Wild Coco (Boat Quay)

Wild Coco is one of those places that one is likely to have heard us mention over the years for those whom have been following us for a while — these folks had actually started off being a casual, open-air dining establishment almost akin to that of a coffeeshop at the foot of a HDB block at McNair Road. That being said, these folks had made their move to Hamilton Road (occupying the unit right beside Brawn & Brains Coffee), whilst also becoming a full-service dining establishment when that happened. Seems like they are ready for yet another round of expansion of their business — Wild Coco had recently soft-launched their second location at Circular Road; the very first time that they are operating two outlets at the same time. Located at 83 Circular Road despite themselves referring to this location as their Boat Quay outlet, Wild Coco is situated in the same unit that was once tenanted to ZAMAS. Whilst the general layout of the shophouse still looks fairly recognisable during its days as ZAMAS, extensive works had been done to ensure that the space is carries the “Wild Coco” look. Artwork commissioned from an artist adorns its walls, giving a realism considering the 3D elements injected to the murals, while the shop is decked in wooden furnishings with dining chairs that comes with rattan elements that gives it some sort of a Balinese vibe — the mosaic floor tiles kinda gives a Peranakan flavour to the space, while the vast use of green for a majority of elements makes things easy for the eyes. We also did feel that the entire interior does feel a little more well thought about when compared to their Hamilton Road location. Wild Coco is perhaps best known for their Nasi Lemak at this current juncture, though its menu is split across sections such as Nasi Lemak, Fresh from Wok, Only at Wild Coco, BBQ at BQ, Sides, Laksa at Laksa Labo, Desserts and Home Made Nyonya Kueh. The variety of drinks available at Wild Coco includes a wide variety of non-alcoholic special concoctions, canned rinks as well as local-style Kopi and Teh, and a small variety of alcohol — just to name a few.

Whilst their Circular Road location does carry all of the notable items from the menu of their Hamilton Road outlet, there are quite a number of outlet-exclusives that are only available at their Circular Road outlet at the time of writing — more on this later. Though Wild Coco has established itself as more of a Nasi Lemak-specialty dining establishment from the start, they had since expanded their specialty into all-things coconut — one of the dishes that really caught our attention that we had never previously tried would be their Claypot Sayur Lodeh. For those whom are not familiar with Sayur Lodeh, this would be a vegetable soup that comes with coconut milk. The Claypot Sayur Lodeh served up at Wild Coco comes with elements such as Cabbage, French Beans, Eggplant, Lady Finger and Beancurd Puffs. A dish that is good for two to be shared, this would work especially well if one pairs this up with a bowl of rice on the side — the coconut milk gravy is certainly something that we will die for. Whilst some variants of Sayur Lodeh can get a little jelak considering the large use of coconut milk in the cooking process — that being said, this was actually well-balanced with evident notes of turmeric that makes it go pretty well on its own. The various vegetables in the Sayur Lodeh were cooked to a soft consistency, though the Lady Finger and the French Beans do come with a good crunch for a contrast. Beancurd Puffs in the meanwhile do absorb the gravy of the Sayur Lodeh, packing a flavour punch to be released as one chews into it.

A dish that is exclusively available at their Boat Quay location at the time of writing would be their Satay by the Quay (a word play on “Satay by the Bay” — available in both meat options of beef and chicken, the satay are served in 5 pcs for those whom order the dish with a single type of meat; there is also a version offering a mixed platter of beef and chicken satays that sees 3pcs of satay per type of meat being served on the same plate; our order is for the Mixed variant. Wild Coco actually serves their Satay by the Quay with Ketupat, onions and cucumbers — also not forgetting the peanut sauce served on the side. Both beef and chicken satays came with a slight char and with evident flavours of turmeric in its marination process; the chicken is slightly more juicy and tender, though the beef satay does give a firmer bite — the beef satay also doesn’t come with any strong gamey notes that might be intimidating for some. They are really generous with the peanut sauce here; the peanut sauce coming pretty chunky and especially flavourful with its intense nuttiness. Since we had given Wild Coco’s Nasi Lemak a go several times before, we thought we would focus on their other dishes that also has an emphasis on the use of coconut — our choice of main during our visit to their Circular Road location would be their Laksa Goreng which is described in their menu to also come with elements such as tiger prawn and scallops. Whilst we were expecting something similar to a Dry Laksa, we felt that the notes of the rempah spices for Laksa isn’t particularly strong here (we had also raised a feedback to them about this when asked about the meal) — nonetheless, this does work as a good version of Hokkien Fried Prawn Noodles that comes with a bit of a wok-hei; the seafood were pretty fresh, while other elements not mentioned in the menu that were included in the dish included scraps of egg, as well as beansprouts and dehydrated beancurd puffs that helped add an element of crunch.

