8_Days__June_1_2017

eat
56
8
3. 63
#04-09 PARAGON, 290 ORCHARD RD,
TEL: 6100-6363.
Open daily 9am –10pm. Last orders
30 mins before closing. www.
facebook.com/tingkatpm/
WHO: Tucked away on
the fourth floor of Paragon
Shopping Centre where
café Dome used to stand,
this stylishly appointed restaurant is owned by the
same man behind popular watering hole and mod small
plates restaurant, 63Celsius, at Asia Square, which
opened three years ago.
WHAT: Simply christened 63 now (the name is
inspired by the temperature for sous vide eggs), the
40-seat bistro came about after many yuppie patrons
at its sister joint requested someplace similar to take
their families to on weekends (63Celsius only opens
on weekdays). Its shortened moniker isn’t the only
thing that’s different here. The two-month-old copperclad
diner boasts a completely new menu from its
CBD outlet. For owner Joseph Wong, 50, who first cut
his teeth in F&B running the now-defunct
Spanish tapas joint, Foodbar DaDa,
the new offerings here are a reflection
of his own dining preferences. “People
want a one-word description for the
food here. There isn’t one. It’s what I
like to eat. I’m not about lowbrow or
highbrow food. Good food is good food,”
DAYS
he tells us. That may explain why you’ll find chicken
rice and top-grade Japanese Toriyama beef sitting side
by side on the menu. 63Celsius regulars may not be
able to find its signature dishes like the Burrata Burger
at this Orchard outlet, but fans of the joint’s specialty
coffee, made from beans sourced from Auckland and
independent roasters across Singapore, will still be
able to get their caffeine fix here. Note that prices of
the food and drinks are similar here, too.
THE LOOK: Cast in gleaming sheets of oxidised copper
panelling and framed by beams of timber, this ridiculously
chic restaurant boasts two sections: a more casual coffee
bar overlooking the atrium (where we got great java on one
occasion, and a diluted cuppa on another) and a cosier
indoor dining area with plush seating and flattering lighting.
THE FOOD
63 Chicken Rice $18
63’s interpretation of this hawker
fave initially featured French poached
chicken in a butter reduction with
Japanese rice, but that version was
“violently shouted down” by incensed
customers, so this is what made it
on the menu instead. The thick slices of kampong chicken
thigh that’s cooked sous vide in a house-made soy sauce
blend are tender and juicy,
and the long-grain Thai
jasmine rice boiled in
chicken stock is fragrant
enough, but lacks a certain
depth of flavour. Likewise,
the chilli sauce could’ve
been more robustly
flavoured. Overall decent,
though.