Six Hands (Far East Square)

CBD folks rejoice; had always felt that Six Hands should have opened an outlet in the Central Business District ever since they had opened their very first location within Millenia Walk and they have finally done so with the opening of their flagship store in Telok Ayer. The flagship store of Six Hands at Telok Ayer is situated within Far East Square; they had taken over the former premises of the now-defunct Bamboo Bowls that had occupied the space — other dining establishments located within the area includes Bao Makers and Ollella (another favourite spot of ours). For those whom are unaware, Six Hands is a concept by the same folks behind Omote whom has also brought us Umai Artisanal Udon Bar at Guoco Midtown. It is needless to say that the space is bigger at the flagship outlet, but they have very much retained much of the look that is associated with their brand at Millenia Walk; the interior does retain some of the concrete grey look of the former tenants for its floors and walls — there is some play with geometrical elements around the main dining hall, while it sports the different shades of green that Six Hands uses in its branding. Unlike the former tenants of the premises, the food preparation has been opened up to give patrons a full view of the action going on behind the salad bar. Diners make their orders via the self-service POS machines at the two entrances of the store, and pick up their orders from the shelf once the order numbers are called out on the screens hung around the walls of the store. Much of the menu offerings remain the same as what is available at their Millenia Walk location; the Signature Six category of the menu features the same six salad bowls with pre-determined elements that their outlet at Millenia Walk also offers. Changes are mostly seen in the Make Your Own Bowl menu, where more variations of salmon can be found in the list of proteins available as well as options of eggs in the “Get Your Eggs In” section. Drinks still revolve around the same selection of juices and green tea that they offer at their Millenia Walk location.

Considering most of the new items are within the Make Your Own Bowl menu, we had gone for the option to create our own salad bowl instead. With a 10-step selection to create our own bowl of salad, Six Hands does allow patrons to have a high level of customisation to the salad bowls that they have to offer. The process of ordering the Make Your Own Bowl and the options that we have got for our order are as follows:

Build Your Base: Nori Sushi Rice
Choose Your Leaves: Curly Kale, Baby Romaine Lettuce
Get Your Greens: Spanish Purple Onion, Umami Shallot Olio, Sushi Ginger, Purple Cabbage
Dress It Up: Smoky Paprika
Pick Your Proteins: Spicy Miso Eggplant
Choice of Scoop: NYC Egg Mayo
Drizzle: Wasabi Ricotta
Crunches: Chili Crunch, Tempura Crunch, Togarashi Chili Flakes
Lastly, Get Your Eggs In: Truffle Drizzled Eggs

Have always described how Six Hands serves up their salad bowls in a way that would appeal to even the biggest haters of salad — we had always liked how there is a mix of Base and Leaves that so we aren’t getting a bunch of leafy greens for our salad bowls here. The Nori Sushi Rice carried a umami and slightly sweet note that provides ample flavour to the entire bowl itself; we also like how they seem to have strategically portioned out the rice to be of a good serving size so that patrons would not get overwhelmed by all the elements that come above it. The leafy greens like the Curly Kale and Baby Romaine Lettuce that we had opted for were also seemingly sliced into more manageable slices where it would easily picked up by the spork without dangling all over; these also provided a light and refreshing crunch; absolutely easy to eat considering the way it had been thought out to be. Otherwise, their salads had been a party in the mouth where there is sweet, savoury, creamy, zingy and spicy notes from all over in terms of flavour, while there is a multitude of textures that offers a crisp or a crunch or some sort of bounce that keeps things from being boring. If anything, the Spicy Miso Eggplant was what we exactly expected; pretty much a Nasu Dengaku at heart where a savoury and sweet miso sauce had been brushed onto the eggplant before being grilled, we loved how soft the eggplant was whilst coming with a savoury, sweet and slightly nutty note with the spicy variant coming with a sprinkle of chili flakes. The Truffle Drizzled Eggs also comes with a whiff of truffle aroma that perfumes the tastebuds without being overwhelming whilst at it.

During our visit, we had also went for the Watermelon Breeze which is essentially a fruit juice offering — the Watermelon Breeze being sufficiently sweet whilst there isn’t much sediments from the juiced-up fruit sitting in the cup; quite a light beverage that works well with their salads as well as being a thirst quencher on a hot day. Six Hands was a sort of brand that we hqd never expected the folks at Omote to come out with when we had first visited them at Millenia Walk; with that being said, they had managed to leave us impressed with the style of salads that they are serving up — one that is not only suited for the salad lovers, but also captivating to the tastebuds of those whom are less accepting of salads as well. The Amoy Street location is an extension to the ideas conceptualised previously for the Millenia Walk store — rightfully so given the flagship status of this location with adjustments made in accordance to the preferences of the patrons whom had visited their Millenia Walk location. Looking forward to seeing what these folks have in store next, but their Far East Square location is one that we will be visiting quite often in time to come!