Jia Wei Chinese Restaurant @ Mercure Roxy Hotel

 ~Invited Session~

If you grew up in the East Coast area, there is a good chance you will know about Jiawei, which is one of the best-kept secrets in Chinese dining in that area.

 

Chinese executive chef of Jiawei, Victor Lee, has come up with new dishes after being inspired to support local food production. You can savour these new additions at Jia Wei Chinese Restaurant, located at Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy, from 15 April 2022.

Butterfly pea har gow

 

Doesn’t it look so pretty when served? The natural blue dye of the butterfly pea gives such a beautiful sheen. Chef Victor and his team also serve up amazing traditional dim sum and this new take on traditional har gow doesn’t detract from the its great taste that Jiawei is known for.

So delicate and pretty!

All my dining companions spent a little while oohing and aahing at how pretty the dish was!

Butterfly pea flower rice roll with Australian scallops

 

The second butterfly pea flower-infused dish is another perennial dim sum favorite, the scallop rice roll. Again, another dish that was almost too pretty too eat! Its served with rice pops as well, giving a nice crispy juxtaposition to the chewiness of the rice roll skin!

Wok-fried daikon cake with XO sauce

 

Generous serving of daikon cake.

I have to say, that Chef Victor’s version of fried daikon cake might be just the best restaurant version in any dim sum restaurant here in Singapore. Expertly fried till fragrant, with just the right textures, chewy and slightly charred at the same time, in a tastefully piquant and fragrant house-made XO sauce. This is one dish that you must order at Jiawei everytime you are there for dim sum.

This daikon cake dish is almost enough for 1 person alone, and is almost too big as a standalone dimsum dish. It just means it’s a really value-for-money dish!

 

Crispy Local soft shell crab with ice plant, ume infused tomato, yuzu dressing

 

I never knew that our local farms produced soft shell crabs commercially, and I daresay these crabs are just as good as those you find in high end Japanese restaurants. It was also very interesting that Chef Victor decided to use ice plants in this dish, seeing how ice plants are usually purely for decorative purpose in dishes. This certainly gives the dish additional texture and depth and is much more interesting than other similar offerings in the market.

 

Corn-fed har cheong chicken sliders with yuzu-dressing

Continuing the yuzu-theme is the corn-fed har cheong chicken sliders with yuzu-dressing. This is a dish that really gave me thoughts of ‘it’s so simple, why didn’t anyone else think of it?’ in my mind, and in reality, it worked very well too! The sliders buns are fluffy mantou slices, given this dish an apt oriental hamburger feel.

 

Was so good, I just had to give this kudos!

 

Curly kale soup with braised crab meat and bean curd

Chef Victor’s gives the traditional seafood and bean curd soup a colourful and healthy twist by adding local curly kale (again, locally-grown kale is something I never knew Singapore had!). This felt very healthful and nourishing and is certainly a really nutritious option!

 

Wok-fried celtuce stem with Szechuan dried chilli

 

This is a dish that you will normally find in Szechuan-style restaurants which are not so common in Singapore, but practically everywhere if you have travelled to China. And it IS definitely my favorite vegetable to eat. Crunchy, delicious, and super nutritious, I am glad Chef Victor has curated the best and tastiest type of dishes not just for the traditional Cantonese-styled cuisine that Jiawei is known for!

 

Crispy egg noodle with ocean gems in chicken broth gravy

 

I am a sucker for fried crispy egg noodles. Don’t let this dish fool you; it seemingly looks very easy to make since it’s all goopy but to me it really demonstrates the skills of the rice and noodle chef in a Cantonese restaurant. You have to time the cooking process well to serve this noodle dish still crispy while maintaining the fresh taste of the seafood ingredients.

Chef Victor’s version is simply one of the best in Singapore, and I highly recommend anyone to just order this dish on its own, it’s worth a trip going to Jiawei just for this!

 Chilled home-made coconut pudding with vanilla ice cream

We were told that this dish is well worth the price. I was a little taken a back when told this was $15 a portion, but it was so good! The rolling dry ice in the bowl as this was served was theatrics, but I really like that it was such a refreshing end to the meal, acting both as a palate cleanser and a light but satisfying dessert.

 The new revamped menu, conceptualised by Chef Victor and his stellar teams of chef, is catered to suit all occasions – big or small, from business luncheons to joyous celebration and cosy intimate sessions.