Have a taste of modern Southeast Asian cuisine at Seroja, a restaurant that shares the same name as the lotus flower in Malay and serves as a significant cultural symbol in the region. Despite only opening in 2022, it achieved a triple-kill at the 2023 Michelin Guide awards — its first star the Young Chef Award for chef-owner Kevin Wong, and Singapore's first Michelin Green Star.
Wong celebrates the familiar flavours of the region in Seroja’s menu, as seen in the way various herbs and spices native to Malaysia are weaved into the multi-course Nusantara menu (from $218 per person). Think mangrove wood-charred lobster with laksa leaf sauce; red seabream in crab gulai; and betel leaf noodles in ulam dressing with mudcrab. Seroja also works collaboratively with growers, fishermen, craftsmen, and artisans around the region. Take the restaurant’s Trader’s rice, for example, where the rice used is cultivated by the Lun Bawang tribe in Borneo. All its seafood is also ethically sourced and either line-caught or hand-harvested to prevent harm to the marine environment.
And when certain ingredients the restaurant receives can’t be used in dishes, they’ll be spun into creative non-alcoholic beverages. Try the zero-proof pairing ($98 for lunch, $148 for dinner) to see what we mean. Hint: plenty of roots, peelings, skins, and seeds are involved.