Sarah Teh
The steam went up before I was ready for it. I had my camera against my chest, waiting, and the vendor lifted the ladle without warning. Warm vapour curled off the surface of the peanut soup and caught the fluorescent tube overhead. I raised the lens and pressed the shutter, but the moment had already…
The city cools slowly after sunset. The neon signs warm up, and the crowds thin into something quieter. This is the hour when a bowl of fluffy Japanese rice topped with cold raw fish starts to make sense. Not the flash of a grill or the roar of a wok, but something still. Cubed sashimi…
The steam rose before the light did. I stood with my camera lowered, watching a hand lift a ladle over the pot, waiting for the moment the vapour would catch the fluorescent tube overhead. It came in a slow curl, thin and pale, drifting up past the vendor’s wrist. Then the fish slices went in.…
The broth was the reddest thing in the stall, and the light was doing its best to kill it. It was past eleven at ONE.85 Big Prawn Mee, and I had been standing at the counter for a while, camera down, watching the uncle work the pot. He lowered a metal basket of noodles into…
As the office towers empty, Issho Izakaya at Marina One fills with diners. Located at #01-14, 5 Straits View, West Tower, Singapore 018935, this contemporary Japanese izakaya offers a warm, inviting space at the heart of the CBD. Issho means “together“ reflecting its focus on shared plates, communal dining, and a cozy atmosphere with both…
The steam was the first thing I lost. It was well past midnight at Bedok 85, and I had been standing at Chai Chee Pork Porridge for a while, camera down, watching the auntie work the pot. She lifted the ladle, let the porridge fall back in a slow white ribbon, then lifted it again.…
Comfort food rarely announces itself. It waits in a mall corridor, somewhere between a shoe shop and an escalator, holding the smell of grilled pork and warm rice until you slow down enough to notice. That is where you find Gochi-So Shokudo ご, also known as ご ち 惣 食堂. Not a place chasing attention.…
The first thing I noticed was the light. It was not the kind of light a photographer usually looks for. The fluorescent tubes above the stalls at 85 Fengshan Centre cast a pale, uneven glow across the tables, flattening some colours while exaggerating others. But at 1am, standing in front of the fried oyster stall…
The last bus has gone. Newton Food Centre keeps a few lights on. I walk in past shuttered stalls, chairs stacked, floors still wet from a mop. Then I hear it: the scrape of a ladle, the low hiss of a pot. At 500 Clemenceau Ave N, #01-10, one stall is awake. XO Minced Meat…
The wings went on before I found my angle. It was close to midnight at Bedok North, and I had been standing at Sin Bedok North BBQ for a while, camera down, watching the wings land on the grate in a neat row. The uncle laid them out without looking, the way you do a…