Ingleside on Tras Street has brought back its Embers tasting menu, built on fire, fermentation and dry-ageing. We tried it alongside the à la carte.

NEW MENU | DINING | TANJONG PAGAR

At Ingleside, the leftover brioche from the Truffle Toast doesn't get thrown away. It sits for 16 weeks, turns into miso, and goes back into the Truffle Toast. That loop says a lot about how this 32-seat restaurant on Tras Street cooks.

Ingleside runs its tasting menus in three seasonal stages named after a fire, and Embers, the second, is back for autumn with new dishes and an updated à la carte. The restaurant has been in the MICHELIN Guide Singapore for two years running. I went on a weeknight with a friend, and we agreed before sitting down to order differently.

I took Embers, my friend went à la carte, and we passed plates across the table.

Where Is Ingleside?

Tras Street sits in Tanjong Pagar, a short walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT and a few minutes from the bars of Duxton and Keong Saik. It's a busy dining street in the evening, so book ahead and allow time to find parking if you're driving.

The restaurant is dark and close. Timber, warm lighting, a black stone counter, and an open kitchen with a Mibrasa charcoal grill. It's a small room and fills quickly, but the noise stays at a level where you can talk across the table.

The Two People Behind It

Ingleside is run by a husband-and-wife team, and they split the kitchen between them.

Jana Jusman is a food scientist. She studied at NUS, and her final-year project, a drink brewed from tofu whey, ended up being sold commercially. Today she runs the restaurant's fermentation room. Her shelves hold misos made from black-eyed beans, green beans and split peas, garums from scallops and turbot roe, koji, vinegars and amazake. She likes using scraps. The brioche offcuts from the Truffle Toast go into a miso that ages for 16 weeks, and used coffee grounds are turned into a coffee shoyu.

Louis Chan worked in finance before he cooked. He looks after the grill and the ageing cabinets, and his focus is on control: which wood, how much heat, how many days a cut should hang before it's cooked.

They met in Bali in 2019 and opened Ingleside in 2024. A dish might start with Louis working out how a cut should cook, with Jana then picking a ferment to finish it. Sometimes it goes the other way round.

The three menus run in order through the year. Ignition is the brightest and lightest, Embers brings in more ageing and deeper flavour, and Inferno is the smokiest. This year's Embers is seven courses if you count the four opening bites as one, priced at $228++. It runs until December.

The $108++ wine pairing moves from a Pere Ventura cava with the opening bites to a Pouilly-Fumé with the mackerel, an Oregon Pinot Noir with the mushrooms, a Margaux with the wagyu and a 2010 Tokaji with dessert.

Four Amuse-Bouches

The menu opens with four small bites served together.

The Japanese Sweet Prawn comes with kombu, turbot roe garum and a cucumber and dill gazpacho. It's cold and clean, and the garum adds a light savoury note without tasting fishy.

The Green Tomato Pot has smoked stracciatella, black olive powder and aged balsamic. The Flambadou Greenlip Abalone is finished with shoyu koji, tri-citrus kosho and finger lime, so it arrives with some acidity to balance the smoke.

The Truffle Toast is a holdover from Ignition, with one change. The miso in the mousse now ages for 16 weeks, up from six. It's topped with white balsamic reduction and black truffle. Of the four bites, this is the one regulars will recognise, and the extra ageing makes the mousse taste rounder and more savoury.

Koji Taco

A small taco, but the shell is the interesting part. It's made from barley koji rather than corn, and it holds smoked pork belly, pickled shallots and a confit garlic aioli. You get the ferment and the smoke in one bite.

Charred Horse Mackerel

Horse mackerel gets a short cure in salt and sugar, a coat of scallop garum, then a quick blast over the charcoal. Oscietra caviar, pickled green apple and a yuzu buttermilk dressing broken with herb oil go alongside. The skin crisps up and the smoke stays in the background. The apple and the yuzu stop the oily fish from tiring the palate.

Hen of the Woods

Smoked maitake mushroom with yeast garum, aged Comté mousse, brûléed figs, hazelnuts and a reduction of 50-year-old Pedro Ximénez vinegar. It's the richest course before the meat, savoury and a little sweet from the figs.

True North Wagyu Striploin MBS 8/9

Last season, this same striploin was marinated in shio koji. This time it's dry-aged for 32 days before grilling. It arrives in slices with a beef tallow pomme purée and pickled radish. Expect a firmer bite than most wagyu and a deeper beef flavour. The radish helps with the richness.

Amazake Sorbet

A palate cleanser of amazake sorbet with grapefruit granita and lemon-magnolia oil. It's cold and sharp, and it resets the palate after the beef.

White Chocolate & Berries

The menu ends with white chocolate and lemon thyme mousse, strawberry carpaccio, 15-year-aged balsamic vinegar, Chambord sauce, a raspberry veil and meringue shards, served in a deep white bowl. The balsamic keeps the white chocolate from being too sweet. It's a gentle way to finish a menu built on smoke and fermentation.

