Fancy Schmancy

A medley of tangy hibiscus tang yuan (and jam), Chinese ginger sugar crumble, red bean jam and yoghurt ice cream. A more refreshing number than the soy milk ice cream dessert, making it an apt finale.

Soy milk and tofu ice cream with almond espuma, Sarawak white pepper meringue, sesame (oil) microwave cake and black sesame crumbs. Like that this wasn't too sweet and the assortment of textures in every spoonful.

A mixture of steamed glutinous and short grain rice with shiitake mushrooms topped with seared foie gras cubes and grated lup cheong. Grating the preserved liver sausage was really clever, but I have to admit I missed the chewy texture (and joy of biting into it).

Compared to beef or fish, pork often takes the back seat for mains as it can be a gamble to order. This dish proves that statement otherwise.

The pork collar is grilled over charcoal till the middle is a lovely shade of pink – every bite so tender and juicy. Brining the meat prior to cooking brought out its mild sweetness, which the acidity in the gastrique complemented.

The beef is sous vide for 48 hours but in a higher temperature to achieve the same level of tenderness when you braise. It comes with velvety black garlic mashed potato, wok hei-kissed pickled black fungus (such a clever element), dehydrated and rehydrated Chinese pear slivers and angelica root-infused chicken jus. Absolutely gob-smacking!

Nothing is simple about this porridge. The base itself is made from blitzed boiled radish trimmings and day old rice, even the "chye poh" is made in house! In addition to very finely chopped century egg white and sautéed salted radish strips, it comes adorned with crunchy battered bamboo shoots.

I really enjoyed the smokiness imparted from the extra step of searing the lamb prior to dicing. I'm possibly biased cos I like cumin, but the seasoning was on the money for me.

Inspired by the flavours of cha ye dan, an almost-set (not oozy) egg yolk sits atop a dollop of soubise and is served with a pu er tea-based broth flavoured with kelp, aged mandarin peels and rock sugar. To fully enjoy this, don't get too hung up on the tea egg reference and pay attention to the full ensemble instead.

Your brain may tell you it's something else at first glance, but once you pop a little bit of the quail egg and curry-flavoured potato nest filled with chicken mousse into your mouth, it'll jump on the "oh yes, it's curry puff" bandwagon without hesitation. The fried curry leaves further cement that idea, but I could have done without the coriander sponge.

Available in the Lunch/Pre-Theatre Menu ($48).

Although the chendol xiao long bao is synonymous to Labyrinth, this was my favourite sweet among all three we tried.
While the current version on the menu features a mango-infused white chocolate egg shell, I very much prefer the previous version that used real egg shell to encase the barely set mango panna cotta. Cracking the egg to unveil its contents then finally tasting it was a mind-boggling sensory experience. Not to mention drizzling the black and sticky sesame purée (the "sweet soy sauce") and adding a few dashes of the pepper-like black sesame.

Available as a dessert in the Labyrinth Classics Degustation ($128), as well as the 3/4-course ($78/$88) option.

First sampled this at Savour, but here you get to douse the dumpling with gula Melaka sauce from the "black vinegar" dispenser yourself! While well-executed on the conceptual level (pandan-infused dumpling skin encasing coconut and red bean spheres, gula Melaka icicles and grass jelly cubes), I was missing the textures I usually look forward to in a bowl of chendol. Still, this is pretty genius and makes for an indelible dining experience.

Available as a dessert in the Labyrinth Classics Degustation ($128), as well as the Lunch/Pre-Theatre Menu ($48).

This was probably my favourite (savoury) dish here, and not just because it's inspired by my favourite moon light hor fun.

Slippery ribbons of thinly sliced cuttlefish trick your palate into thinking they're well cooked "rice noodles" to go with the wonderfully marbled beef seared just enough to bring out the beef's fabulous flavours. The egg yolk (injected with a savoury, wok hei-infused hor fun sauce) sitting in the middle begs to be popped and tossed along with the lard crumble and chunks, to create the most indulgent and refined hor fun you can imagine.

Available as a main in the Labyrinth Classics Degustation ($128), as well as the 4-course option ($88) with a $20 supplement.