Kaarla – Wood-fire Grill & Bar, Singapore
Words: Monica Tindall
Photos: Han Sen Hau
We discover the latest trend in Singapore’s “vibe restaurants” at Kaarla Wood-fire Grill & Bar, located 280 metres high in the sky. This rooftop restaurant on the 51st floor of CapitaSpring, the city’s newest “green” building, serves Australian cuisine with Japanese influences against Singapore’s ever-changing skyline.
Wood-fire cooking takes centre stage at Kaarla, an art that requires years to master. The dishes are designed to share and celebrate contemporary cuisine, a testament to how our differences can bring us together rather deliciously.
Kaarla Signature Cocktails
Kaarla’s rooftop alfresco bar is an excellent location to begin or end any meal. Heartbeat-skipping panoramas are the perfect canvas for painting your own evening of delicious fun. We’re here for lunch, but imagine returning at sunset and again post-dinner to admire the changing light.
This rooftop location has us in a fine celebratory mood, so cocktails are in order. Our requests are all upgrades on classic recipes with produce from the garden enhancing the flavours. The Garden Mojito (SGD 22) is incredibly fresh with mint, lemon balm and lime. It’s an excellent rendition and magically suited to this view and climate.
The Wood-fire Smoked Negroni (SGD 22) is based on the standard gin, Campari and vermouth recipe, only smoked in orange wood. Beneath a cloud of smoke, there’s a cube of clear ice stamped with Kaarla. It’s a small touch that shows the attention to detail that goes into everything here.
Lastly, the Old Fashioned Kaarla (SGD 22) has a sweet, smooth bourbon base enhanced by orange and bush tomatoes. It’s a beauty. It is too heavy for hubby, but it is fine sipping for Han Sen and myself. In fact, we’ve all found our ideal drinks here: a fresh and light mojito for hubby, deep dark Old Fashioned for Han Sen and the bitter-sweet Negroni for me.
Kaarla Wine List
Currently, Kaarla has 14 wines by the glass! We are grateful for the opportunity to change our bevvies throughout the meal – cocktails to begin, white with our seafood and a fruity, spicy shiraz with our beef. Server Chong recommends a couple of Aussie drops that please the masses – Dominique Portet Fontaine Chardonnay from Yarra Valley 2020 (SGD 22) for our seafood and veg courses, and later a glass of Torbreck Woodcutter’s Shiraz from Barossa Valley (SGD 25) for our beef.
Kaarla Singapore Menu & Prices
Kaarla Singapore has some awesome lunch sets. You can soak up the incredible views with an affordable meal and top it up with add-ons if you like. Two-course meals start at SGD 58, and three-course sets start at SGD 68. There are tasty vegetarian options for every course, as well as the opportunity to opt for something a little more luxurious.
Complimentary for all guests, homemade croissant towers are made with onion, thyme and salt. You can request butter on the side, but the popular accompaniment is rosemary-infused olive oil.
Starters
We kick off the meal with La Latteria Burrata. It looks like a spring garden with creamy burrata centring the plate surrounded by a mote of green and a colourful top of leaves and flowers. Marinated fennel and yuzu marmalade provide acidity, breaking up the cheese’s creaminess, while roasted hazelnuts add some crunch. Butterfly peas of various colours, picked literally minutes ago, adorn the top.
Warm Pork Rilletes look incredibly enticing in a small mound of shredded meat hugged by compressed green apples, croutons and quince jam. On the peak, pickled mustard seeds slice through the richness of the meat. It’s wonderful. You have to order this dish.
If you wish for seafood for your first course, Roasted Tiger Prawns (+ SGD 10) are available for a supplemental price. It’s a simple dish, grilled with the heads on. Native tamarind and sansho pepper provide acidity and spice alongside a garden salad of pegaga (Centella Asiatica) and local herbs to complement the prawns.
A Leaf Tasting
We’re privileged to have an intermission and a special visit by the Executive Chef of 1-Arden Lamley Chua, who brings a tray of produce to the table. Admittedly, not every guest would be as excited by a “leaf tasting” as we are, but hey, we’re food nerds, and this is our thing. Just picked from Arden’s rooftop garden, claiming to be the highest food forest in the world, the leaves couldn’t be fresher. We nibble on cranberry hibiscus leaves and flowers (sweet and tangy!), roselle leaf, lemon balm, wasabina leaf (sounds and tastes like wasabi but a different plant), basil, passionfruit marigold leaf (again, not related to passionfruit but smells incredibly alike), Mexican tarragon, society garlic (a tiny blue flower that is surprisingly garlicky), lemon myrtle and stevia. It’s exciting to notice just how much flavour these greens can provide, and we look forward to their natural enhancements in the dishes to follow.
