Candlenut Kitchen

Head Chef and owner Malcolm Lee, showed interest in cooking since he was in Secondary 2. Inspired by his mother's delicious Nonya dishes, he went on studying the art of cooking and was the very first Signaporean recipient of the Miele Guide Scholarship.

Candlenut Kitchen, housed in the Dorsett hotel in Chinatown, serves modern cuisine with a Peranakan accent. All the spice pastes called rempahs and which are the base of Peranakan dishes, are homemade and cooked for hours, using fresh ingredients without any MSG or preservatives.

Some dishes that will keep you coming back include the Assam Fish, Sambal 'Choking' Sotong, Buah Keluak Dessert, which is an ice cream made with 80% Valrhona chocolate & fresh Buah Keluak and the Chendol Cream, which is a coconut custard with gula melaka and pandan jelly.

And if you want to try it at home, Candlenut sells its homemade sambal belacan in 200g jars.