COOKS/BOOKS

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These unlikely finds in one of S'pore's red-light districts

Audrey Phoon
audrey@mediacorp.com.sg

I USED to think that Keong Saik Road was best-known for its "chickens" (or
ji nu, a Mandarin term referring to prostitutes) but, as I recently
discovered, it's a great place to get fish, duck - and cookbooks, too.

Situated on the ground floor of a shophouse in this red-light district,
25°C Cafe/Bar/Cookbooks/Test Kitchen is a surprising find that's a bit
like chancing upon fishnet stockings between the bloomers and brogues of
your Home Economics teacher.

The bookshop-bistro has classy fare such as roasted barramundi fillet and
duck leg confit on its menu, as well as an extensive range of cookbooks,
some of which cannot be found elsewhere in Singapore. There is also an
enclosed kitchen where cooking workshops are held and which serves as a
space for customers to "test out" their recipes.

Opened this month by three partners with a fondness for cookbooks, 25°C -
which gets its name from room temperature - aims to form a community among
people who love anything to do with cooking.

It also wants to make cookbooks affordable to everyone. According to
partner Sally Tsai, the store gets its books directly from the publishers.
Prices of "80 per cent of the books are between 5 and 50 per cent cheaper
than elsewhere", she added. Hard-to-find titles include English chef Marco
Pierre White's White Heat, blind author Roy Andries De Groot's The Auberge
of the Flowering Hearth, and the complete range of Williams-Sonoma
encyclopaedias.

Among the food items, too, are several unusual offerings: Stir-fried
spaghetti pasta, Mojito pork, spiced apple-and-chicken rolls and the
rather suggestive-sounding Big Australian Sausage Ring with Gherkin
Relish.

I had the wild forest mushroom soup ($6.50) to start, which looked rich
and creamy but was in fact delightfully light and didn't leave me feeling
nauseated, as creamy soups are wont to do when one has had more than one's
fair share of them.

Ironically, it was the richness of the chicken casserole ($14) that really
seduced my tastebuds. A bit like an extra-thick, tasty version of ABC
soup, this wholesome dish features tender chicken thigh pieces simmered in
a divine gravy flavoured with potatoes, carrots, fresh thyme, onions,
garlic, salt, pepper, cream and olive oil. Two thick slices of French
bread accompanied the casserole - fat, buttered sponges with which I
mopped up the last dredges of sauce.

But chef Danny Yap's deft touch faltered when it came to my dining
partner's Mojito pork ($18.50) with its side of tzatziki, a Greek-style
cucumber yoghurt salad. The meat was tender but bland despite being cooked
with mint leaves, rum and several kinds of herbs.

The desserts at this bistro are made on the premises by the owners, who
claim they "can't cook well but can bake". My partner's coffee pudding
($4), which came strongly recommended, was a smooth jelly that went down
well with the cream topping imported from Japan. I picked the bake of the
day, a dense wedge of chocolate cake with a light, crumbly crust and a
moist, chewy centre.

It seems the bites-and-books combination is a recipe for success, for
despite being only a couple of weeks old, 25°C already has a crowd of
regulars and is packed at lunchtime. Be warned: There are 4,000 books on
its shelves, but only 28 seats in the bistro tucked at the back of the
store. I recommend going after dusk, when - as Tsai says - the
lantern-fronted brothels on the street "add even more flavour" to the
experience.