PUBLISHED September 2nd, 2015 10:00 pm | UPDATED July 3rd, 2020 02:59 am
We don’t know about you, but we definitely like the revamped CHIJMES (located around Bras Basah and Bugis) better than the old one, especially with the credibility boost with restaurants like Samia Ahad’s pan-Asian Coriander Leaf moving in from its old digs at Clarke Quay.
Seating 41 in the main dining room and up to 24 in a private dining room, the second-story unit is adorned with lattice tile motifs and lotus-like ceiling lamps made of zippers. Not very Asian, but just enough to remind you of the restaurant’s Asian persuasions. The heart of the restaurant, however, is a shiny show kitchen where Ahad and the rest of her team do their magic.
With five different flavour profiles – Fresh, Familiar, Spicy, Umami, and Sweet – on the sharing plates menu, we tried a couple of dishes from each category.
Rice Noodle Salad
The rice noodle salad, roast duck, mint, coriander leaf, Vietnamese basil ($12) was fresh, tangy, and whetted our appetites for the feast that was to come while the Watermelon, Mint, Pomegranate, Turkish White Cheese ($12) was something we relished and relived as it a previous dish of Ahad’s that made it to the new menu. For a Thai-inspired dish, the Marinated Prawn Salad with Grated Coconut ($15) was too bland.
Cabbage, water chestnut, garlic and onions encased in thin translucent dumpling skin, the vegetarian momo dumpling, roasted tomato relish, Szechuan pepper ($10) were addictive with the moreish roasted tomato relish – we almost ordered another portion! Although the oven roasted kecap manis rubbed Cape Grim Angus, spicy dip, fish sauce, lime juice, coriander ($35) seems to be a well thought out dish on paper, the beef was over-sweet on the surface from the kecap manis, distracting our palate from the goodness of the quality beef.
Momo Dumplings
Thereafter, we returned to familiar ground with charcoal grilled baby lamb chops, harrisa, yoghurt, dried chili paste, picked onions ($29). This, along with the clay oven fired beef kebab, butter rice, sumac, mint salad ($20), were the most well executed dishes of the night, in my opinion. The flavours of the former were spot on and I liked the burnt, crispy rice bits of the latter.
A fusion of Korean and Singaporean, the braised beef brisket, kimchi, daikon slaw, steamed bun ($14) wasn’t as tender as I expected braised beef brisket to be, but this dish turned the spice dial up a notch, which I more than welcomed. Ahad’s take on our local sambal stingray manifested in the barbecued ray fin, spicy sambal, calamansi ($18). Her sambal is enhanced with cincalok (a Malaysian condiment made of fermented small shrimps) and tastes very fresh, so don’t expect it to be like what you find in the hawker centres. The stir-fried eggplant, coriander, chili padi, green onion, ($12) is another tasty dish you should definitely order if you’re looking for something veggie only.
Beef Brisket in Steam Bun, Stir Fried Eggplant
The White Rabbit condensed milk ice cream, granite, leche flan, sweet potato, jackfruit, frosted flakes, shaved ice ($15) is a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. With Chinese and Japanese influences in a dessert of Filipino origin, it’s a combination we simply couldn’t comprehend.
We have to give the drinks menu credit for trying to stay true to Asia, with Japanese craft beer ($16), a wide range of umeshu (Japanese plum wine), as well as Kavalan (Taiwan) and Amrut (India) whiskies on the list.
Frankly, we expected more of this culinary institution, given in experience in their breaths of brilliant fresh air to traditional Asian dishes over the last 14 years. So, we’d say give it a try at its new place, but don’t get your hopes up too much.
Top Image: Grilled Baby Lamb Chops
If you liked this post, check out our other articles COO Bistro: Contemporary Glocal Cuisine In A Social Setting and Punjab Grill’s Monsoon Menu: A Mastery of Seasonal Indian Cuisine