Join The Club
By Gregory Leow
UOB Ala Carte Series
Easy Streats Weekender, 10 Jul 2003

Club Street isn't home to just yuppies and fine-dining restaurants, as GREGORY LEOW finds out from the owner of the area's only convenience store. He shows Streats around the area.

ABDUL MALIK has seen Club Street - with its assortment of yuppy restaurants and establishments - through its ups and downs.

The 46-year-old owns Club Street's only provision shop, Emerald Condo Mart, in the Emerald Gardens condominium.

He has been running the shop for more than four years, and according to him, Club Street started off in 1999 as a quiet area, catering mainly to the nearby Chinatown community.

Construction work to conserve the area had just been completed, so it had yet to attract retailers.

But later that year, occupants moved into Emerald Gardens, and the boom began.

'You can say that it was karaoke bars before that. But slowly restaurants such as Gaetano and Efferus started coming in,' said Mr Malik.

Many of the residents of Emerald Gardens were and are expatriates, earning the condo the reputation of being an 'expat ghetto'.

'The expatriates are mainly of a higher professional calibre. So far I have seen forex and commodities traders live here.

Some of them work for institutional banks. Recently there have been quite a few journalists who work for foreign newspapers.

'The Expat magazine office is also nearby.'

Mr Malik said that Club Street's popularity peaked in 2000 and 2001.

Of late, however, things have taken a beating - what with 9/11, the Iraq war and Sars.

But Mr Malik has survived, helped along by a friendly arrangement with the restaurants and bars in the area.

For example, none of the restaurants on Club Street sells cigarettes, directing customers to his shop instead.

'I am grateful for that. Cigarettes are low profit, so they give the business to me,' he said.

In exchange, he directs potential customers to the restaurants and bars and sometimes recommends places to people who ask him where to eat.

The environment has also, to a certain extent, affected the way he does business, most visibly in the items he carries, such as olive oil and wines, instead of the usual fare such as rice.

'My convenience store is not a typical HDB neighbourhood mama' shop, so you will not find the items that cater to them. It is items such as milk, nice breads and wines which the expats want.'

All in all, Mr Malik is proud of the area and feels very much a part of Club Street. 'Previously there was no one at all, now it is booming.'

The Food Trail

Ikukan, 23 Mohammed Ali Lane (off Club Street)
This three-month-old reasonably-priced Japanese restaurant weaves elements of Western-style dining into a predominantly Japanese concept.

Among its more unusual dishes: maguro garlic steak and foie gras mille feuille.

Said Mr Malik: 'The Japanese community likes this place, so it must be good. I see a lot more Japanese customers coming to my store as a result.'

A speciality is the Prix Fixe Dinner Course, priced at $60++. This includes choices of a starter, a mid-dish, a main course and a dessert.

Las Pampas El Restaurante y la Barra, 36 Club Street
This South American restaurant took over the spot formerly occupied by Gaetano, a Club Street veteran which moved out last July.

Dishes include grilled meat from the churrasco and garlic soup.

For lunch you can opt for the two-course meal ($25+++) or the three-course menu ($32+++).

Shidong Restaurant, 7 Club Street
This East-West bistro offers food from the region and beyond, from laksa and Vietnamese pho to steak and pan-seared cod.

Chuckled Mr Malik: 'I always found it amusing that Senso has a Japanese name and serves Italian food. Similarly, Shidong has a Chinese name but serves Spanish tapas! It is basically a bar with a very cosy feel to it.'

Senso Ristorante & Bar, 21 Club Street
This Italian restaurant was nominated for the World Gourmet Summit's Christofle New Restaurant award last year.

Mr Malik said: 'It is doing very well. The decor is simple and nice.

'I am very good friends with chef Diego Chiarini, manager Stephane Collioni and also some of the other staff there.'

For this month, its a la carte menu features items such as squid ink, potato gnocchi and pan fried deboned quail with porcini mushroom.

Duo Restaurant & Bar, 38 Club Street
This relatively new kid on the block - it opened nine months ago - serves 'a lighter style of French cuisine with Mediterranean flavours'.

The new summer menu, created by chef de cuisine Francois Mermilliod, is available until the end of August.

Spizza, 29 Club Street
This cosy pizzeria was opened last February by the owners of Senso.

Said Mr Malik: 'Spizza does not do takeaway alcohol, so when there's a takeaway order, they direct the customers to me.

'The owners are planning to open Senso and Spizza outlets in Holland Village, so they must be doing well.'

Union Restaurant & Bar, 81 Club Street
Helmed by head chef Vincent Teng, a Shatec graduate, Union serves modern European fare, while its recently-opened oyster bar lets you sample oysters plain, or with toppings that include caviar, smoked salmon in white wine vinaigrette and a tomato and cucumber salsa.

'It's very cosy with nice big, comfortable seats,' commented Mr Malik.

Union's current menu runs until August and has items such as beef cheeks braised in stout and veal jus, and seared tuna steak, with desserts that include a sticky date pudding.

Jerry's Barbeque and Grill, 92 Club Street
This branch of the well-known Jalan Kayu southern American barbecue joint opened some four months ago.

'Jerry's is doing well at Jalan Kayu. But whether it does well here is really dependant on how many repeat customers they get, as there are few walk-in customers in Club Street.

'I haven't talked to the owner yet but it looks like a nice homely American place to go to.'

Beaujolais Winebar, 1 Ann Siang Hill
Opened in 1994, Beaujolais (pronounced 'boo-jo-lei') is one of the oldest residents of the area.

This snug wine bar on Ann Siang Hill is a perfect and relatively unpretentious place for a tete-a-tete.