The Hood — Restaurant in Paris

I have read several low ratings reviews and I know the owner do not take kindly to criticism. So I’m not too sure how the owners will rebuke me for what I am going to write.

First of all, if you are going to do a dry laksa version. Fusion is probably what will be best to describe the food served. The dry laksa is not too bad but for me, slurping on the laksa soup would have been better. The chicken rice is not fragrance enough and the chili that goes so well with the rice and chicken is not the one that is being served. Neither my partner or myself like the boiled chicken. So that is one of the worst Hainanese Chicken rice I have ever eaten. And that small miserable bowl of soup that was offered together with it. What is that soup???? Lastly, the nasi lemak. Slightly better than the chicken rice. But the chili was kinda too sour and did not pack a punch. The peanuts used are also kinda like those served while you are having a beer instead of those served usually in nasi lemak. The only item that I had that was almost authentic is the Milo Dinosaur.

To be able to find Singapore food of this standard in Paris is applauding. But if your intention is to showcase Singapore food to the Parisians or let Singaporeans or Malaysians have a taste of home while they are aboard…. you still have tons of work to do here.

I know a lot of the sauces or recipes are home made. But they really are badly done. Not the worst but definitely not good enough for most Singaporeans or Malaysians. And I use the word “most” here.

Try Tung San from Singapore. They are a company that does a lot of sauces which includes laksa paste, nasi lemak chili etc. Most of our hawkers use them because they are really good. Ultimately you wanna put good delicious food on the table and have the consistency. Only when you are able to simplify your work process with consistency then will you be able to open up more outlets.

I have taken my precious time to give my sincere views and suggestions. So do be kind if you need to rebuke me on any issues.

By the way, service...

We had high hopes for the The Hood, but it missed the mark in both taste and flavor.

The roti canai and curry was €8!!! It came with one paltry room temp roti, and a curry that was literally a paste made of curry powder and water.

VFC, €11.5. Looked promising and would have been tasty had it been hot, or even mildly warm. But it arrived below room temp and the meat was almost cold on the inside as you got to the bone. The mayo was not bad and akin to a thousand island dressing.

3 meat rice plate, €21. If you’re going to go down the rice plate path, I’d recommend skipping the roasted chicken entirely. And the rest of it was just so-so. Roast pork was cold and gelatinous. Roasted chicken cuts were mostly gristly skin and barely any meat. And the supposed star dish, the Hainan chicken was not delicate as it should be. The chicken was not tender and the skin was rubbery. Sauces were decent. Soup lacked salt.

Kaya toast, €8. It tasted like pandan flavoring and was green, but the toasted bread it was piped onto was tough and hard to slice through even with a knife.

Teh tarik was €6 for the ‘iced’, which came with no ice, but was cold. You’ll pay a whole extra euro for that luxury. It was dense and not a light, frothy and milky pulled tea like it should be.

Lots of potential here, but it seems as if they are just going to do the bare minimum in taste and flavor in comparison to the real thing and hope that the locals won’t know...

As Malaysians and Singaporeans living abroad, we were excited to try this place with high hopes for authentic SG/MY flavours. While the restaurant clearly puts effort into presentation and offers a creative take on Asian cuisine, we left feeling a little disappointed when it came to authenticity.

Teh Tarik: Unfortunately, this didn’t taste like the teh tarik we’re familiar with. It had an unusual taste that felt quite far from the basic teh tarik we expected.

Chicken Rice: • The rice was well-cooked and fragrant — definitely the highlight of the dish. • The poached chicken was dry and lacked seasoning. • The sauce was overly sweet and didn’t complement the chicken well. • The addition of a soft-boiled egg felt wrong and the yolk didn’t integrate well with the overall flavour.

Nasi Lemak: • The sambal and fried chicken were well done and tasted great. • The rice, however, lacked the signature coconut aroma that’s central to nasi lemak. • Again, the soft-boiled egg felt mismatched. A hard-boiled or fried egg would be more typical and complementary.

Overall: It seems the restaurant is presenting a possibly French-influenced interpretation of Southeast Asian dishes, those looking for traditional Singaporean or Malaysian flavours might not find the authenticity when compared with other SG/MY restaurant in London or Berlin.

We appreciate the effort and friendly service, and hope the restaurant...