Headhunter Pansuh Set Whilst there hasn’t been too much of a change of the F&B tenants at Jewel Changi Airport in most of its levels ever since the opening of the mall, the F&B area at Level 5 probably had seen quite a number of switch-ups in recent times. Taking over the former premises of the now-defunct Rumours Bar & Grill at Jewel Changi Airport, Kantin is the latest addition to Jewel Changi Airport. An establishment which hails from Kuching, Sarawak in Malaysia, that location of Kantin is also known as Kantin at The Granary — the Jewel Changi Airport location is also their very first outlet which is situated out of Malaysia. Kantin is an establishment that focuses pretty much on Borneo cuisine — Sarawak itself being a Malaysian state located in Borneo Island anyway. Considering how they are located at Level 5 of Jewel Changi Airport within close vicinity to the Canopy Park of Jewel Changi Airport, it is needless to say how Kantin adopts a rather patio-style decor theme much akin to the other dining establishments that are located in the same area; that being said, the use of wooden furnishings and dine-in chairs with rattan elements does bring a little bit of Southeast Asian influence to the vibes. The food menu at Kantin at Jewel Changi Airport differs from that at Kantin at The Granary by a little — the food menu being split into sections labelled as Kantin Signatures that features dishes with stronger Asian elements, as well as Tropical Mains where the dishes featured are more westernised. Apart from Kantin Signatures and Tropical Mains, there are also Sides and Bar Snacks to choose from as well. Beverages available at Kantin includes Malaysian-style Kopi & Teh, slushies, milkshakes and craft beer — just to name a few.
We were given a brief introduction on the various offerings at Kantin by their staff — one item that we found ourselves pretty intrigued about when they were giving the introduction was the Headhunter Pansuh Set; described as a traditional tribal fare by their staff, the menu also mentions the item to be a “centuries-old classic” that has been re-mastered in this iteration. The Headhunter Pansuh Set comprises on Bornean Pansuh
Chicken (i.e. Bamboo Chicken), Keropok Lekor (i.e. Malay fish cracker snack), Purple Rice, and three Dayak side dishes of the day — the Dayak side dishes of the day served on the day of our visit includes Pusu Bawang (i.e. deep fried anchovies tossed with sautéed onion, chili and torch ginger flower) Paku (i.e. wild fern) and Rebung (i.e. Bamboo). The entire dish came in the form of a platter — a portion that we felt was good enough to even share between two. Digging into the Dayak side dishes of the day, our favourite of the three side items that came with the Headhunter Pansuh Set was the Pusu Bawang — the onions come with good crunch and a slight zing; a little savoury for a slight contrast of flavours. The Paku on the other hand felt pretty similar to that of the Sambal Kangkong that we are all familiar to. Meanwhile, the Bornean Pansuh Chicken came with four (4) chunks of steamed chicken with skin-on; these also came swimming in a brine — there was an evident hint of lemongrass and ginger in the flavour profile along with other aromatics, while the chicken skin was gelatinous and the flesh being fall-off-the-bone tender. While we could see that the folks at Kantin had placed some efforts in trying to get the texture of the purple rice soft and moist, we did note that it was a little soggy as we got to the middle; that being said, the rice did carry a mild gingery flavour and was an utter joy to be had especially with the Bornean Pansuh Chicken itself. Overall, a rather contemporary approach to a tribal recipe that works well with the taste buds of today.
We were actually pretty intrigued with the Rainforest Fried Rice as well whilst skimming through the menu at Kantin; this was described to be an “aromatic fried rice with tapioca leaves and herbs”, which also comes served with deep-fried cauliflower nuggets and small cubes of freeze-dried shiitake mushrooms. Given the shade of green that the fried rice came with, we were initially expecting that comes closer to the flavours of Nasi Ulam here that usually focuses on the notes of the herbs and aromatics that is used in the rice salad — this was however a fried rice dish; the flavours of the fried rice did carry a slight hint of egg ones that was somehow closer to that of Taiwanese-style fried rice with a slight hint of “green” from the tapioca leaves. The addition of the crisp leaves however added a good flavour and texture to the Rainforest Fried Rice — this itself was a rather interesting dish even if one disregards our initial impressions of how the item was supposed to taste like. Apart from the Rainforest Fried Rice and the Headhunter Pansuh Set, we had also given Kantin’s beverages a go — the Kantin Kaffeine is an item that is labelled as a “must try” which we could not disagree on; available in both hot and iced options, the iced Kantin Kaffeine was not only aromatic in the way that Nanyang-style Kopi is. There was a rich and buttery note that comes with it that makes it absolutely smooth and delightful to have as well. The Three Sour Crush was another interesting beverage which features lemon, Calamansi and Asam Boi that comes in slushy format — absolutely refreshing to have considering the sour-ish elements that are well-balanced with an underlying note of sweetness so it does not feel overly sour. Prices of the food items at Kantin ranges from $17++ to $32++; the items from the Kantin Signatures section being noticeably lower-priced in the range of $17++ to $18++ with the exception of the Headhunter Pansuh Set that is priced at $32++. Kantin does bring a unique dining experience to the Jewel Changi Airport despite the recent influx of Sarawakian dining establishments all across the island; a spot that is definitely worth giving a go!