Po at The Warehouse Hotel, Robertson Quay, has a new modern Peranakan menu by Chef Fredric Goh. Classic popiah, buah keluak and what to order.

MENU REFRESH | DINING | ROBERTSON QUAY

Nearly ten years in, Po has rewritten its menu around the Peranakan dishes Head Chef Fredric Goh grew up eating. I went for dinner, rolled my own popiah, and lingered at the lobby bar afterwards.

Po has been part of Robertson Quay since 2017, tucked into the ground floor of The Warehouse Hotel and known mostly for one thing: a popiah platter you roll yourself. This September, Head Chef Fredric Goh gave the modern Peranakan restaurant a new menu built on his grandmother's recipes. I booked a table on a weeknight to see what's new on it, and whether the popiah is still there.

Where Is Po Restaurant in Singapore?

Po takes up the ground floor of The Warehouse Hotel at 320 Havelock Road, on the river at Robertson Quay. The building is an 1895 warehouse, one of the old spice godowns, and the restoration kept its pitched roofs and heavy beams. You can still picture sacks of pepper being hauled through the door.

Robertson Quay's bars are a short stroll away, and you're far enough from Clarke Quay to have an actual conversation over dinner. Havelock MRT on the Thomson-East Coast Line is the nearest station. Parking at the hotel is limited, so I'd take a cab.

Inside Po at The Warehouse Hotel

The dining room is low-lit and warm. Pale timber ceiling, globe pendants, rattan chairs, marble tables with dark veining. I was seated on the long olive velvet banquette, under black steel arches and panels of woven cane. Mid-century, but lived in.

Every table was taken when I arrived. Next to me, a couple were scrolling through photos over cocktails. Further back, a round table of women had clearly been there a while and had no plans to leave. The servers moved so quickly between them that every photo I took of the room came out with a white blur where a person should be.

Po is named after popo, the Chinese word for grandmother, and grandmother's cooking has always been the brief.

The new menu, out since 1 September, takes that more literally. Chef Fredric has spent over 16 years in kitchens, and he's built this menu from the food he ate growing up, much of it learned from his own grandmother. He keeps the flavours as she made them. The plating and the finish are his.

He's also brought back a handful of dishes that have mostly disappeared from Singapore menus, because few kitchens want to spend that many hours on them. Rempah is still hand-ground here, and spice pastes are cooked slowly using the traditional tumis method.

Po's Classic Popiah: Still the Reason to Come

Po's Classic Popiah ($32) has been on the menu since day one. The filling is cut by hand and stewed for four hours until it caramelises. It comes out darker and sweeter than hawker popiah, and it holds together in the skin rather than leaking through by the second bite.

The new version adds crispy pork lard and sakura ebi to the toppings, both bringing crunch and salt. If you're celebrating something, 150g of lobster is an extra $26.

You roll it yourself. Lettuce goes down first so the skin doesn't tear, then sauce, then filling, then sprouts, then the crunchy bits on top. Fold, tuck, roll. My first attempt split down one side and I ate it anyway. The second held. By the third I was showing it off to the table.

Some people find the DIY element a chore. For me it's the best part of the meal. Nobody is on their phone while they're trying to tuck in the ends of a popiah.

People have talked about the price since 2017, when hawker popiah cost a couple of dollars a roll. It helps to know what you're getting: a platter for the table, a filling that takes four hours to make, and an evening in a restored godown by the river.

Wine Pairing at Po

We drank a Domaine Les Astrelles Bourgogne Grands Champs 2023, a red Burgundy the team brought over to show us before opening. Peranakan food is hard to pair. One mouthful can be sweet, sour, rich and spicy, and a heavy red will flatten all of it. This one was light and fresh enough to get on with everything, including the sweetness of the popiah filling. The staff clearly know their list, so ask.

New Peranakan Dishes at Po: Buah Keluak, Nasi Ulam and More

Everything on the menu is meant for sharing.

Buah Keluak Pork Jowl ($36) is the dish with the best story. Chef Fredric's grandmother cooked it once a year, for Chinese New Year. As a child he'd wake before sunrise on reunion eve to help, watching her measure the ingredients by memory. Po makes it with pork jowl, whose fat soaks up the dark, earthy buah keluak gravy.

