The Place Casual French-Asian restaurant The Masses has come quite a long way since 2017 at 85 Beach Road and the good news is that it has relocated to a more spacious new location last month, The Masses At Arcade @ The Capitol Kempinski. It now occupies a duplex space in the heart of Cityhall, where the cuisine focuses on Franco-Asian dishes. Helmed by Chef Dylan Ong, the restaurant is still kept casual as how it started back in 2017, except that the menu has evolved with a wide variety of dishes, new and old signatures.  

The Food The dishes on the menu at reinvented The Masses are a combination of French and Asian elements where you can find classic French favourites, along with new original creations and weekly specials featuring select seasonal produce. One of Chef Dylan key ethos is to keep prices accessible, and you can find lunch sets from S$30.90.  

My dinner started with a series of snacks where I had the Squid Ink Kueh Pie Tee (S$12.90/4 pieces) where the squid ink shells are filled with crab meat, jicama cooked with hae bee hiam, and XO sauce; as well as the Smoked Pu Er Caviar & Beignet (S$9.90/2 pieces) where the beignet batter is foamed for an airy texture when fried and filled with yuzu crème. This is quite good value since you get Avruga caviar smoked in-house with pu er tea atop the beignet. 

Moving on to the sharing starters, I recommend going for the Steak Tartare (S$26.90) with sour cream, wasabi, mustard, charred onion, and pickled chye sim, topped with fried garlic chips, fried shallot chips, and caviar. This is served alongside shiso Kueh Loyang where you can spread the beef tartare on it to have it in a crispy bite! 

The Salad Nicoise (S$23.90) is a healthy starter to have where the fresh greens of gem lettuce, seasonal vegetables, along with aburi swordfish dressed in tuna emulsion, are served with a soft-boiled egg. 

Not quite your usual chawanmushi is the Moules Marinieres (S$16.90) where the steamed egg custard here is topped with uni sabayon and blue mussels, finished with a sprinkling of Espelette pepper. It is served alongside a rice paper cracker where you can spread the custard egg on the cracker and have it in a crispy bite.  

My favourite of all the starters which I highly recommend having is the Stuffed Zucchini Flower (S$29.90). I was expecting a plate of greens to be served but instead, the presentation looks like fried chicken drumsticks which is fun. The deep-fried breaded zucchini flowers here is stuffed with mozzarella cheese and drizzled with lavender honey, and I get that cheesy pull as I bite into the fried breaded zucchini flowers. It is delicious with the lemon and caper aioli on the side. 

Moving on to mains, the Dry Aged Spiced Roasted Chicken (S$21.90/half) reminds me quite alot of our local Hainanese chicken rice. The dry aged slow-roasted spring chicken is served with parsnip puree, chilli jam, charred kailan, and a soy sauce chicken jus. The soy sauce jus and the kailan are very familiar local Singaporean flavours, so it is easy to resonate with this dish, especially so when even the chicken breast is juicy and tender.   

The classic signature dish here is the Duck Confit (S$21.90) where the confit duck leg is served atop “wok hey” rice noodles with a medley of local mushrooms and mirabelle plum vinaigrette, finished with house-cured egg yolk. The nice twist here is the “wok hey” rice noodles, which is like local Singaporean fried kway teow, to complement the flavourful duck confit.  

Chicken and duck aside, I highly recommend the Lemon Sole Meuniere (S$39.90) which is great for sharing if you have 3-4 pax on your table. You get a whole sole fish in an “Asian grenobloise” sauce, topped with coldwater shrimp and sliced almonds. I like the buttery sauce which is just well-balanced, and the fish meat here is fresh and delicious.  

If you love your steak and sides, the Steak Au Poivre (S$29.90) is an obvious choice since the price already includes some sides to go along. 2GR Australian Wagyu is braised and served sizzling on a hot plate in beurre noisette along with lemon and capers. This is accompanied by chargrilled whole leek in hazelnut vinaigrette topped with chopped hazelnuts, and golden onion rings. 

You get a good flavour of the Australian beef here which uses the shoulder cut and the sizzlign hot pot also reminds me a little of what we have here in local ‘zichar’ where some dishes like beancurd is served on a sizzling hot plate as well.  

For desserts, I tried the Truffle & Tulakalum (TNT) (S$15.90) where house-made black truffle ice cream is served with Valrhona Tulakalum chocolate ganache and piped chocolate mousse; finished with shaved black truffle, sea salt, and lemon verbena oil. Be warned that the truffle aroma and taste could be quite overpowering here for non-truffle lovers.  

Otherwise, a less controversial dessert option would be the Corn & Cereal (S$13.90) where you get toffee and corn pudding served in a whiskey caramel sauce, topped with cereal, corn, and house-made cereal ice cream. 

Rants Nothing in particular. If anything, and stating the obvious, the flavours of the dishes here are a fusion of French and Asian and not your traditional French cuisine flavours.

Will I Return Again? The Masses is a great addition to the Arcade @ The Capitol Kempinski where I have seen huge changes in the F&B offerings over the past few years. If you are looking for a casual dining French food option in Cityhall, this is one convenient spot to head down to, and in my opinion, an elevated new dining space for the team.  

This was an invited tasting, though all opinions expressed are our own.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4/5
Hole in the pocket: 3.5/5
Ambience: 3.5/5
Overall Experience: 4/5

The Masses At Arcade @ The Capitol Kempinski 
13 Stamford Road 
#01-84, Arcade @ The Capitol Kempinski 
Singapore 178905 
Tel: +65 6518 4988 

Opening Hours 
Monday to Saturday 
Kitchen: 11.30am to 9.30pm (Last order) 
Drinks served till 12am 

Sunday 
Kitchen: 11.30am to 9.00pm (Last order) 
Drinks served till 12am 

Ranted by The Ranter