Head to Dempsey for the Violet Oon taste'

Nasi Lemak Kam Heong Chicken at Kitchenman Nasi Lemak.

- Tan Hsueh Yun

When it opens next week, Violet Oon Singapore at the Dempsey restaurant enclave will offer dishes such as the finicky-to-make Hati Babi Bungkus, which are deep-fried liver balls wrapped in caul fat; Kerabu Pucuk Paku, a salad of fiddlehead ferns in a chilli, dried shrimp and calamansi lime dressing; and Sambal Belimbing Udang, prawn sambal with bright and tart belimbing fruit.

"It's a dish reserved for grand Nonya feasts," Ms Oon, 75, says of the liver balls. "We practised it over and over, and our chefs have mastered it. We are going deep into our heritage."

Her daughter Tay Su-lyn, 48, creative director of the restaurant group, adds of her mother: "She makes it twice a year on very special occasions. If you come to our house, we want to serve you the best dishes."

The 134-seat restaurant is the third one Ms Tay and her brother Tay Yiming, 43, the group's chief executive, run.

They also have National Kitchen by Violet Oon, a 70-seat restaurant at the National Gallery Singapore that celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025; and Violet Oon Singapore at Ion Orchard. That restaurant is relocating from the third floor to the fourth. When it reopens at the end of May in a larger space, it will have an 80-seat main dining room and three private rooms.

NEW FLAGSHIP

The restaurant in Dempsey is set to be the group's flagship, with a seven-figure set-up cost. The interiors are done up in Ms Oon's signature colours of black, gold and emerald green. Ms Tay has been collecting antique tiles with Nonya motifs for years, and these are worked into the decor. Bespoke chandeliers in the main dining room were made in China out of small beads that allude to the intricate beading on Peranakan slippers.