AIR Dempsey restaurant opened more than a year ago. Uncertainty about its concept, location and accessibility held us back from visiting it earlier. But curiosity got the better of us and we made a trip to an ‘ulu’ part of Singapore Dempsey Hill to lunch at the restaurant AIR CCCC.
Where is AIR Dempsey
Even though we are frequent visitors to the Dempsey Hill area, we could not imagine where the AIR Dempsey restaurant is located. We discovered the best way to get there by car is to set Samy’s Curry as the destination. This took us to the most remote carpark that serves the established restaurants Long Beach and Samy’s. When you see this sign, walk left instead of going up the steps.
This will take you to a garden path marked with orange words “AIR”. The font used might not look like a restaurant signboard at first glance.
Proceeding along the path and rounding a bend or two, there is a wooden walkway that will bring the visitors to the AIR CCCC campus located in the large two-storey modernist building. The 120m journey from the carpark is unsheltered – so be prepared with suitable shoes and clothing.
On the left of the walkway is the outer perimeter of AIR CCCC. It is also its garden where plant species such as lantern chillies, starfruit, jambu air, rambutan, bananas, worm wood, turmeric, borage, moringa, belimbing and buah keluak are grown.
What is AIR CCCC
What is AIR CCCC? According to its website, AIR stands for Awareness, Impact, and Responsibility and CCCC: Circular Campus and Cooking Club. AIR CCCC occupies a historical 40,000 sq ft complex that once served as a clubhouse for civil servants.
Our lunch was in the casual restaurant on the ground floor facing the lawn. We understand that there is a studio on the second floor which houses the research space, cooking club and a more intimate dining area.
AIR Dempsey Menu
Only a set lunch menu was available at lunchtime. The single sheet AIR Dempsey menu made ordering very easy. Just decide whether to go for two courses (starter and main, $58++) or three courses (starter, main and dessert, $68++) and select one option for each course.
AIR CCCC Wine Menu
Just like the food menu, the AIR CCCC restaurant wine menu was also straightforward. The short menu has enough entries to showcase bottles from the usual wine regions but options in each are quite limited. Here is a picture of sample pages from the wine menu.
Lunch at Air Dempsey
Bread and Starters
We had read good reviews about the AIR CCCC bread and so ordered some. The purple potato flat bread served with mushroom “XO” butter ($14++) was indeed delicious, but rather pricey.
We also tried all three of the starter options. The Caesar Salad (picture below) was the most substantial one. It also looked like a conventional salad. But the taste was much better than it looks. Made with confit duck and grilled coconut it also contained other condiments that added flavours and texture that do not exist in a regular Caesar salad.
The smaller starter was ceviche of local mahi mahi with pink guava and garden herbs. This was a small but delicious dish. I think the freshness of the raw mahi mahi fish and the vegetables was the main reason for its success. Add to that the expert seasoning used that made us wish the portion was not so small.
Most underrated starter was the sweet corn from Talula with white corn chutney with emping chips. Both the name and the look did not appear inspiring. This looked like the free snacks at the pub during happy hour. But it was much better. The emping chips paired very well with the corn chutney dip.
The Mains
On this visit we only tried two of the mains. The charred Spanish mackerel, pickled onions and zucchini with scallop sauce (picture above) and kampong chicken with tropical coleslaw and smoked chilli oil. I believe the mackerel was a better choice. Mostly because the fish did not have the fishy flavour I usual associate with it. This was clean tasting and with a smooth texture. Coupled with the vegetables and seasoning it had a touch of luxury. The chicken was also well made, but more predictable.
Ratings:
Food: 5
Service: 3
Value: 3
Atmosphere: 3
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs 
AIR CCCC
25B Dempsey Road, Singapore 249918
Opening Hours:
Indoor Dining
Breakfast: 8 am – 11 am
Lunch: 11.30 am – 3 pm
Dinner: 5 pm – 11 pm
Outdoor Service
SUN(RISE): Daily, 8 am – 12 noon
SUN(SET): Fridays to Sundays only, 12 noon – 9 pm
The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog
Share this:
Discover more from The Ordinary Patrons
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.