Do you look for either healthy lunch bowl or western fusion food? Not just for your taste-buds, but also with the lively music for your entertainment, you are blessed with Pen & Inc.
This is actually a blessing if you are a student of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore or working there.
Located at NTU, Pen & Inc, a fusion restaurant which opened in October 2016, has jazzed up the dining scene in campus. Apparently, Pen & Inc is the only restaurant in campus that serves Western fusion dishes.
Not to mention that it is Singapore’s first authentic licensed live music bar in a tertiary institution.
Large windows, which allow natural lightning in, makes a pleasant environment for dining in.
About Pen & Inc
Pen & Inc is set up by One-University, one of One-Group’s portfolios, which caters to the faculty and students who wants to escape from the hustle and bustle of NTU life. One-Group is a popular name in the business arena.
Setting up restaurants is one of the important aims in their portfolio. Formerly known as 1-Rochester Group, One-Group is operated by an efficient team of personalities.
The mastermind behind One-Group named Joseph Ong who grew up in a single-room flat. Now, he is the leading personality in the lifestyle F&B scene of Singapore.
The One-Group is the proud owner of the award-winning 1-Attitude bar, the world’s highest al fresco bar.
Stylish design concept. If you are looking for a place to host business talk, it makes a great venue.
With this experience, he named his venture as One-Group and has established many restaurants in and around Singapore to satiate the taste buds of not just the locals, but also the foreign visitors getting to Singapore.
Now, with excellent concepts like Pen & Inc., and upcoming 1-BPM, and Food Lab, Pen & Inc from 1-University is making a great revolution in the Food and Beverage industry in Singapore, particularly among NTU students.
Upbeat bar with lively music
The concept is actually for the students by the students and faculty.
At Inc., you can refuel yourself with a healthy lunch or a mouth-watering beer. Great beer, live music and healthy lunch bowls. Right from tasty greens to succulent meat, you can get whatever you wish in your bowl.
At nights, you will see it functioning as a great bar, where amazing craft beer is served. The more enthralling thing is the live music performances right at the arena by NTU Students.
At Pen, you can send dinner reservations and event enquiries online by sending a request. The Pen will give you the most peaceful and enjoyable dining experience with amazing fusion cuisine.
In short, you will get amazing dining experience at Pen & Inc. The faculty and students of NTU are blessed with great-tasting dishes and beer.
What Is Special About Pen & Inc?
Pen & Inc. holds the pride of being the only restaurant in NTU that serves not just healthy lunch bowls, but also it is popular for its Western fusion dishes. You can just visit the restaurant at your university campus and can enjoy delectable Western fusion food.
This air-conditioned restaurant, besides serving the foods in a cool air-conditioned atmosphere, brings affordability to students and faculty members of NTU. Of course, the nice ambience needs a great mention here.
Cocktails available at Pen & Inc
Do you wish to taste cocktails without any fear of poor quality? Then, Pen & Inc. is your destination at NTU. Their selection of alcoholic drinks is very wide from craft beer to cocktails. Maybe you can ask for customised cocktail if the drink that you want is not available.
After your class hours, do you feel bored at the evening? You can just take your friends to the restaurant to chill out with them and can enjoy great cocktails and music with them.
What are the types of dishes you can expect?
Healthy Lunch Bowl
Customise your bowl with base, protein, vegetables, salad and condiment
Base
Protein. Salmon is one of the offerings for protein.
Vegetables
If you are thinking of eating clean, their healthy lunch bowl makes an ideal option.
Besides Western fusion food, the restaurant serves healthy lunch bowls to make the menu more varied. You have the option to customise everything right from choosing the base to topping your bowl with some condiments.
Here is a step-by-step guide on what you will have to do?
First step: Just choose your base; it can be pasta, a creamy Mac and cheese , sesame soda or brown rice.
Second step: Adding the protein to your bowl is the next step. Be it a limited portion of beef meatballs, teriyaki salmon or bacon wrapped chicken breast everything will make your mouth watery.
Third step: This step is all about selecting your vegetables from the wide options available.
Fourth step: Just doumiao or romaine lettuce for your salad.
Final and fifth step: Finally, you can top it up with condiments like toasted walnuts, raisins and what not to help with your health?
Also, attractive add-ons are offered for your healthy lunch bowls for a meagre amount.
Western Fusion Dishes
Some of the Western dishes with an Asian twist are available on menu:
Chilli Soft Shell Crab Linguine –Photo Credit: Head Chef Ken
Heineken Star Towers – Photo Credit: Pen & Inc Facebook
Now, students and faculty members of NTU can enjoy their meals while having their alcoholic drinks. With their Heineken Star Towers, your drinking experience is not going to be the same old.
You need not have to settle longingly with a pint, when there are towers to fill your taste buds!
What is Special About the Grilled Meat Served in Pen & Inc.?
Inka Charcoal Grill Oven which is closed charcoal grill oven used for indoor purposes – Photo Credit: Head Chef Ken
I should share about the succulently-grilled meat at this restaurant. They are special because they are prepared in Inka Charcoal Grill oven which looks like indoor charcoal grill oven.
The Inka Charcoal Grill oven can grill up to 550 degrees, delivering the smoked and barbecued taste of food. If the smaller version of oven does exist for home use, it is great that it can be used as indoor charcoal grill oven.
If we carve the barbecued food, we can simply whip out the oven and grill the meat.
Tajima Wagyu Burger. Meat Patty Grilled by Inka Grill Oven. – Photo Credit: Head Chef Ken
Thanks to Inka Charcoal Grill oven, you can savour the smoky and barbecued taste in these grilled meat.
Taste the signature dishes from Head Chef Ken:
When talking about Western fusion food served in Pen & Inc, I should mention about Head Chef Ken, who has made this restaurant produce great-tasting dishes.
Salted Egg Yolk Prawn Burger with Mentaiko Mayo
His signature dishes, Salted Egg Yolk Prawn Burger and Grilled BBQ Glazed Pork Rib should never be missed out.
Grilled BBQ Glazed Pork Rib
The former is a sauce that is made using salted egg yolk and thick prawn patty in a generous manner. The salted egg yolk sauce is very popular with the locals. If you crave for a burger with salted egg yolk sauce, you can find it at Pen & Inc.
For the latter dish, the chef uses his secret recipe. Again, the dish is made special by the Inka Oven.
Head Chef Ken – Photo Credit: Pen & Inc Facebook
Even though he is differently-abled, his deafness has not stopped Head Chef Ken from taking reins of kitchen as head chef at Pen & Inc. He began his career as a dishwasher at Aijsen, a chain of Japanese restaurants that serve ramen.
He had no professional culinary training to begin with. Slowly over his years working in few restaurants that he had worked at, he picked up several different kinds of cooking techniques from Japanese to French.
Taken at One Rochester restaurant where he was working then – Photo Credit: Head Chef Ken
Featured in Sunday Times, Singapore’s leading English daily – Photo Credit: Head Chef Ken
He then became a part of the One Rochester restaurant under One-Group and he gained popularity when he appeared in a few media publications.
After having gained some years of experience, he had moved to head some cafe as the head chef.
Head Chef Ken preparing food with passion. His mission is to bring smile to customers. – Photo Credit: Pen & Inc Facebook
Now, he is back again to serve the students and faculty members of Pen & Inc.
So, being the first-year student at NTU, you have excellent forthcoming three or four years, to enjoy great tasting dishes and excellent night parties with your friends at Pen & Inc.
