Review: Jiak Kim House – One of My Dining Highlights So Far This Year

Located within the grounds of the old Zouk and just next to the Fraser Residence River Promenade is Jiak Kim House which is also named after the street it is in. 

This is a relatively quiet part of Robertson Quay, away from the cafes and restaurants predominating the northern bank of the Singapore River. 

Jiak Kim serves Modern Asian cuisine in a gorgeous setting with high ceilings and interior design from award-winning firm Dinding Design Office. Think: chic living room illuminated by pendant and wall light fixtures, louvered panels and terracotta-hued finishings. It’s hard to imagine that a seemingly bespoke venue such as Jiak Kim House is opened by Brewerkz, a restaurant brand that is a common sight around Singapore. 

Jiak Kim House is helmed by Chef-Partner Seow Tzi Qin who goes by “TQ” and who also serves as Group Executive Chef at The Brewerkz Group. Prior to that, he has worked in various kitchens including Les Amis, La Taperia and 1919 Waterboat House. 

I dropped by Jiak Kim House one evening for dinner. Despite being just a few days from Chinese New Year, I found the restaurant almost full. Reviews had been good in the few weeks or so that the restaurant had been open. 

We started the meal with bread. At Jiak Kim House, it’s not merely a loaf of normal bread. We instead got 2 types – a sumptuous Bolo Bun with century egg inside and a “mochishire” – a hybrid of Brazilian cheese bread and Yorkshire pudding. I loved both of them equally. Overall, both breads were the type that I thought would stand well even on their own, like as a takeaway item or something appropriate for high tea as well. It came with two kinds of butter – a normal one and curry butter. 

The starters called Tingkat of Memories (S$36) consists of a beguiling set of locally-inspired dishes. There are 4 compartments to this modern tingkat – consisting of Crab Cakes with a side of assam mayo, Chili Crab Pie Tee, Ayam (Chicken) Skewers and Otak Otak. Though meant to be an appetizer, I found the ensemble rather heavy but it also served as one of the highlights of the dinner. Each item was special in its own way, as Chef TQ draws from his younger days for inspiration for some of the dishes. Among the 4, I liked the crab cake the best as it came with a dense filling of the coveted crustacean meat inside. 

Another hearty starter is the Gula Jawa Foie Gras (S$32), pan-fried with ginger caramel and with grapefruit chutney on the side. Overall, the duck liver carried a sweeter taste profile owing to the gula jawa. 

Inspired by the Vietnamese grilled beef dish of Bo La Lot, the Hay-Smoked Wagyu Hamburg (S$28) carried a touch of Japanese sensibilities with a whiff of minty shiso fragrance enveloping the chargrilled patty made from a mix of short ribs and pork. This was another personal highlight as I generally love the refreshing aroma of shiso leaves and rarely get to taste it outside of omakase restaurants. 

If there is one thing you can be sure of from the repertoire of dishes at Jiak Kim House, it is that many dishes are quite filling. The Opeh Leaf Laksa Fettucine (S$42) was served in a rather theatrical manner. Cutting open the opeh leaf revealed a rather intriguing assortment of sliced fish, mussels, prawns, bouncy pasta as well as konjac noodles with laksa bisque. While I loved the generous assortment of seafood in the noodle dish, overall I found it a tad heavy in terms of seasoning.

Another main I checked out at Jiak Kim House was the Kagoshima A4 Wagyu Striploin (S$90) which comes from the grilled section of their food menu. Price-wise, this was something of an outlier as it was double most of the other mains on the menu but was in line with other grilled items. The beef was grilled nicely, with the meat possessing a tender and juicy texture. 

We ended the meal with two desserts. The first is called Garden of Naomi (S$22), an ode to Chef TQ’s fiance who is also named Naomi. It consisted of a raspberry lychee rose entrement, dragon’s breath, juniper parfait and sorrel granite. Visually, it was quite stunning with the lychee rose centerpiece resembling something like a potted plant.

The second dessert, which I liked better, was Jiak Kim (S$22). It consisted of earl grey mousse, berriolette compote, roselle hawthorn jelly, chocolate cream and gold leaf. This dish is meant to take the Hokkien phrase “jiak kim” literally which is to eat gold. This was quite a hefty ending in itself and I would recommend sharing between 2 or 3 persons. 

Verdict

The term “modern Asian” has been used so loosely and so often these days in Singapore’s dining scene that it no longer generates much interest on my part to hear about another “modern Asian” restaurant opening in our shores. However, I have to say that Jiak Kim House really did it well in its execution and interpretation. Chef TQ’s imagination has allowed him to present something that’s not only new but still familiar to his audience at the same time – and most importantly, also satisfying to the tummy. The restaurant’s menu features quite a good ensemble of dishes and I’d be keen to return to try out the others in the future. 

Jiak Kim House
5 Jiak Kim Street
#01-17
Singapore 169425

Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday, 12PM to 3PM / 6PM to 11PM

Contact: +65 9831 5430