A dessert that is newly-introduced into the menu of Wild Coco would be that of the Chendol Coconut Pudding; this sees a Coconut Panna Cotta at the base that is topped off with Gula Melaka, Pandan Jelly, sweet corn, toasted coconut flakes, coconut flakes and kidney beans — all served in a glass. The Coconut Panna Cotta takes the forefront here, carrying a light and refreshing note whilst also coming with a smooth, mousse-like consistency — the Gula Melaka adding an earthy sweetness whilst the sweet corn nibs adds some dimension of sweetness and gives an element of bite. The toasted coconut flakes does shake things up a little by providing a contrasting texture of crunch as well. During our visit, we had also given the relatively-new Kueh Bingka Gula Melaka a go; this is a twist on their usual Kueh Bingka — a type of Peranakan Kueh that sees the use of tapioca, though this version comes infused with Gula Melaka. We were told that such variants of Kueh Bingka can be found in Malaysia, though is rarely spotted around in Singapore nonetheless. Considering how the Kueh Bingka here are all made without the use of flour and is thus considered to be gluten-free, the Kueh Bingka does feel like a little firmer to chew through though is also notably more fibrous in texture — all that whilst the browned layer over the top still carries a considerably crisp texture. The deep earthy notes of Gula Melaka can still be detected, with the Kueh being of a balanced sweetness. Similar to the Kueh Bingka Gula Melaka, the original Kueh Bingka is also made without the use of flour and hence carried a similar texture to the Kueh Bingka Gula Melaka — the flavours of the tapioca being used in the making of the Kueh Bingka comes undisturbed here, all whilst also being of a balanced level of sweetness.

The Kueh Salat was a clear winner here — we were recommended to have the Kueh Salat by the neighbouring table when they made their move out of the restaurant shortly after our food arrived the table, and we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to try them as we were served complimentary servings of the Kueh Salat and Kueh Bingka after our meal — the Kueh Salat here came with a smooth Pandan custard that was absolutely creamy; almost to that of a consistency of Kaya, and carried a punchy note of Pandan that made it so good. The layer of glutinous rice below was sufficiently moist, though does not stick to the teeth — slightly saltish that helps to complement the lightly sweet Pandan mousse that made it oh-so-good; could definitely go with more of it! While the food is quite the highlight by its own at Wild Coco, they do have quite a number of creative concoctions of drinks to boast and our choice this time round was the Open Sesame — one that featured roasted black sesame with Nanyang-style Kopi and comes with Sesame Florentine and Sweet Cold Foam. The Sweet Cold Foam had an aromatic note of cream that provides a slight hint of sweetness that goes well with the roasty notes of sesame; binds it together with punchy Nanyang-style Kopi that is rich with a corresponding level of sweetness to match. The Sesame Florentine was a good touch; provided a sweet crunch and roasty note that also helped to add an aesthetic appeal to the beverage.

Having followed Wild Coco for the very start during their initial days at McNair Road all the way to their extension of Laksa Labo, subsequently to their Hamilton Road location and now their Circular Road outlet, the folks at Wild Coco had most certainly come a long way from being just a dining establishment specialising in Malaysian-style Nasi Lemak akin to what Village Park Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur offers — all the way to being an establishment serving up various dishes featuring coconut as a core ingredient. These folks had certainly made their mark in the local F&B scene since then, and would likely still to do so in the days to come — it is interesting to see how they are consistently innovating and improving on their offerings over time, and the quality does show in what they are presenting to their patrons as time moves on; very few establishments could do the same to the degree that these folks had done. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the folks behind Wild Coco on the opening of their Circular Road location; also looking forward to returning to try out other new dishes that they have to offer — here’s wishing them all the best in what is to come as well!