Dinner at J's Restaurant


Recently I had the opportunity to dine at J's Restaurant for my grandmother's birthday. A private room was reserved and family from all corners of Singapore gathered that Monday night to celebrate. According to my cousin, J's Resturant is halal certified and serves up pretty good vegan food. Needless to say, we had 2 tables reserved - one for the vegans and the other for the meat eaters!

Throughout the night there was a waitress attending to us and water was self-service free flow (we had to pour the water from a jug into our glasses on our own). More on their menu can be found at their website

Pardon the unorganized presentation but it was quite a feat having to take photos and try to remember the taste as well as celebrate my grandmother's birthday (not to mention making small talk with the relatives). Without further ado, I present..... *drum rolls*


 Mocktail Mint Tea
My sister ordered the Mocktail Mint Tea which was really a mockery. As soon as she took a sip, she quickly shoved the glass in my direction. The moment I took a sip of it, I knew why she shoved it to me. It tasted familiar, a little minty but totally toothpastey. Perhaps there was too much mint in the tea or too much of something artificial or perhaps the toothpastes these days use too much mint? I had initially ordered a mango smoothie for myself, but after having to wait for quite a while I was told that it was not available. Service-wise, having to wait for (quite some time for) something such as a drink only to be told that it was not available is not very acceptable. If something is not available they should inform the moment that item is not available or upon ordering.  But hey at least I had (very) fresh breath for the night with that mint overdose.



Mushroom soup
Our appetizer came without incident and it was mushroom soup. It might not have been the best mushroom soup I have had, but I think the taste was acceptable: it had the flavor of mushroom (though not as fragrant as it could have been) and not watered down.  It was gone within a few minutes though (I must have been hungry).



Crepe-like (thin) naan or is it tortillas 
... served with Chicken Curry 
After the appetizer was cleared, the first dish arrived: tortillas (I think) with chicken curry. It was like a fusion food of sorts where east (curry) meets the west (tortillas) and was pretty interesting. Since I am a chicken lover, it already had me with the chicken in the curry. The chicken was well cooked and tender, while the curry did not overpower the flavor of the chicken but enhanced it instead. The curry (and chicken) when eaten together with the thin crepe-like tortillas was an enriching experience, complimenting each other well. For those afraid of spices, you can afford to try this dish as it really is not that spicy at all and has more sweetness to it than spiciness.  



Veges on hotplate!
The dish that followed after was a vegetable dish that would also do well with the vegans out there! This dish consisted of non-leafy vegetables such as capsicums, eggplants and zucchinis which were nicely done and tasted good when served on the hotplate. They were not overcooked so they had that little nice crunch to make it a little more exciting.



Tortillas! 
Next up were the tortillas with minced... (yup) chicken (again). They were just like yummy pancakes filled with yummy goodness from within: tomatoes, minced chicken, cheese, spring onions topped of with a special sauce that really brought the whole thing together. Together with the salad, they were the perfect combination.




Fish fine dining style
The tortillas were soon followed up with dory fish served in a manner that resembles that of fine dining. Despite this dish not being (a) chicken (one), this was one of my favorites! This is one dish that I would recommend. The fish was moist, tender, tasty and melt in the mouth. It was so good that just thinking about it now is making me salivate! 



Paella
The restaurant's signature dish soon appeared... Paella, done in J style. The rice was served with marinated chicken, salon and tilapia. The taste resembled that of fried rice, only nicer. With the foods served earlier on, this dish still made its way into our almost filled up tummies... but not before dessert of course.



Vegetarian dish at the vegan table
In between dishes, I managed to sneak over to the next (vegan) table and take one (yes just one) photo (it was very distracting with all the food coming to our table!). Anyways, this is one of the dishes that was served at the vegan table: fried tortilla filled with grilled vegetables, chili beans, cheese, onions etc...



Dessert Part I
The dessert of the day was slices of pineapple that had been grilled together with black pepper and lemongrass, ginger gelato topped with vanilla caramel syrup on the side. Given the weird combination of pineapple, black pepper and lemongrass together with an unusual flavor for gelato, it took some time getting used to. But once the initial 'shock' had passed (after the first few tastes), it got better. But it could be an acquired taste really, since it is not the usual vanilla and chocolate ice-cream kind of dessert. You either love it or hate it, no two ways about it. 



Dessert Part II - Finale
This was simply a delight with the bananas (with salted caramel) hidden in the coconut infused mascarpone sabayon (cream) together with mangoes, and churros on the side.


At the end of it all, the dinner cost about S$60 per person. Though the service could be slightly improved it was pretty reasonable given the amount of food we had that night and my happy filled up tummy. J's Restaurant could be a venue for consideration when it comes to small family gatherings or functions.


J's Restaurant 
Address: 7 Purvis Street, #01-01 Singapore 188586

Phone: +65 6887 4787

Opening Hours:
Weekdays
Lunch: 11.30am - 2.30pm
Dinner: 6.30pm - 930pm

Weekends
Saturday: 6.00pm - 10.00pm
Sunday: Closed



This post has been brought to you by DramaQueen (photos and thoughts), iceprinxess's friend and accomplice on most of her travel adventures! Curious about the drama behind the queen? If yes, do check out more about the dramas that DramaQueen is into at EverythingSweet.me

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When travel collides with a byte, a unit of information made up of bits, TravelBytez is formed: snippets of ramblings on travel, food, shopping, living and anything else that comes to mind.

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