Morsels Singapore, Fusion Small Plates

It was a tapas calling recently and i suggested a gathering at Morsels, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it eatery tucked away in a shop house along Mayo Street. In fact, you wouldn't even know it's there because no one would randomly walk past this spot in Little India. Morsels serves morsels of food (really small plates) that are largely influenced by Japanese ingredients but it also incorporates a variety of cultures in their dishes.

Ingredients are sourced from local farmers and sustainable sources if you are big on that sorta stuff. Here's what we sampled.

Must Orders

You should definitely start with the Hokkaido Scallop Ceviche ($17/25). This is what spring/summer taste like. Cubes of  tangy compressed seasonal plum, salty tobiko and sweet scallops were tossed with cilantro, onion and a refreshing yuzu. It's even more awesome with the homemade tortilla chips which is a cross between a super buttery curry puff pastry and wanton skin. Super love! We ordered a second portion immediately upon tasting this.

If you do not wish to have morsels, then the following 3 mains should satisfy your tummy. Ume-sake Braised Short Rib ($30/38) was delectably tender and flavorful. Certainly umami. We especially enjoyed the Okinawan Sweet Potato mash that had a light sweetness to it and wasn't too starchy. Served with crunchy baby Bok Choy, Ume and koji wasabi. Another 2 portion dish!

The Firecracker Pulled Pork Conchiglie Pasta ($16/24) was also voted as a top favorite with our group. There's something about the sourish and spicy habenero pesto sauce with the caramelized pulled pork. Neutralize the zing with the dollop of sour cream or just mix it all in. They could do with more meat though. Again, the boys demanded that we order another plate!

The Grilled Hungarian Mangalican Pork ($28) wasn't too bad either. Mangalican Pork is really growing in popularity hur! The meat had a very clean un-porkish taste in fact and the cauliflower purée was a great healthy alternative to any cream sauce. We thought the Asian ginger sauce was just a regular BBQ sauce though.

The other dishes..

Now to the ok and not too fantastic dishes. The steamed clams in fig broth ($22) was on the sweet end. I only caught a hint of the kimchi flavor. The highlight was more the broth than the clams and it went quite well with the crusty bread. But would i pay $22 for soup? Not really.

The Squid ink Risotto ($25) is supposed to be a a signature dish but we all found the dish too salty for our liking. The risotto was lacking the smoky squid ink flavor and the salted egg sauce failed to elevate the excitement of this dish. The grilled poached octopus was delicious however and had the right amount of charred ends.

The Pan seared fish with buttermilk miso broth ($24) was just MEH. The bland tasting fish had a slight muddy taste to it and the foamy miso broth failed to cover that up. Portion was really small too.

All decent successful adults! Our teachers would be proud! :P

So yea. Hits and misses at Morsels. The group consensus was that we may come back for the top dishes instead of giving a go at all the funky morsels. We were at 70% stomach capacity at the end of the meal (probably less for the boys) and it was about $35/pax. You'd probably feel more satisfied if you stick to the bigger meals.

Morsels

35 Mayo Street, Singapore 208316

Tel: +65 6396 6302

Tuesday to Thursday: 6 pm to 10 pm

Friday & Saturday: 6 pm to 10.30 pm