From The Straits Times    |

Just when you think you have had enough of Spanish tapas eateries, along comes Bam! – a three-week-old restaurant in Tras Street.

Food review: Bam! tapas-sake bar hits the right noteAnd wham! You decide there is room for one more.

Billed as a tapas-sake bar, Bam! offers interpretations of tapas not often found on other menus, and it does a good job with them too. Some Japanese ingredients pop up in the food as well.

A collaboration between sake enthusiast Derrick Lim and chef Pepe Moncayo, formerly chef de cuisine of the now-defunct Santi restaurant at Marina Bay Sands, the place looks similar to some other small-plate joints here.

Diners are seated at a long bar counter and a couple of tables at the back, a total of 25 seats. But the shophouse unit is slightly wider than some, so you do not need to squeeze your way in, and the ambience is quite comfortable.

I’m no sake connoisseur, even though I enjoy a cup now and then, but chef Moncayo’s cooking is certainly worth going back for.

The menu may change, so you may find a different selection of dishes when you dine there. But some items I tasted deserve to stay for a while, at least.

Among them: a delicious Sakura Ebi Omelette With Melon And All-i-oli ($18). The traditional Spanish omelette gets a Japanese touch, with lots of tiny shrimp in the egg to add a fresh flavour to the dish. A dollop of all-i-oli (Catalan for aioli or garlic sauce) on top also enhances the taste. The accompanying slices of melon do not quite blend in with the other ingredients but do no harm either, adding a refreshing sweetness.

Food review: Bam! tapas-sake bar hits the right note
Kampong Egg With Baby Sotong And Chorizo ($12) at Bam! Tapas-sake bar. PHOTO: BAM!

Another dish, Kampong Egg With Baby Sotong And Chorizo ($12), also fuses East and West. The baby sotong are deep-fried in batter and sprinkled over the soft-centred egg, but they are more chewy than crispy. Making them crispy would give a better contrast to the soft egg. But the diced chorizo works nicely, injecting juicy bursts of spiciness into the dish.

I like the Calamari “A La Plancha”, Beef Tongue And Rostit Sauce ($19) better. The calamari is cooked perfectly with a nice crunchy texture, and the soft tongue balances it nicely.

Food review: Bam! tapas-sake bar hits the right note
Pasta “A La Plancha” ($22). PHOTO: BAM!

The Pasta “A La Plancha” With Prawns And Sake Butter ($22) is very good too. The prawns are nicely grilled and the sake butter sauce is really delicious. The pasta tubes are more chewy than al dente though, like they have been dried out by being placed near a heat source for too long. Still, the dish tastes good enough for me to overlook that.

Food review: Bam! tapas-sake bar hits the right note
Mushroom Rice With Scallop And Idiazabal Cheese ($28). PHOTO: BAM!

What will draw return visits is the Mushroom Rice With Scallop And Idiazabal Cheese ($28). Everything comes together so well – the sweet, lightly seared scallop; the full-flavoured stock the rice is cooked in; the crunchy bits of mushrooms embedded in the rice; and the stretchy, melted Spanish cheese. Every mouthful brings so much pleasure to the palate that I find myself eating it slowly, wishing the experience would not end.

Bam! doesn’t quite describe it. For me, Wow! says it better.

BAM! TAPAS-SAKE BAR
38 Tras Street
tel: 6226-0500
Open: Mondays to Saturdays, 6pm to midnight. Closed on Sundays

Food:
Food review rating: 4 out of 5
Service:
Food review rating: 4 out of 5
Ambience:
Food review rating: 3 out of 5
Price: Budget about $70 a person. There is no service charge

This article was first run in The Straits Times newspaper on January 5, 2014. For similar stories, go to sph.straitstimes.com/premium/singapore. You will not be able to access the Premium section of The Straits Times website unless you are already a subscriber. 

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