Alter Ego is the second self of A Poke Theory, dishing out Hawaiian poke bowls by day, craft beer & unapologetically sinful bar grub by night. Situated on Esplanade’s waterfront, it’s a sweet spot to knock back IPAs under the stars, to an unrivalled view of the Marina Bay.
Alter Ego is a bistro by day and bar in the evenings. You can order a mix of poke inspired dishes, a mix of bar favourites like pizza fries and buffalo wings and a bunch of really healthy salads and cooked stuff. But everyone comes for the Poke (pronounced as “Poh Kee”)
Poke began with fishermen seasoning the cut-offs from their catch to serve as a snack. Traditional poke seasonings have been heavily influenced by Japanese and other Asian cuisines. These include soy sauce, green onions, and sesame oil. Others include furikake (mix of dried fish, sesame seeds, and dried seaweed), chopped dried or fresh chili pepper, limu (seaweed), sea salt, inamona (roasted crushed candlenut), fish eggs, wasabi, and Maui onions. Other variations of poke may include cured heʻe (octopus), other types of raw tuna, raw salmon and various kinds of shellfish.
Traditional Hawaiian poke may consist of cubed raw fish, maui onions, Inamona (a condiment made of roasted, salted candlenut), Limu (algae), soy sauce, green onions, or sesame oil. Some of the more contemporary variations can also include seaweed, Roe (fish eggs), wasabi, dried or fresh chilli, toasted macadamia nut, Furikake and can be served alone or on top of a bed of white rice, pineapple, Sushi-meshi (seasoned rice) or red cabbage. The possibilities for variation are endless.
The Original Poke Shaker – Original Shoyu Salmon on sushi rice, served with lime avocado, spiced roasted cashews, pickled himeji mushrooms and tobiko – very luxurious and generous bowl of chirashi. Besides what was described, it was topped with honey pineapple, cherry tomatoes, Japanese cucumber, wake seaweed, furikake, sesame seed and nori flakes.
Pizza Fries – Fries, smokey pepperoni, three-cheese sauce and savoury house-made bacon ketchup – imagine a pepperoni cheese size without the crust, it was all the ingredients that were drenched over the French fries.
Shakshouka – Scrumptious baked eggs in a spicy tomato sauce, garlicky, feta-ey., sausages all to be lovingly mopped up with buttery Turkish bread – Shakshouka is a dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chili peppers, and onions, often spiced with cumin. Its present egg and vegetable-based form originated in Tunisia, and later made popular in Middle East and North Africa. I was introduced to this Middle Eastern dish in Israel, which of course was their national breakfast dish.
Everyone had their version of Shakshouka. The egg here was not too set, the way I loved it. but I find the sauce a tad too creamy due to introduction of feta. I would prefer the more traditional tomato only recipe. Nevertheless, I know where to get my Shakshouka fix now.
Edgy, underground and an easy go-to for a day’s brunch or night’s post-work drinks – unleash your alter ego in an uninterrupted space. I went on a weekend and it was full with a young hippy crowd looking for something healthy and something sinful at the same time.
Service was elementary, and only a couple of the staff were working really hard. I had to go pick up own plates and drinking glasses for our bottled water. No wonder I did not leave a tip.
Alter Ego
8 Raffles Avenue #01-13D
Singapore 039802
Tel : 63279301
Date Visited : Mar 2018
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