Add-ons
Before the mains is a good time to indulge in some of the add-ons from Kaarla’s menu. The two available are well worth the additional charge. Firstly, the Sourdough Grilled “Crumpet” (SGD 10) is a handmade potato recipe with 100s of tiny holes filling a spongy middle. On top, there’s onion jam, then a layer of lardo (cured pig’s fat), tempura crisps, teriyaki onion jam, chives and edible flowers from the garden. It’s delicious, and the texture is fabulous. The crumpet is quite substantial and could easily give two to four small eaters a bite each.
I grew up in country NSW in Australia and would have never imagined that kangaroo would become the delicacy it is today. Farmers see roos as pests as they can cause massive damage to crops and cause erosion due to overgrazing. As such, thousands of them are culled every year. Still, in the late 90s, kangaroo meat gradually entered fine-dining establishments, turning something once considered a pest into an exotic protein. Many contemporary Australian menus today have a roo dish, as does Kaarla with its Salt-cured Kangaroo (SGD 26). The thinly sliced smoked loin is rolled across the plate accompanied by black and white barley, quandong (a small, slightly sour fruit native to Aus), pickled daikon, finger limes and anchovy sauce. It’s recommended to take a slice of the meat on its own and then mix it together with the condiments. It’s pretty fab. Give it a try.
Mains
Kaarla’s custom wood grill and oven were built by legendary Brick Chef Samuel Fraraccio. A stonemason by trade, Samuel studied kitchens around Victoria to understand what chefs desire from a wood-fired piece. They wanted control and the ability to cook different items at the same time. Hence, the unit’s adjustable levels allow seafood, meat, and vegetables to shine.
Coming hot off of the coals is Kaarla’s Coal-roasted Spiced Cauliflower, prettily adorned with spring onions and roasted hazelnuts. It sits in a spicy chilli goma sauce that has a slow burn, reaching the back of the throat and departing with a light tingle on the tongue with its spice.
The skin of the Grilled Salmon Trout is paper-thin and wonderfully crisp, with a layer of luscious fat underneath that fills the mouth with every bite. It gives way to the soft yet firm flesh. A warm shio kombu with quinoa, asparagus and lemon tahini sauce provide a tasty bed.
The chef recommends the Black Angus Sirloin Steak (+SGD 20) be done medium-rare. When it arrives, it sports a rich pink middle and an attractively grilled edge. On the side, there are pickled seasonal vegetables with a chestnut mushroom purée. Tamari (Japanese soy sauce) beef jus is poured onto liking. The beef is simply grilled, and this is really all you need with a quality breed.
Dessert
Even after well over two decades of living in Southeast Asia, I still haven’t grown a fondness for corn (or beans) in desserts. However, the Arden-grown Tigernut Ice Cream promises produce grown in their garden. Despite the name, tigernuts are not actually nuts but rather tubers with a sweet, nutty flavour. The white chitose corn is not too intrusive, and the calamansi jelly and poached oranges offer a welcome fruitiness and bright acidity.
Lastly, an Aussie childhood favourite is given new life with Kaarla’s Cherry Ripe (+SGD 10). Wood-roasted cherries, dark chocolate ganache, coconut fudge and sorbet, meringue with toasted coconut flakes and caramel toffee combine in a sweet and tart mouthful with a light bitterness from the chocolate in the finish.
Of Note…
Getting a drink under SGD 10 in Singapore is challenging, let alone a quality beverage with exceptional service and views. However, 1-Arden, Kaarla’s sister bar, has a fantastic happy hour from 6pm – 9pm, Monday to Saturday. House-pour spirits, selected wines, and prosecco go for a tiny SGD 9++. Ladies’ Nights, happening Wednesday to Friday from 5 pm, include martinis, gin, vodka, tequila, and house wine all night long for SGD 10++. That’s something to cheer about!
Reasons to visit Kaarla Singapore: exceptional views, service and setting. Our fave dishes are the La Latteria Burrata, Warm Pork Rilletes, Salt-cured Kangaroo, Sourdough Grilled “Crumpet”, Coal-roasted Spiced Cauliflower and Grilled Salmon Trout. The Garden Mojito is a must to refresh on a warm afternoon.
Kaarla Singapore at 1-Arden
88 Market Street, CapitaSpring, #51-02
Singapore 048948
+ 65 9837 8248
[email protected]
Kaarla Singapore Opening Hours
Monday to Friday
Lunch: 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
Dinner: 6 pm – 11 pm
Saturday
Brunch: 11:30 am – 3 pm
Dinner: 6 pm – 11 pm
Sundays & Public Holidays: Closed
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