes truly meaty, the minced jackfruit is mixed with rice paddy herb, sawtooth coriander, king trumpet mushroom, breaded in panko and deep fried. It is served with hand-grind sauce that is made of grilled cherry tomato, sweet yellow jackfruit and chillies.

7. Obsiblue Prawn | Sticky Rice | X.O.
French blue shrimp coated in young sticky rice and fried, served with a crunchy tempura prawn head on the side. A house X.O. sauce made from fresh bay scallops, dried shrimps and Mexican guajillo pepper is used, together with house chimichurri made with Asian herbs and fish sauce. This was one of my favourites for the night and we devoured all the crunchy goodness of the entire shirmp heads.

8. Beef Broth | Wagyu | Offal Bits (Phở Bò)
Chef Quỳnh’s homage to pho, sans noodles, featuring Wagyu brisket, bone marrow, deep-fried honeycomb, and crispy omasum tripe in a Southern pho-style broth. Another of our favourites. Just one small sip packs as much flavour as a full bowl of comfort soup.

9. Liver Pate | Maggi | Pickle (Bahn Mi Wellington) + Foie Gras ($16 supplement per portion)
This dish is Chef Quỳnh’s riff on the classic banh mi. Grilled Iberico pork jowl, pork crackling, house-made pork liver pate and kombu butter are wrapped in puff pastry and baked. It is served with Maggi demi glaze and star anise pickled Japanese cucumber for extra zest.

10. Cucumber Jelly | Apple Granite | Sorrel
Fresh Japanese cucumber agar jelly topped with Granny Smith apple prosecco granita, sour baby sorrel leaves and garlic pickled juice for a savoury hit. This is a palate cleanser to jolt you up before the mains are served.

11. Kohlrabi | Baby Gem | Endive
Pickled kohlrabi, endive, red chicory, orange, baby gem lettuce, shallots are tossed in calamansi jurice and tamarind miso dression, then garnished with peanut, micro corianders and corn flowers.

For the mains, there are four choices: Lamb; Whole Sea Bass; Duck or Wagyu MB 7. We opted for the duck whch came highly recommended by the staff and it did not disappoint.

12. Duck | 70% Choc-hoisin | Cippolini
Roasted duck breast with dark chocolate hoisin sauce and whole cippolini onion is served flambéed at tableside with whisky for the wow factor. The 200g duck breast is oven-roasted and served medium to achieve a clean, smokey, rich flavour with chocolate notes.

This dish ticks all the right boxes for us in delivering on flavours, textures and presentation.

13. Cafe Phin Parfait | Espresso | Dulcey (Dessert)
Inspired by Vietnamese coffee, this parfait features espresso kahlua, condensed milk gelato, and a delightful mix of textures and flavours.

Beverage Pairing

The Discover beverage pairing ($98++ supplement) complements the culinary journey, featuring a diverse selection of drinks from Champagne to Japanese sake, curated to enhance the dining experience.

A little surprise for the night – spot the difference among the six bottles of beverages we drank.

One of them is a bottle of beer while the rest are all wines. The beer was paired with Chef Quỳnh’s take on the classic banh mi and is so entirely appropriate, conjuring scenes of Vietnamese street food and hawkers.

Verdict?

Lộ Quậy offers a fresh perspective on Vietnamese cuisine, skillfully blending tradition with innovation. The Discover menu, though not entirely Vietnamese in its traditional sense, reflects Chef Quỳnh’s roots and culinary evolution. The portion sizes are well-balanced, and the elevated modern cuisine showcases a commitment to delivering a multi-sensory dining experience.

For those seeking a culinary adventure that transcends familiar boundaries, Lộ Quậy would be a delightful new discovery.

Lộ Quậy

Address:
88 Amoy Street, Singapore 069907

Opening Hours:
Mon to Fri
Lunch: 12pm – 2.30pm (last seating 2pm)
Dinner: 6pm – 11pm (last seating 9.30pm)
Sat
Dinner: 6pm – 11pm (last seating 9.30pm)

Tel: +65 3129 7556