Chef Woo’s creations are ‘Nanyang Style cuisine’ inspired by his exploration of his Chinese heritage while applying Western and modern cooking techniques. This is also how the restaurant name, Ibid (abbreviated Latin word meaning “from the same source”) came about.

From top (left to right)

To kick off the meal, the restaurant offers two complimentary snacks for starters! The shaobing and the escargot.

Snacks
Shaobing 烧饼: Yeasted butter | Laksa leaf
Escargot: Doubanjiang | Bettel leaf

Appetizers
1) Tea egg 茶叶蛋: Soubise | Chinese puh-erh broth | Gingko
2) White radish 皮蛋粥: Porridge | Bamboo shoot | Century egg
3) Lamb tartare 羊肉串: Garlic yoghurt | Szechuan cumin spice mix | Lotus root

Mains
4) Momoiro collar: Sweet potato | Savor cabbage | Red fermented beancurd
5) Lotus rice 荷叶饭: Mushroom | Foie Gras | Preserved liver sausage

Desert
6) Soy milk ice cream: Sesame | Almond foam | Sarawak pepper meringue

To start off, the legendary Shao Bing really lived I to its name! Beneath the seared crust, you’ll find a delicious medley of mozzarella, spring onions, black pepper and sesame oil. What really sealed the deal for me was the yeasted butter (whipping soft butter with cooked yeast paste), which had a savory cheesy flavor and the deep fried laksa leaves which added that missing textural dimension.

Next, we were served skewered snails that has been glazed with dou ban jiang (chilli bean sauce) mayo before grilling, then dipped in caramélised shallots before being wrapped in betel leaf and torched after. Very smokey!

The deconstructed Tea Egg dish comes with a sous-vide yolk (which had this amazing jam-like consistency) sitting on the soubise (French sauce made from onions) served in an aromatic broth of aged mandarin peels, kelp and pu-er tea leaves with dehydrated shiitake mushrooms and fried gingko nuts and garnished with fennel.

Next, we had the comforting daikon porridge made served with bamboo shoots and a century egg. The soft textures the white radish porridge and the chopped up whites of century egg are contrasted by homemade cai poh and the lightly battered bamboo shoots coated with dehydrated century egg yolk.

The lamb tartare is inspired from 羊肉串. Love the dominant taste of cumin and Szechuan peppercorns in this! Yoghurt is also used in the blend, giving the tartare a refreshing and lighter finish. Have the tartare with the fried lotus root for thé added crunch!

Momoira Collar is first brined then grilled to retain its succulent texture. It is served with sweet potatoes, savoy cabbage and a sauce is made of red fermented bean-curd and red rice wine. The sauce was really beautiful, revealing that myriad of flavors.

The rice dish was unexpectedly my favorite of the night. It was breaming with umami goodness! Loved the combination of the textures and flavors in the lotus leaf. The use of grated preserved liver sausage and foie gras really elevated this dish

Ending the meal on a sweet note, we had the Tofu and Soy Milk Ice Cream, served with a sesame cake, almond foam, Sarawak pepper meringue and pepper bits. The soy flavor was very distinct and the sesame cake was spongy and soft. I was really intrigued by the introduction of pepper in this in the form of meringues, which added textural and flavor dimension to the otherwise delicate flavour profile with its savoury notes.