Restaurant Ibid

Ordered dinner from @restaurantibid last weekend through WhatsApp

Ibid-Style 8 Treasure Duck (S$118)
Interesting texture with water chestnut and chestnut in it, the texture of the rice wasn’t what one usually expect for traditional Chinese style.

Cheese Shaobing (S$7)
Got to heat up to get the lava like melted cheese which harden quite fast.

Lion’s Head Meatball Scallion Noodle HK-Style Curry (S$38)
The surprise was inside the meatball - curry gravy but letdown by too much big cubes of jelat fat

Pork Fat Rice Crispy Lard Scallion (S$12)
If only the lard was light and crispy with crackling sounds

Shaoxing Creamed Spinach (S$12)

Chocolate Chip & Walnut Cookie ($7)
Very soft and rich although nana remarked that it tasted like got peanut butter inside

Black Rice Baked Mochi Cake (S$28)
Reminded one of Pulut Hitam (Black Glutinous Rice Sweet Soup)

Kaya Ice Cream (S$19)

Braised Squid and Peanut Butter Zhajiang Noodle (S$26)
It was very rich and got jelat easily. Kind of too salty too. Think 🤔 would be best if sauce and noodles packed separately. Felt that it didn’t survive the trip well.

Restaurant ibid
Address 🏡 : 18 North Canal Road, Singapore 🇸🇬 048 830
Tel ☎️ : 9151 8698
Website 🌐 : https://www.restaurantibid.com
Note 📝 : free delivery with minimum S$150 order

G I F T
For those who aren’t ready to dine out yet in Phase 2 of Singapore’s post-Circuit Breaker, you’ll be pleased to know @restaurantibid is continuing with their takeaway/delivery menu until Sunday, 28th June. On offer is an eclectic spread that’s full of delicious surprises, so I suggest ordering an assortment of items that catch your eye and graze across them. Here’s what Chef-owner @woowaileong selected for my dinner last Thursday:

1. Shao Bing - This has been on the menu since Ibid opened for business but has been tweaked and refined over time. It’s currently available with two kinds of fillings: sweetish shredded Wagyu Beef and Cheese with scallions. I preferred the latter because of the savoury taste and I thought the oozy creaminess was marvelous with the chewy dough.

2. Ibid-Style 8 Treasure Duck - Deboned, the #duck is stuffed with fluffy sticky rice mixed with a generous amount of chopped up “lap cheong”, mushrooms, chestnuts and more, which pretty much qualifies it as a one-dish meal too. I enjoyed it most with the bright chilli sauce served alongside. By the way, the caramelised skin is not meant to be crispy.

3. Five-Spice Roast Spring Chicken - A classic done with a Chinese twist. If you aren’t fond of the coriander powder-heavy seasoning, you might want to skip this as it’s liberally rubbed all over.

4. The 50/50 Potato Purée - Super smooth, buttery and creamy, it was beloved by everyone.
5. Shaoxing Creamed Spinach - The Chinese spin put on this popular steakhouse side got it more appetisingly nuanced.

6. Lao Gan Ma Slaw - Did the chilled crunchy cabbage improve from a spike of savoury Oriental-style heat? You bet it did.

7. Mapo Tofu - Like I suspected, this turned out to be one of my favourites. Supremely fragrant and controlled in spiciness, Ibid’s had more structure than most renditions that tend to veer into mushiness.

8. Pork Fat Rice - Dressed in pork oil, crispy lard and scallions, it’s a most apt and delicious carb for the Mapo Tofu.

9. Lion Head’s Meatball - Formed from seasoned minced pork, the huge thing contained a mild Hongkong-style curry at its core which flowed out once a cut was made.

10. Scallion La Mian - The strands of al dente noodles tossed in scallion oil were a good match for the XXL meatball.

11. Black Glutinous Rice Mochi Cake with Taiwanese Milk Oolong Ice-cream - So utterly perfect in its uniqueness and taste, I was inspired to do a stand-alone post about this dessert (please go have a read). The cake is incredible bare but when served a la mode, it took things up a few notches.

12. Chocolate Chip & Walnut Cookie - The other (and rather unexpected) favourite of mine from this meal, I would go so far as to call it THE BEST chewy cookie I’ve had in the past few months.

Don’t hesitate to hit up Restaurant Ibid to get your order in.

G I F T
The other (and rather unexpected) favourite of mine from the meal I had from Ibid was this huge cookie. In fact, I would go so far as to call it THE BEST chewy cookie I’ve had in the past few months. The chocolate chips are gooey and the fresh tasting nuts add a very enjoyable light crunch.

G I F T
Before eating, I followed @restaurantibid’s instructions to pop it into the oven at 180 degrees for 8 minutes. Once it got nice and hot, I cut a slice and topped it with a scoop of their “Milky #Oolong” ice-cream, a flavour Chef-owner @woowaileong describes as “Chinese vanilla” which I find very apt because there is a delicate sweet fragrance to its milkiness. The combination was mesmerising as the soft and chewy #cake exuded its own aroma from the black grains. @huatkaliao while eating, heaped so many compliments on it, I’m sure if cakes could blush, this one would have.

Preorder restaurant ibid’s roast duck, which is only available 8-10 ducks per week as they are aged and stored over a week. The entire duck was first brought in front of us before it was sliced.

Pretty juicy meat with a glistening reddish brown roasted skin, the roast duck was served as a whole alongside some condiments and their house made steamed pancakes. Instead of the usual cucumber strips, Ibid served Celtuce, or celery lettuce. Similarly crunchy like cucumber, but mildly flavoured. Intrigued to hear and taste Celtuce for the first time.

While the duck sauce was provided as a pairing condiment, I felt that it could be richer in taste to match against the gamey duck meat. A separate plate of duck skin was served, with sugar dusted lightly. Unfortunately we were disappointed, as it was soft and a little soggy, unlike the crispy type that we were expecting.

Both dessert choices weren’t too flattering, unfortunately. No doubt the butter cake itself was nicely executed with a moist inner texture, the remaining components were just overloaded with sugar; sweet brûléed meringue, with a sweet ginger butterscotch and a dried tangerine ice cream which I had expected to be light on the palate. Additionally there was also an oozy orange jam, way too sweet.