Searching for a venue with a homely dining experience and a great gastronomic experience? Enter Portico Host!


With its alfresco dining ambience and a strong belief in providing its customers with a good dining experience, Portico Host whips up delicious cuisines for their customers. They are a boutique home-grown F&B with 2 concepts under its name - Portico Prime and Portico Host, with an ultimate aim of providing customers with a comfortable dining experience.

Their cuisines specialise in reinventing classic homely dishes with a touch of finesse and has obtained a host of awards - Chope's Diner's Choice Awards New Restaurant of the Year 2014, OpenRice's Top Ten Best New Restaurants of 2014 and Wine & Dine's Singapore's Top Restaurant 2016 and 2017. This young restaurant does not appear to be losing steam as they are providing new creative menus for their customers to enjoy.


The first dish in their new menu contains avocado, onion, caramelized walnut, chili bacon and a touch of citrus dressing to accompany the grilled squid. Squids might not be the most popular amongst people and can be extremely hard if not well-cooked. However, the ones prepared in Portico Host are more succulent than hard and provides an enjoyable chewy texture that brings out the flavor of the squid. The light touch of chili bacons and citrus were creative outlets that provided a unique and zesty squid tasting experience.



Technique is important in the preparation of chicken breast meat and it was thoroughly well-executed in this dish. From its appetizing appearance to its surprisingly flavorful meat, every inch of this dish had experience written all over it. The quail egg was also an interesting complement to the dish that I enjoyed. I would say that the huge plus point about the entire dish was its well-framed arrangements that already attracts customers to have a share of this meal.


Duck leg confit can be a rather premium dish to try out. This duck leg confit is immersed in port wine sauce and red pepper coulis, unlikely sources that are used during the preparation of the dish that went well with the soft tender portion that is served. Purple cabbage stew and potato mesh also provided balance to this dish in terms of color and taste - especially so when it comes with the purple cabbage stew on its plate. The portion is not too large and provides a meal with contents that are just about right for a satisfying meal.


The BBQ pork rib brought the dining experience here up another notch. Its sizeable portion along with potato wedges and grilled veggies can be quite heavy for a dinner experience. All this however, is forgotten when you do take the first bite of the bbq pork rib. It tasted sweet, tender yet crispy at the same time. Yes, it is crispy in certain portions which shows how perfectly prepared these ribs are. The meat portions nearer to the bone are largely tender and thus, provided interesting combination of bites while having this dish. It is slightly pricey for a student but it is definitely worth a go if you are looking for a tasty and filling meal.


Don't be deceived by the spaghetti-like appearance of this dish. With laksa leaf tossed with coconut broth replete in this dish, "Sing Chew" spaghetti surprised me so much with flavors that are synonymous with laksa - a famous traditional chinese cuisine. Clams, mussels, prawns and squids complemented the taste of the sauteed "laksa-like" spaghetti amazingly in terms of texture, appearance and taste. Personally, I struggle with spicy food but this dish had so many elements to it that I loved. A huge must-try if you are down over in Portico host.


Who doesn't love desserts? Sprinkled with "edible soil" fragments and espresso bits, this tiramisu is a dessert lovers' dream. There were no signs of sogginess in this tiramisu and everything about it was perfect. The mascarpone cheese and vanilla sponge were soft and melts on your tastebuds as you slowly consume and ingest them. Espresso bits strewn across the dish also made this dessert experience fun with each steady spoonful of dessert. A huge must try when you are dining here!


The mastermind behind this delicious menu served is none other than Chef Earn, the Senior Head Chef of Portico Host. Chef Earn has had a host of splendid achievements under his belt. His experience includes the management of a 2800-strong Western sit-down dinner in 2016 and also 4600 strong Asian sit-down for Far East Organisation in 2015.


The ability of Chef Earn has earned him rave reviews for being adept in preparing quality food in spite of it being huge events that are being organized. Tung Lok Group and Kitchen Language are also some of the companies that he has worked with. His avid enthusiasm towards Fine Modern and Asian Cuisines has led him to churn out creative dishes that are well-presented in Portico Host.

From now till 25th September 2017, there will be a promotion available for NUS and NTU students!

- If you are a NUS/NTU student/staff/alumni, simply present your identification to the counter to enjoy "15% OFF" at Portico Host

- Quote "Kah Yong" to enjoy an additional free soft drink on top of your NUS and NTU discounts if you order a main course!


So if you are free, do head on down to Portico Host, which is only a short 5-10 minute walk away form the MRT to get your dose of a homely dining experience!

So with that, Peanut will sign off for now!