When it comes to contemporary cuisine, I always have a lingering question mark of how the chef can transform conventional comfort food into yet another palatable creation. In this case, it was heart. Holding the fort at SET is Chef Erick Chun who endeavours to cook for his guests the way he cooks for his family.

With more than a decade of culinary experience, Chef Erick started his culinary career by helping out at his uncle's chicken rice stall at a humble coffee shop. Passion and interest got the better of him as he refined his skills and grew with kitchen experiences at Tung Lok Signatures, Senso Ristorante & Bar and Feedlot Steakhouse. He is consistently seeking for new ways to improve and experiment with new techniques, which resulted in the contemporary spin to his dishes.



While Chef Erick managed to impress his grandmother with his cooking, can he similarly draw approval from his guests? Let us find out!

The uniqueness of the menu at SET stems from the fact that only set menus are available. That means no ala carte dishes but one would enjoy the flexibility of choosing an item each from a choice of four to five for each course. For lunch menu, SET presently offers a five-course meal at S$28.80/++ while the dinner is offered in the form of a six-course meal at S$38.80/++. The key difference between the sets is the additional side dish, which we later learnt that is a must-try!

Chef Starter | Bacon and Mushroom Cheese Gratin


Cold Dish | Smoked Duck Breast

Another dish which drew contemporary twists was the smoked duck breast. The smoking process was done in house, which left the red meat robust with flavours only to be cleansed by the light dressing with a citrus tangy dressing to harmoniously bring the dish together.


Interestingly, after trying a Chinese inspired cold dish such as the huai san, we were presented with something from the Scandinavian as gravlax is a classic Nordic dish comprising raw salmon cured in salt, sugar and dill. While this is a dish usually accompanied by some carbohydrates such as bread or potatoes, it was served on its alone, which allowed the brine to distinguish.

Side Dish | Grilled King Oyster Mushroom

Available only for the 6-course set menu, I personally felt that this is a must-try! The mushrooms were cooked perfectly, retaining moisture with the right level of firmness. Drizzled with teriyaki sauce and mayonnaise, the supplementing white truffle foam made all the difference. While the teriyaki sauce provided the mild sweetness, the truffle foam added richness in flavours and scent with its distinctive aroma. What I enjoyed about the dish was the slightly charred bits to the mushroom which may or may not go too favourably for those who are critical about their food.

Soup | Mushroom Veloute with Peanut Butter

While this photograph does not come across as the most photogenic, it surely compensated with its robust flavours. If you are after some bold tastes, do give this a try as the mushroom soup received a boost in richness with a distinct peanut butter after taste. This surely added some twist to the conventional mushroom soup but as we are all subjective people, much left to be said about how palatable the soup was. While it did not suit my appetite, I felt that it would make a worthy try for the adventurous.

Soup | Roasted pumpkin with Truffle

Compared to the mushroom soup, the flavours of this soup was milder though the richness still more than made up for it. It was a pity that the aroma and flavours of the truffle were masked by the pumpkin, which added a desired level of sweetness to the soup.

Soup | Miso Soup with Sake