The À La Carte Side of the Table

My companion ordered three entrées, which worked well as a contrast to the tasting menu.

Heirloom Tomatoes ($22) mixes fresh and fermented tomatoes with smoked stracciatella, mint, basil, jamón serrano and brioche croutons. It's a bright, colourful plate, and the fermented tomatoes add a sour depth that a plain tomato salad wouldn't have.

Hokkaido Scallops ($34) are kombu-cured and torched, arranged in a flower shape with pickled green apple, finger lime, herb oil and a lacto-fermented tomato dressing. Light and acidic, with a little char on the edges of each scallop.

Flambadou Carabinero Prawn ($52) is the dish worth watching being made, if you can see the grill. A flambadou is a cone-shaped iron heated in the fire until it glows. Dry-aged beef fat is dropped into it, catches alight, and drips flaming over the prawn on the grill. The prawn arrives split, with rose and shrimp garum, carabinero aioli and a grilled endive salad with pickled fennel. It's smoky and sweet, and the head is full of flavour, so don't leave it.

There's more on the à la carte we didn't get to. A duck heart ($28) is marinated in shoyu koji, grilled, and served with quail egg, pancetta, a chicken skin and squid ink crisp, and chorizo foam. The duck breast ($52) hangs for 14 days and comes with a miso Jana makes by fermenting whole local pumpkin for six months. The Iberico Presa ($60) has black-eyed pea miso butter and a 50-year-old Pedro Ximénez vinegar reduction.

For dessert, the à la carte menu has a Torched Yuzu Ricotta Cheesecake ($26) with brown butter oats, brûléed figs and beef fat butterscotch.

They suit different evenings.

The Embers menu is the way to understand what Ingleside does. Each course shows a different technique, and you get the dishes that don't appear on the à la carte, like the koji taco and the horse mackerel.

The à la carte gives you more control over budget and appetite. My friend's three entrées came to $108 before service charge and GST, against $228++ for the tasting menu. If you want the flambadou prawn and the dry-aged meats without sitting through seven courses, it works well. Three entrées between two people, plus a main and a side, makes a full dinner.

Lunch at Ingleside

Ingleside also serves a set lunch from Wednesday to Friday at $48++ for an entrée and a main. Entrées include the heirloom tomatoes and a wood-fired maitake and oyster dish. Mains include wagyu tartare, grilled octopus and a French chicken leg with mung bean miso cream sauce. The carabinero prawn is available as a supplement for $40, and the Westholme wagyu picanha for $25.

After Dinner on Tras Street

We stayed until the room started to thin out, finishing the last of the meringue and watching the grill wind down. Tras Street was still busy when we left, with people moving between the bars along the road. We walked toward Duxton for a while before heading home.

Need to Know

Address Ingleside, 49 Tras Street, Singapore 078988

Founders Jana Jusman (fermentation) and Louis Chan (wood fire and dry-ageing)

Hours Tue and Sat 6pm to 11pm; Wed to Fri 12pm to 3pm and 6pm to 11pm; closed Sun and Mon

Embers tasting menu $228++; wine pairing $108++; available until December 2026

What I had Embers tasting menu

What my companion had Heirloom Tomatoes $22; Hokkaido Scallops $34; Flambadou Carabinero Prawn $52

Also on the à la carte Shoyu Koji Duck Heart $28; Duck Breast $52; Iberico Presa $60; Torched Yuzu Ricotta Cheesecake $26

Set lunch Wed to Fri, $48++ for entrée and main

Getting there Tanjong Pagar MRT

Reservations ingleside.com.sg/reservation

Instagram @ingleside.sg

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Ingleside in Singapore? Ingleside is at 49 Tras Street, Singapore 078988, in Tanjong Pagar.

What kind of food does Ingleside serve? Modern European cooking built on wood fire, dry-ageing and house-made ferments such as misos, garums and koji.

How much is the Embers tasting menu at Ingleside? The Embers tasting menu is $228++, with an optional wine pairing at $108++. It runs until December 2026. Prices are subject to a 10% service charge and 9% GST.

Is Ingleside in the MICHELIN Guide? Yes. Ingleside was recognised by the MICHELIN Guide Singapore in 2025 and 2026.

Can I order à la carte at Ingleside? Yes. The à la carte menu includes snacks, entrées, mains, sides and desserts, with entrées from $22 and mains from $48.

Does Ingleside serve lunch? Yes, Wednesday to Friday from 12pm to 3pm, with a set lunch of an entrée and main at $48++.

What is a flambadou? A cone-shaped iron heated in the fire. Fat is dropped into it, catches alight and drips over the food. Ingleside uses it for its carabinero prawn and greenlip abalone.

How many seats does Ingleside have? 32, so booking ahead is recommended.