A most unusual bistro has opened in Tiong Bahru. Persimmon, barely three weeks old, is located in the Link Hotel and serves Euro-Singaporean food.

Or, as co-owner Sharon Lim, 39, calls it: 'Hot new food with a cool, old-fashioned twist.'

She and Helena Lim, who is in her 40s, are also behind Epicurious at The Quayside, a small, friendly, six-year-old cafe that serves great breakfasts, sandwiches and pastas.

Dig into dishes that put an unusual twist to local favourites such as the Hainanese Chicken Salad (top picture) and a Tapas selection that includes Deep Fried Curry Chicken Wings (above).

The food at Persimmon is more adventurous, more playful and the dishes were literally dreamed up over drinks with friends.

Sharon says: 'We would present the ideas to the chef, who would give us weird looks. But to his credit, he tried them out.'

The result is a small menu of unusual dishes which work.

Start with the Hainanese Chicken Salad ($14), a twist on what is practically a national dish. Silky poached chicken is served with sliced tomatoes and cucumber, mesclun greens and drizzled with a piquant chicken rice chilli vinaigrette.

Where's the rice, you ask. Well, it's the best part of the salad, in my opinion. The flavoured rice is dried and then puffed up in the oven till the grains look like rice krispies.

These are sprinkled on the greens, so you get crunchy hits of fragrant rice mixed in with the vegetables.

For mains, have the Laksa Fisherman's Pie ($26), served in a tureen with a golden square of puff pastry on top.

Inside is a laksa gravy that's both light and rich at the same time, an effect achieved by replacing some of the coconut milk with soy milk.

Bobbing in the broth are scallops, prawns, mussels, clams, crabmeat and squid. There are also pieces of taupok or bean puffs, carrot, potato, zucchini and yellow squash. I would never have thought to add the last two to laksa gravy but they soak up the flavours very well and stay juicy.

Spaghetti Aglio Olio Porchetta ($22) is also worth trying. Al dente pasta is paired with an Italian-style roast pork flavoured with thyme, oregano and other herbs. The crisp crackling, lightly charred at the ends, and tender pork really lift this pasta dish.

We discovered the Tapas selection late, but managed to find room for Deep Fried Curry Chicken Wings ($12).

The wings arrive sprinkled with crisp, deep-fried curry leaves and smell wonderful. The curry flavour goes right through to the bone and the wings are crisp on the outside and very juicy inside.

Try also to make room for the mini beef and pork burgers ($14). Succulent patties are sandwiched between soft buns and served with crisp, sweet onion rings and 'holy aioli', an intense garlic mayonnaise guaranteed to scare away vampires.

For dessert, you cannot go wrong with the Soursop Sherbert ($3.50 a scoop), made for the restaurant by a small factory. It tastes so intensely of the fruit that it's almost startling, and there are chunks of soursop shot through the ice.

Tiong Bahru has always been a haunt for foodies and this new kid on the block offers yet another compelling reason to go there.

Persimmon, 50 Tiong Bahru, Link Hotel, tel: 6227-2271. Opening hours: 6am to 11pm daily.

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times on Feb 21 2008.

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