Firangi Superstar, a modern Indian restaurant by The Dandy Collection, has been on my to-try list since its opening in June 2021. As luck would have it, I finally managed to secure a seat just in time to experience its newly launched menu. Inspired by India’s diverse culinary regions, each dish is layered, expressive, and imaginative, with thoughtfully considered vegetarian alternatives that cater to a range of dietary preferences.
Standout dishes include The Bengal Bake Off, a salt-dough baked seabass where the sealed cooking environment yields tender, delicately flavoured fish, lifted by a sharp kasundi cream sauce, a traditional Bengali fermented mustard sauce known for its complexity. Equally memorable is the cheekily named This Is Also Not Aloo Gobi, Firangi’s playful reinterpretation of a classic, featuring Romanesco cauliflower with spiced potato foam and a cashew-raisin vinaigrette.
No visit is complete without an order of naan, available in plain, black garlic, and smoked mozzarella. It is best paired with the off-menu butter chicken (be sure to ask for it!), which is rich, aromatic, and deeply satisfying.
It is against this backdrop of bold reinterpretation and layered storytelling that Head Chef Raj Kumar continues to evolve Firangi Superstar’s culinary narrative.
Your restaurant Firangi Superstar is often described as “cinematic Indian dining.” What does that mean to you?
To me, it means my menu has to tell a beautiful story of Indian cuisine, but in a way that brings unexpected twists and turns, in a good way.
Two dishes on the new menu that best represent your philosophy as a chef today, and why?
Seeking Out the Butcher, which features duck and pork seekh roll, shaved onion, and green chilli. This dish was inspired by a food trip to Mumbai. I travel to try new dishes and cuisines, and I believe in creating new dishes from those experiences.
Next is the Bengal Bake-Off, a salt-baked seabass drizzled in sharp and mustardy Kasundi cream and banana leaf oil. It showcases regional Indian flavours, rather than the more mainstream ones that guests in Singapore are familiar with.
What’s your approach to building layers of spice without overwhelming a dish?
I don’t believe in adding lots of spices just to make a dish taste more “Indian.” For example, The Royal Mug, our version of a Mughlai chicken dish, is served with black truffle and a saffron jus. The cream sauce is bold but balanced. It has the sweetness of caramelised onions and cashew, with hints of cardamom and saffron, and a gentle heat from green bird’s eye chillies that comes through at the end.
Your favourite cocktails?
A drink at the bar is a great way to start the experience at Firangi Superstar—like watching a trailer before the movie. It sets the mood and expectations. My favourites are the Bru O’Fashioned (full proof) and Watermelon Nimbu Pani (zero proof). I love South Indian filter coffee and a good Old Fashioned, and our version is infused with Indian Bru coffee to pair perfectly with desserts. The Watermelon Nimbu Pani is refreshing, and the fizz helps cleanse the palate when eating richer dishes.
how do you see your role in shaping food narratives here?
I’m not just cooking, but also editing and expanding the narrative of what “Indian food” means in Singapore. It’s often reduced to “Little India food” or festival cuisine, but the diaspora story is much more layered, where Tamil, Punjabi, Malayali, Sindhi, Sri Lankan, and Peranakan-Indian influences all come into play.
What inspired the menu items on the newly launched Champagne Superstar Brunch?
I wanted to bring together different elements for a lazy Saturday afternoon, including champagne, caviar, brunch, afternoon tea, Indian street food, Bloody Marys, espresso martinis, and even a cake bar.
My favourite is the sesame murukku. It came from a challenge I gave one of my chefs. Her grandmother makes an amazing version, and I wanted to bring that onto the menu with a twist. After a few failed attempts, she got it right. Having a team member’s family recipe on the menu makes it special.
Is there a dream dish or concept you still haven’t brought to life yet?
A Firangi Superstar take on a biryani. It might remain a dream. Biryani is more than a dish, it’s an emotion. I think it’s already reached its highest point in culinary evolution, and it’s hard to improve on that. That said, I won’t stop trying.
The Champagne Superstar Brunch takes place every Saturday, 12pm – 3pm. Find out more here.
