Martina's Kitchen

Martina's Kitchen is a Peranakan and Western restaurant in a black-and-white colonial house at 8 The Oval, inside Seletar Aerospace Park. It opened in late 2024 and has since added a second outlet at Aperia Mall in Kallang.

The restaurant is named after Martina Koh, a Nyonya born in Singapore in 1920. She married Joseph Gey, a Chinese artist from Anxi, and together they raised six children. In her kitchen, Malay flavours such as lemongrass, galangal and cinnamon met Chinese basics like ginger, garlic and white pepper. Her granddaughter is behind the restaurant today. The chefs adapt the old family dishes for everyday eating, and the kitchen cooks without MSG.

What to order

The Peranakan dishes are the main draw. The kitchen calls its chicken satay a signature. The marinade blends Malay and Chinese styles, and the peanut sauce is kept mild so that everyone can enjoy it.

• Starters: kueh pie tee (crisp pastry cups filled with braised turnip and carrot, topped with prawn), fruit rojak and Nyonya achar pickles.
• Classic mains: babi pongteh (pork braised in fermented soybean paste, with chestnuts), Nyonya curry duck, homemade ngoh hiang rolls and rendang chicken.
• Seafood: udang lemak nenas, which is prawns in a pineapple and tamarind gravy, plus sambal prawns with petai beans and mackerel otah.
• Dry laksa: thick rice noodles tossed in laksa gravy with prawns and tau pok (fried bean curd puffs).
• Desserts: chendol, homemade coconut ice cream and an ondeh-ondeh pandan waffle with palm sugar syrup.

Many dishes also come as single-plate sets with blue pea rice and achar, which suits solo diners. The Western list covers a nasi lemak burger with sambal, a lamb rack, sirloin steak, fish and chips and pasta. There is a breakfast menu too, and a savoury high tea served in a tingkat, a stacked tiffin carrier. Several dishes, such as the babi pongteh and ngoh hiang, contain pork.

The setting

The restaurant sits in one of Seletar's old black-and-white houses, with lawns and mature trees around it. Inside, green ceiling beams, a red-brick bar counter, gold chairs and stained-glass doors give the room a warm, old-world feel. The family treats the dining room as a small museum of Peranakan life. Look out for kasut manek (beaded slippers), Nyonya porcelain, ornate furniture and watercolour paintings. There is a covered porch with outdoor tables, and a small stage at the back hosts live bands.

Good to know before you go

• The Seletar outlet is pet-friendly, so you can bring your dog along.
• You can book a table through the Martina's Kitchen website.
• You order by scanning a QR code at your table.
• There is a bar with beer and cocktails. One cocktail, Colonial Days, is only sold at Seletar and is named after the black-and-white houses.
• The restaurant also hosts private events and family celebrations.

Nearby

Several other restaurants sit in Seletar Aerospace Park. Chingu @ The Oval serves Korean food on the same road, and Cinder Steakhouse is a good pick for grilled meats. For coffee and cake, try Wildseed Cafe. You can see all restaurants in Seletar and Jalan Kayu or browse more Peranakan restaurants in Singapore.