INTERVIEW: Chef Sam Leong

As director of kitchens for Singapore’s famed Tung Lok Restaurants, chef Sam Leong is the creative force behind big-name restaurants Jade, My Humble House and Paddy Fields Thai Restaurant. On a recent trip to Dubai to help develop The Noodle House’s new menu, Chef Leong took a break from devising dishes to chat to Caterer Middle East

Tell us about what you’re doing here at Noodle House.

Jumeirah invited me over to guest chef at one of their restaurants a few years ago, which I very much enjoyed. Then recently they told me they were looking to refresh the Noodle House menu with some real Asian dishes, so I have come here to look at all the branches, the quality of the food, and bring in a few new Asian ideas and recipes.

And what specific dishes are you contributing to the menu?

I’m putting my own take on the signature dish, Wasabi Prawns, bringing a chilli crab dish, and also wok-fried me gong; then we’ll start letting the guests tell us what they think of them.

There are a lot of regular customers to this brand, so we really want to get their feedback and their assistance in bringing Noodle House up to a whole new level.

What do you most enjoy cooking?

I don’t really cook at home too much! Nowadays I design dishes more than cooking, but if I had to pick one, I suppose it would be a pepper crab dish.

You don’t see this on menus much, because it’s very messy and inconvenient for the diner, but it’s still very delicious!

Do you have a favourite outlet from those you’ve visited in Dubai?

There are some fantastic restaurants here. I went to Rivington Grill the other day, which is not just a meal it’s a proper dining experience — the atmosphere, the location, the service; I loved that place,

What’s your view on Dubai’s current culinary status?

Dubai has grown such a lot over the past four years, since I first came here. I was amazed by the progress.

Obviously there’s still a way to go — you can still find it hard sometimes to get exactly the right ingredients here, particularly with spices. But now they are starting to come in, which is good to see.

You have to give the culinary scene some time to develop; Dubai is comparatively new still, so it’s impressive how much it has achieved already.

Singapore is also a place where so much is imported, and the ingredient market took a while to get going, but now you can get anything there. That seems to be where Dubai is heading.

Speaking of Singapore, how is the firm’s expansion going?

The company is growing, both in Singapore and overseas so I’m travelling a lot right now.

We are staying flexible and looking at various options — we just always make sure we fit the concept we are taking abroad to that local market, as different nationalities do have different tastes.

It’s a challenge to cater for everyone; you just have to be prepared to alter your concept slightly without losing its identity, and give people what they want.