Yellow Pot: Modern Chinese cuisine re-interpreted with sustainable, organic ingredients

Take a stroll down the scenic row of shophouses along Duxton, and you might mistake Yellow Pot for a cool new whisky lounge or swanky resto-bar.

Make no mistake, however; name and interiors aside, it’s very much a Chinese restaurant, in every other sense. Fashioning itself as a mod-Chinese restaurant, the restaurant-bar has certainly carved out a space for itself for its healthful and sustainable approach to Chinese cuisine.

Located at the newly restored and absolutely stunning Six Senses Duxton hotel, the restaurant innovatively whips up classic Chinese cuisine using healthful, organic and sustainably-sourced ingredients. At the bar, artisanal cocktails concocted using traditional herbs and botanicals await tipple-lovers, offering a dining experience that is quite unlike any other you’d find in the city.

Authentic Chinese food – Unlike You Know It

At the helm of the restaurant is Chinese-trained Chef Sebastian Goh, who undertakes the challenge of re-interpreting your classic Chinese dishes and flavours in a fresh, contemporary way.

We’re not talking necessarily mod-Asian or fusion here; the restaurant’s dishes still ring with that familiar, comforting flavour palate of Chinese food that we know and love. Rather, it’s Chinese food unlike you know it: free of additives, MSG, flavour enhancers, with the conscious use of sustainable ingredients that support local farmers.

There are appetisers like the Chilled Organic Vine-Ripened Tomatoes and Chicken Soup, which both feature fresh organic vine-ripened tomatoes from a neighbouring farm in Malaysia. In the former, the tomatoes are soaked in a delightful  “Li Heng” plum juice of herbs, licorice, mint leaves and rock sugar.

The mains, or rther the seafood and meat dishes, are intended for sharing true to that ‘zi-char’ style of eating. The meats, in our humble opinion, are the standout dishes. The Roast Duck is unlike any other duck we’ve had: it’s deliciously tender, with a skin cooked to a crispy perfection. There’s also the delightfully tender Wok-Seared Beef Tenderloin, prepared with an organic grass-fed beef tenderloin cubed and wok-seared to a medium-rare finish. Paired with a honey-pepper sauce (a mixture of Sichuan peppercorns, crushed tellicherry peppercorns and with organic raw honey), it had us reaching for more morsels of meat.

There’s something for vegetarians and non-gluten eaters too. The Braised Sweet & Sour Eggplant, for one, will no doubt be a hit. The eggplant is also sourced from a neighbouring farm in Malaysia, is first deep-fried, then braised with a sweet and sour sauce of honey, vinegar, Nanyang soy sauce, and house-made hot bean paste.

“With Yellow Pot, we want to showcase the rich diversity of colours, tastes, and texture prevalent in Chinese cuisine, while avoiding some of the less healthy additives and flavour enhancers,” shares General Manager Murray Aitken. “We are also working closely with local farmers and producers who are committed to responsible sourcing and sustainable practices.”

The Drinks: An East-meets-West Concoction

Echoing its commitment to sustainability, wellness, and everything feel-good is the adjoining bar. Its drinks menu includes a diverse collection of top-shelf spirits, premium wines, local craft beers, artisanal Chinese teas and cocktails with an Eastern twist. Although swinging by for a tasting during lunch on a work day meant we couldn’t swig down tipple after tipple, a cursory look at the menu hints at potentially interesting cocktails.

Escape to Kaifeng is the bar’s signature drink: a house-made chrysanthemum cordial infused with Tanqueray London dry gin (which incidentally also has a non-alcoholic tonic version). other cocktails include the Chen Pi Collins (an East-meets-West spin on a Tom Collins), a Pearl Lemonade (a refreshing freshly brewed Chinese barley spiked with a single malt whiskey) and Hong Long Choc.

The restaurant and adjoining bar are both designed in a stunning black, gold and yellow palette by none other than acclaimed British designer Anouska Hempel. It’s a visibly contemporary aesthetic, but look closely enough and you’ll find clever touches like modern Chinese screens of black lacquered wood and glass, as well as yellow pots.

Perfecting that balance between traditional cuisine while staying contemporary is a delicate act that not many diners can master. Mod-Asian restaurants are certainly gaining traction as the new trendy dining concept in our local dining scene; and while some of them tend to run albeit predictable (and sometimes gimmicky), Yellow Pot’s sustainable and healthful approach to Chinese cuisine – whilst still honouring the authentic flavours we know and love – has certainly carved itself a niche that we haven’t really been privy to in Singapore.

Salivating already? Peek the dishes in the gallery above.

Sarah Khan

Photos: Yellow Pot

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