Located on level four of the newly-restored Funan Mall, Godmama is a Peranakan restaurant offering Nonya food with contemporary touches. The restaurant offers diners a convivial dining experience with both indoor and alfresco dining options available.
Don’t be fooled by its swanky interior and the fact that it resides in one of Singapore’s most high-tech shopping malls, because the food and the heritage that Godmama brims with is anything but. Helming the restaurant is a trio of passionate Peranakan folks, who started this venture based on the principle that their Peranakan forefathers’ age-old culinary traditions should be preserved and passed on for future generations to enjoy.
Godmama is where you’ll find authentic Nonya cuisine, a harmonious union of both Chinese and Malay cooking techniques and ingredients that result in Peranakan food’s distinctive aromas and flavour profiles. The restaurant also has an interesting cocktail program with drinks that feature some of Nonya cuisine’s traditional ingredients.
Godmama’s Special: All-Star Egg Skin Popiah (Spring Roll)
The beauty in Peranakan cuisine is that cooking is more often seen as a labour of love and a communal affair. Honouring that, most of the dishes you’d find here at Godmama are meant for sharing around the table.
We kicked off our meal with their popular starter, the All-Star Egg Skin Popiah (S$6.50++). Using a traditional family recipe, the popiah’s crepe is made with fresh egg instead of just plain flour. The components were very well balanced and textured, offering just the right amount of tenderness, crunch and chew.
It comes with a particularly prominent flavour of garlic and a mildly spicy kick. The filling itself was stewed down to caramelised perfection and was not overly damp, allowing the popiah to hold its shape.
Ngoh Hiang (Prawn & Pork Rolls)
Boasting a combination of delightful textures and flavour profiles, Godmama’s signature Ngoh Hiang (S$11.90++) impressed us with its ultra-crispy exterior and the generosity of the ingredients within. Rolled entirely by hand, these five-spice fried rolls are filled with a generous mix of prawns, minced pork and water chestnut.
Babi Assam (Stewed Pork)
Sourish, spicy with a savoury creaminess to it that just begs to be ladled (generously) over freshly steamed rice, their Babi Assam (S$18.90++)—a stewed pork dish featuring heavy accents of Assam—is one that we couldn’t get enough of. Period.
Simmered low and slow in the aromatic Assam-based gravy, the fat in the pork belly rendered out completely, perfuming the dish with an intense meaty flavour. The sharp tang of the Assam coupled with the rich meatiness of the pork was just pure heaven.
Ayam Buah Keluak (Chicken Black Nut Stew)
A classic Nonya dish that’s tangy and savoury with mild bitter undertones, Godmama’s Ayam Buah Keluak (S$18.90++) evokes nostalgia for those who grew up in a Peranakan household.
The chicken was incredibly tender and the sauce boasted a heady complexity of warm spices. Granted not many people can fully appreciate the taste of the black nuts. But if you do, you’ll find that their rendition of this classic dish is very well done.
Nonya Chap Chye (Mixed Vegetables)
Nonya Chap Chye (S$13.90++) features a dish of stewed vegetables, mushrooms and beancurd. What makes it special is the broth the vegetables are cooked in. They use a rich prawn broth as the base of the stew, providing the dish with a heightened savouriness and imbuing every component with a more robust flavour.
Sticky Red Date Pudding
At most dining establishments, desserts are often an optional complement to round off a meal. But that is not the case with Godmama. Trust us when we say that their desserts are worth making a special trip for!
Their Sticky Red Date Pudding (S$9.90) is a warm pillow of rich decadence that hits all the right spots. The fluffy red date pudding is soaked with a sticky-sweet longan tea glaze and topped with vanilla bean ice cream. An easy treat to fall in love with.
Pulut Hitam Panna Cotta
There are many desserts to choose from in Nonya cuisine, but nothing quite spells comfort like a rich pulut hitam. Godmama’s Pulut Hitam Panna Cotta (S$8.90) is given a more modern treatment, introducing a coconut panna cotta to the mix as opposed to the traditional sweetened coconut cream.
The Emperor Of Melaka
Their unique cocktails draw inspiration from Peranakan flavours and are injected with Nonya ingredients and elements.
The Emperor Of Melaka (S$22++) is essentially a modern spin on the classic Old Fashioned. The rum-based, Caribbean-style cocktail comprises 5-year-old reserve Barbados rum, gula Melaka syrup, angostura bitters and torched cinnamon.
Peranakan Blue
Godmama’s Peranakan Blue (S$22++)—a Nonya-inspired G&T—is a cocktail that packs a good amount of citrus, bubbles and distinct floral expressions. It is best paired with All-star Egg Skin Popiah.
The cocktail comprises locally-produced Brass Lion gin along with butterfly pea flower and comes topped with East Imperial’s yuzu-flavoured tonic. Refreshing and easy on the palate, the Peranakan Blue is a great accompaniment to the saucier, full-flavoured courses.
Disclaimer: We were guests of Godmama, but all opinions remain our own.
Address: Funan Mall, 109 North Bridge Rd, #04-07, Singapore 179105
Opening Hours: 11AM – 2.30PM, 6PM – 10PM (Mon to Fri), 10.30AM – 4.30PM, 6PM – 10PM (Sat & Sun)
Contact: +65 6970 0828
Nearest MRT Station: City Hall
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