YOU can take the soldier out of the army, but you can't take the army out of the soldier. At least not if the soldier is now an adult yuppie dining at his former barracks-turned-uberhip-eatery.
Indeed, your chances of finding Barracks, the restaurant in Spa Epirit's mega complex House at Dempsey Hill, are much higher if you're driving there with someone who used to work there during his NS stint. There is only one three-storey building in Dempsey, and built below street level it doesn't look that way at first sight. So only someone who knows the area well enough will be able to find it on the first try.
The actual site of Barracks is still being done up as owner Cynthia Chua isn't quite happy with its rather uninviting ambience. Also, diners have been gravitating towards the spa's welcoming reception area which has a cosy living room set up and a perfect dining ambience.
As a result, you can actually peruse both the dining and the spa menu at the same time, possibly deciding what massage to have after a very palatable, health-inspired meal.
The menu at Barracks - the retro-styled menu with its toy soldiers fused into its thick perspex cover is a conversation piece in itself - is spa-inspired but taste-dominated. Ms Chua had hired an American expert in functional food to design some dishes, but the remainder were created by her and the restaurant's executive chef.
What you get is a spread as eclectic as the decor, with enough creativity to set it apart from other eateries.
Salads, for example, are not your humdrum mix of rocket or mesclun mix, but a 'bodacious' plate of edible flowers and microgreens, with texture and sweetness from dried cherries and firm poached pear segments.
Beware, though, if you order the 'stewy soup' - memories of army food might come streaming back at the near-brackish looking soup that screams 'army slop'. But go beyond its evil appearance to enjoy a hearty brew of intense chicken soup flavoured with spices and loads of ingredients like shredded meat, corn, beans, tortilla chips and other unidentifiable ingredients. This is probably best approached with an open mind.
If not, opt for the ahi tuna salad which is diced tuna mixed in a tangy dressing and chopped greens which packs quite a flavour punch. The Jamaican jerk pork tenderloin is super tender baby pork cooked almost rare (it seems that meat from very young pigs need not be cooked through) served with peach and cranberry chutney, roast garlic potatoes and roasted veggies.
The perfumed breast of chicken roulade is also tasty, as is the aglio olio capellini pasta with its super fresh prawns and wok hei fragrance. The one major disappointment was one designed by the functional food expert - an overly-fishy pan-fried halibut served with an orzo and fennel salad that had zero flavour.
Desserts are fun - there's an absolutely over-rich and over-sweet chendol panna cotta which seems totally wrong but is irresistible nonetheless. And check out the lemon pie covered with a pile of crushed cookie bits and macadamia nuts which is so quirky but good. In fact, the dessert list runs as long as your arm, and they're all worth trying.
While the food still requires a bit of fine-tuning and the service staff are a little too green for comfort, Barracks - at least where it is right now - is tops when it comes to X-factor. Take its lush green setting and wacky decor that is perhaps best described as 'raw chic with an edge'. The materials used are obviously cheap, but it's done with so much style and sass that the resulting look is neither cheap nor luxurious but simply original. It's the same with the food - it's cooked with attitude, and unlike the army, it's definitely not standard issue.
