The Place Located on the ground floor of Mondrian Singapore Duxton, the newly opened Tribal Dining is a relatively under the radar restaurant despite its centralized location. Tribal Dining is under the Ebb & Flow belt (Sommer, Willow, and more), where its interior is a blend of concrete, earth-toned accents and traditional rattan weaving. The dining ambience was convivial yet intimate when I visited for dinner. 

The Food The menu at Tribal takes inspiration from the Far East with a focus on wood-fired cooking and Asian flavours. It also features a seasonal rotation of specials and beef cuts that are sourced from ethical farms around the world.  

The menu is split into starters, mains, sides and desserts with a diverse selection of dishes. For a start, I had the Flatbread (S$12) served with abura miso butter where the freshly baked bread spots a soft and fluffy texture. 

The Beef Tartare (S$34) marinated with nam prik pao, preserved radish and green apple is delicious to say the least. The tartare packs a good flavour and it is perfect to have it with the crispy black rice cracker. 

For something light and refreshing, go for the freshly sliced Cold Smoked Chutoro (S$32) in a light tomato consommé along with harissa kimchi. 

Another starter with a good broth is the XXL Hamaguri Clam (S$28) which comes with three giant clams soaked in a clear chicken broth with dragon greens. You can add some of the yuzu kosho by the side into the broth for an added flavour. 

For mains, I highly recommend the Santori Organic Kampung Chicken(S$42). The well-grilled chicken comes with a beautiful gai yang glaze and served with some annatto spice. I love how juicy the chicken is, even for the breast meat, and is easily one of the better grilled chickens around. The portion is good for sharing for 3-4 people. 

I also went for the 14-Day Dry Aged Irish Duck (S$58) with sansho duck jus and mountain yam (S$58). You get a tender and flavourful duck meat here which is made even better when I had it with the sansho duck jus. 

For a side dish, I had the Celeriac Mille-Feuille (S$14) with ponzu honey glaze and bits of macadamia nuts. This is way too delicious for a vegetable dish and the celeriac texture resembles that of a layer lasagna. 

For carbs, the sharing rice pots are definitely worth a try. The Wild Mushrooms (S$58) with confit mushrooms, black truffles and fennel I had was aromatic along with the earthy flavours of the mushrooms, where the portion is good to share for 3-4 pax. Alternatively, there is also the Seafood (S$78) with seasonal seafood, ikura and shrimp floss.

Moving to desserts, I tried the Bibingka (S$18) with Filipino coconut rice cake and kaya ice cream; as well as the Egg Custard (S$15) with osmanthus and green sunflower seed ice cream. Go for the Bibingka if you can only choose one where the kaya ice cream is not too bad. The egg custard was somewhat disappointing for me in terms of the overall flavour. 

Rants Unfortunately the restaurant is not open for lunch at the moment. The table near the entrance is also exceptionally cold. 

Will I Return Again? Overall, the savoury dishes at Tribal are all hits for me as I enjoyed all the starters and mains I had. The flavours are robust and straightforward without being gimmicky. The sweets are unfortunately the weaker dishes I had, but thankfully, the warm service from the team made up for this shortfall. 

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4/5
Hole in the pocket: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5
Overall Experience: 4/5

Tribal  
83 Neil Road 
#01-07 
Singapore 089813 
Tel: +65 9789 4699 

Opening Hours 
Tuesday to Sunday: 6pm to 11:30pm 
Closed on Mondays 

Ranted by The Ranter