Nasi Ulam ($28) needs 15 separate herbs, spices and toppings, each prepped on its own and folded through blue pea coconut rice. That's why so few places bother with it anymore. Order it if only to say you've had it.

Bakwan Kepiting with Abalone ($15 per portion) is a wedding and reunion soup: hand-rolled pork and crab meatballs in clear bone broth, with abalone added for Po's version.

The Ayam Ponteh comes as a glossy braised chicken leg under a tangle of potato straws and fried shallots, with white rice, sambal and calamansi on the side. Proper home cooking.

Vegetarians are covered by the Jackfruit Rendang ($22), where the spices are cooked down slowly to get the depth you'd expect from beef. I'd also look at the Jantung Pisang ($24), banana flower in coconut curry, which I've rarely seen on a restaurant menu, plus Grilled Slipper Lobster with Sambal Belimbing ($42) and Crab and Pork Ngoh Hiang ($20).

Peranakan Desserts at Po: Get the Boozy Panna Cotta

There are three new desserts, and two come with an alcohol-infused option.

I ordered the Pandan Panna Cotta with Coconut Brittle ($14) in the boozy version. It's a pale green dome topped with coconut brittle and a single blue pea flower. At the table, a server pours gula melaka rum sauce from a little speckled jug, and it runs down the sides into the brittle. The pandan tastes real, not like the bright green essence in supermarket kueh. The rum takes the gula melaka somewhere deeper. My must-order on this entire menu.

The Kueh Salat Ice Cream Sandwich ($12 for two) is the photogenic one. Chef Fredric loved kueh salat as a kid, so he's turned it into pandan ice cream with glutinous rice folded through, sandwiched between charcoal-grilled coconut love letter wafers.

The Chempedak Crème Brûlée ($14) rounds out the trio. If you like chempedak's perfume, you'll like this.

To launch the menu, Po is running a three-month series with different pairings and perks each month. September's deal gave you a free dessert when you ordered the Buah Keluak Pork Jowl with two Bakwan Kepiting. October and November have their own offers, so ask when you book.

What to Order at Po Singapore

For two: the Classic Popiah, the Bakwan Kepiting, then the Buah Keluak Pork Jowl and Nasi Ulam, with the Jantung Pisang if you want greens. End on the rum panna cotta. Order a light red and don't rush.

For four or more, add the Ayam Ponteh, slipper lobster and ngoh hiang, and get all three desserts.

After Dinner at The Warehouse Hotel Lobby Bar

We didn't leave straight after dessert. The Warehouse Hotel lobby bar is a few steps from Po, under the same high pitched roof, and it's where most tables seem to drift once the plates are cleared. It was busy without being loud, the kind of room where you can talk without leaning in, with the river just outside. We found two seats, ordered a nightcap and stayed a while longer.

Dinner at Po doesn't really have a hard stop. You can roll popiah, finish with that panna cotta, then wander over to the bar without ever stepping back out into the heat.

FAQ

What kind of food does Po serve? Modern Peranakan cuisine based on family recipes, led by Head Chef Fredric Goh. The menu is designed for sharing.

How much is the popiah at Po? Po's Classic Popiah is $32 for a platter you roll yourself at the table. You can add 150g of lobster for $26.

What should I order at Po? The Classic Popiah, the Buah Keluak Pork Jowl ($36) and the Nasi Ulam ($28). For dessert, the Pandan Panna Cotta with Coconut Brittle ($14), preferably the gula melaka rum version.

Does Po have vegetarian options? Yes. The Jackfruit Rendang ($22) and the Jantung Pisang ($24), banana flower in coconut curry.

What are Po's opening hours? Daily, 12pm to 10pm.

How do I book a table at Po? Reserve at po.com.sg, call +65 8971 3968 or email po@thewarehousehotel.com.

Is Po good for groups? Yes. The menu is built for sharing, and rolling popiah together works well for a table of four or more.

Is there a bar near Po? Yes. The Warehouse Hotel lobby bar is next to Po, so you can move there for drinks after dinner.