Casa Mori serves modern Singaporean-Spanish inspired tapas.
The restaurant is founded by chefs Willin Low and Jose Alonso.
Casa Mori is located at Dempsey Hill.
Tapas at Casa Mori are introduced with flavours present in Singaporean and Spanish cuisines, with a menu that reflects honest multicultural cooking.
While the term “fusion cuisine” has been through the wringer as a passé gimmick, Casa Mori, the latest dining concept joining the Dempsey Hill enclave, is hedging that diners in Singapore will judge differently. Just don’t call the restaurant’s menu offerings by that term; its co-founder Chef Willin Low prefers the word “Mod-Sin.”
At the height of its inception nearly three decades ago, fusion cuisine was a codeword for uninformed and simply incompatible combinations — think strawberries on sushi or squid ink in congee. What started as an innovative concept morphed into a misunderstanding of cross-cultural creations that favoured spectacle instead of flavour. In the wake of its downfall, critics from the biggest publications sealed its fate by dismissing it altogether with the unfortunate moniker: “confusion cuisine”.
Presently, the prime examples of fusion are driven only by genuine understanding and the adoption of authentic traditions. Rather than force two or more foreign cuisines together, chefs are drawing from their own professional experiences studying various cultures to create something that feels innovative and respectful, with dishes that diners would want to eat and eat again.
That philosophy is what carries the composition of offerings served at Casa Mori. There is no grand statement to reinvent what Spanish tapas is here. Rather, Spanish and Asian cuisines are embraced as one with a menu built on common ingredients and complementary flavours sourced from the east and west. Low, the early proponent of modern Singaporean cooking — famously championed at his former venture Wild Rocket — lends his informed take to the Singaporean-Spanish plates, while the Spanish restaurateur Jose Alonso grounds Casa Mori with the warmth of Iberian traditions.
The result is not fusion in its misunderstood incarnation, but a happy marriage between two culinary identities. This is best represented by Casa Mori’s signature Hokkien Mee Fideua, where the pasta cousin of the Spanish paella comes rendered with the flavours of a Singaporean hawker favourite. There’s also the Iberico Secreto Satay, which elevates the humble charcoal-grilled skewer by using premium choice cuts of meat found in the best restaurants for its preparation.
Casa Mori is a reflection of how fusion has evolved through time in the best way possible. With shallow theatrics gone, all that is left is what fusion cuisine should only be known for — multicultural cooking with intent and great taste. For diners, the restaurant is a reminder that fusion was never about blurring culinary lines; it is about discovering the common ground that has always coexisted between them.
Where: Casa Mori, Dempsey Hill, Singapore
When: Monday to Friday from 11.30am to 2.30pm, 5.30pm to 10.30pm, Saturday from 11am to 10.30pm, Sunday from 11am to 10pm
Contact: https://www.casamori.sg/