OYHZ (Hui Zi): Tasting @ Artichoke - by MasterChef Singapore’s judge Bjorn Shen

If you’re a fan of MasterChef Singapore’s judge (the one with a rather slapstick personality), Bjorn Shen, I’m letting you in on a secret now – you may just have a chance to see him in real life at Artichoke ;)

Bjorn is the chef-owner of this Middle Easterninspired restaurant in the heart of Singapore’s Arts and Heritage district, since 2010.

More about Bjorn if you hadn’t followed him on MasterChef Singapore closely enough. Bjorn is notorious for his rebellious personality and outlandish style of cooking, Bjorn has earned significant industry recognition over the years. Outside of starting food brands Artichoke, Bird Bird and Neh Neh Pop, Bjorn wrote a monthly column titled ‘Bjorn Says’ for Time Out magazine, lectured at the Culinary Institute of America, and actively consults on menus for restaurant openings. Industry accolades that he has accumulated over the years include ‘Chef of the Year 2013’ SC Global, ‘Rising Chef of The Year 2015’ finalist World Gourmet Summit, ‘Best Local Chef 2016’ SG Readers’ Choice Awards, and ‘WGS Best 20 Chefs 2016’ World Gourmet Summit. Bjorn is also frequently on television, having most recently featured as judge on MasterChef Singapore on Mediacorp’s Channel 5, and also on programmes such as MasterChef Asia and Secret Eats, and in lead roles on Eat List Star Season 2 and The Ultimate Brocation.

Coming back to the restaurant where he helms, Artichoke may be probably the least authentic MiddleEastern restaurant around. And that's exactly how they want it to be. The food is fun and creative; drawing inspiration from MiddleEastern flavours and ingredients, as opposed to being traditional. Imagine funky stuff like squidink couscous, chermoulaspiced pomfret, malabi milk pudding with strawberry ice for something sweet, and honey za’atar fried chicken and cheeseburger pizzas on the weekends, all served to a backdrop of 60’s soul and 90’s hiphop. You’ll see more on the individual dishes served later.

Artichoke got us starting the meal with some amazing cocktails.

For tasters, we had the Devils on Horseback ($14) which is wagyu ham wrapped over a dried apricot, labneh, mint, almond.

We were then served the 7 mezze items on the menu, out of which, these 3 are my favourites!

Babaganoush ($10) - smoked eggplant, pomegranate teriyaki sauce, pomegranate

and sesame seeds

Beetroot Borani ($12) - yoghurt, pistachio dukkah, dill

This is a rather tangy dish due to the yoghurt base, which not everyone may appreciate at first taste - so start with a smaller spoonful :) However eventually, I actually enjoyed the borani the most with the turkish toast.

Iraqi-spiced Mushrooms ($12) - oyster mushrooms, fried egg puree, parmesan.

Apart from the mezze menu, we also had the popular choice of vegetable which is the Fried Cauliflower Salad ($20). I'm not a salad person, but this really suits my palate since the veg is fried!

Moving onto the mains, I absolutely love the Golden Pomfret ($26)!
These are charcoal-grilled locally farmed pomfret with sweet onion, chermoula, and barbecued lemon.

We also had the Squid Ink Couscous ($32), which is cuttlefish, clams, preserved lemon with a base of couscous.

The Smoked Chicken ($26) is also worth a mention, served with toum garlic whip and pickles.

For sweets, we tasted all 3 on the menu and the one that topped the chart for me is the Soft Serve Ice Cream ($6) which is burnt honey and sea salt flavour. If you're also a fan of salted caramel, you'll definitely enjoy this.

The Date Pudding ($16) is on par, with a more complex taste made up of smoked milk custard, cashew caramel, coffee jelly, sea salt. However, every flavour complements one another perfectly.

Lastly, the Malabi Split ($16) is a combination of sweet and sourness with the sweet coconut vanilla pudding and tarty strawberry ice, topped with pink peppercorn.

Apart from an unique dining experience, Artichoke also offers you a place to simply hangout for coffee / drinks on a weekend, with Turkish sodas, rosewater lemonade on the weekends and solid coffee all day from Common Man Coffee Roasters.