Singapore Circus at d’Arenberg Cube | SA Weekend restaurant review

Food reviewer Simon Wilkinson visits the latest restaurant to grace the eclectic d’Arenberg Cube – Singapore Circus. How does it compare to its predecessor? Find out here.

Signature mud crab dish at Singapore Circus, d'Arenberg Cube, McLaren Vale

The bound man in the cage hanging from the ceiling to the left is in a state of conspicuous arousal. Shelves and window sills are crammed with masks, carvings, model cars and buses, kitsch ceramics, creepy soft toys … a collection with no obvious narrative beyond the compulsions of its owner.

But what draws my gaze throughout lunch isn’t any of these things. No, the great distraction is what they are eating at the table by the window.

Crab. And not just any crab. A whole, magnificent mud crab. Its slow dissembling makes great theatre, as shells are crunched, legs torn away and meat picked with admirable dexterity. And I can’t help yearning for my own crab feast as soon as possible.

A dish like this, unfortunately, is a complete meal for two and doesn’t leave much leeway for mentioning anything else in this kind of column.

Particularly when Singapore Circus, opened a month ago in the d’Arenberg Cube, has so much to talk about.

The restaurant takes its name from that city’s famed hawker’s precinct, Newton Circus, the second word also referencing the oddball characters and sensory overload that is very much the Cube’s bread and butter.

d'Arenberg Cube, South Australia. Picture: Tourism SA

The project is a co-production between the winery’s irrepressible impresario Chester Osborn, chef Jamie Steele and his wife and front of house manager, Bonnie. Osborn provided the venue (on the third level of his preposterous Cube), his assorted treasures and, no doubt, endless encouragement and ideas.

The Steeles, meanwhile, bring a deep-seated passion for the city of Singapore and its crossroads cuisine, a melding of Chinese, Malay, Indian and other parts of South-East Asia.

All are included on a wide-ranging menu leaning heavily towards smaller plates, a mix of yum-cha-style bits and trending snacks that could easily be cobbled into a decent lunch without looking further. Larger plates include a seafood laksa and braised pork belly, while a trio of top-shelf “Signatures” – a whole Balinese duck and crispy fish, as well as that crab – have their own section.

Squid salad at Singapore Circus, d'Arenberg Cube, McLaren Vale

Radish cakes at Singapore Circus, d'Arenberg Cube, McLaren Vale

A disc of flaky pastry packed with softened spring onions is a cross between roti and Chinese shallot cake. Nice enough on its own, it is taken to a new stratosphere by loading with a relish of black beans, anchovy and peanuts.

Dumplings of minced carp belly and chunks of prawn, with slightly leathery wrappers, are dropped into a pool of black vinegar and chilli/spring onion oils. Credit-card-sized slabs of fried radish cake are topped with chunky slices of house-made pork and duck liver lap cheong that might be less dominant if diced into smaller pieces.

There’s a lot of frying. Even the strips of squid tube in a Vietnamese-y salad are coated in a delicate batter which makes the freshness of jicama, herbs and particularly zippy pomelo a welcome intervention.

Interior shot at Singapore Circus, d'Arenberg Cube, McLaren Vale

Local hero shellfish – Port Lincoln’s mussels and Goolwa’s pipis – splash about in a sauce of fermented black pepper, yellow bean paste and a host of other components that takes a Singaporean classic to a wonderful meaty, savoury complexity. Throw in fragrant curry leaves and cute-as-a-button sweet man tofu buns and this dish is something special. Just imagine it with the crab.

Asian sweets? How about fresh doughnuts, filled with a vivid green, custardy pandan and coconut spread, and dusted with a sour plum sugar. To the side is a silky buttered coconut rum ice cream and a bed of candied coconut shavings that also feature in the salad.

You could easily argue that this room, with the colour of its harlequin chairs and other ephemera, is better suited to this looser, punchier style of dining that is more accessible for repeat visits. I’ll certainly be back. And guess what I’ll be ordering.

For more reviews visit delicious.com.au/eatout