Jiak Kim House: Modern Asian Dining With a Soul At The Heart of Singapore's Clubbing Past

Jiak Kim House

5 Jiak Kim Street

#01-17

Singapore 169425

Standing by the Singapore River on Jiak Kim Street is a trio of restored warehouses built in 1919 - which was once home to Zouk, where generations of Singaporeans spent nights lost in music and dance. Those who remember would know that after Zouk moved out, a 50 kg WWII aerial bomb was discovered at a construction site on Jiak Kim Street which was detonated in 2019. Today, the space has traded strobe lights for candlelight. Jiak Kim House, helmed by chef-partner Seow Tzi Qian, keeps the rhythm alive, this time in flavour rather than sound.

Jiak Kim House now resides in a trio of warehouses built in 1919

We visited as part of the Citi Prestige Haute Dining menu, priced at SGD 206 for 2, excluding wines and water. The menu reads like a love letter to SEA cuisine but edited through a modernist lens. It is remarkably good value for the quality and during our visit, there were only five tables dining, 2 large groups and the 3 smaller tables that each had the Citi Prestige Haute Dining menu. A quietly surprising turnout for the food quality.

Menu:

• Warm Bread and Soup

• Tom Yum Lobster Chee Cheong Fun with Assam Fish Farce, Sambal Cuttlefish Pappardelle, Ulam Herb Lasagna

• Char Siew Iberico Pork with Poached Pear, Triple Garlic, Sand Ginger

• Root Vegetable Melange with Green Apple Sorbet, Golden Beetroot, Carrot Tartare

• Kam Heong Grouper with Black Pepper Sambal, Cilantro Rice, Mangosteen Salsa

• Option 1: Herbal Seafood Pao Fan with Fresh Seafood, Ikura, Dashi Beurre Blanc

• Option 2: Tandoori Lamb Rack with Cumin Carrots, Curried Lamb Mash, Mint Coriander Ganoush

• Option 3: Duo of Asian Wagyu MBS 6-7 with Shiso Hamburg, Kimchi Pickles, Bordelaise Sauce

• Yang Zhi Gan Lu with Mango Mikan Sorbet, Coconut Panna Cotta, Passionfruit

Our meal opens confidently with a warm bread and soup, subtle but grounding. Things truly take off with the Tom Yum Lobster Chee Cheong Fun, a clever reimagination where the robust tang of tom yum frames rice rolls filled with assam fish sauce. Alongside, the Sambal Cuttlefish Pappardelle teases with charred heat, while the Ulam Herb Lasagna offers a cooling counterpoint, fragrant and green. Then comes perhaps one of the most telling dishes of Chef Seow's style, the Char Siew Iberico Pork with Poached Pear and Triple Garlic. It is unapologetically rich but never cloying. The sand ginger sharpens the edges of the dish, steering it away from just sweetness into balance. You can taste both the hawker and the haute in every bite.

The Root Vegetable Melange cleanses the palate before the Kam Heong Grouper is served up with black pepper sambal, cilantro rice and a mangosteen salso. The sweetness from the fruit and the savoury intensity of kam heong speak the local dialects of the flavour.

We are given three options for main courses and the 2 of us when with sharing plates of Herbal Seafood Pao Fan as well as the Duo of Asian Wagyu. The Pao Fan is an interesting mix of dashi beurre blanc underneath fresh seafood, almost an interpretation of how a western chef would cook this dish whilst the Wagyu is indulgent, with a Shiso Hamburg and a classic steak with a Bordelaise sauce. Overall, the mains were definitely not as strong as the starters and I would definitely choose multiple seconds of the starters over the mains.

Dessert is a reimagined Yang Zhi Gan Lu, those familiar tropical notes of mango, pomelo and coconut milk rendered anew. Here it arrives with Mango Mikan Sorbet, Coconut Panna Cotta and Passionfruit. A splendidly refreshing and playful close which we enjoyed very much.

Jiak Kim House's reinvented Yang Zhi Gan Lu

Booking

Jiak Kim House is a large venue and when we visited, the place was only about 20-30 % full. I think you should be able to get a table without reservations. Though we would always recommend reservations, at least the restaurants have a better indication of food prep required for the night.

Accessibility

Jiak Kim House sits along Jiak Kim Street, just of Robertson Quay. To be honest, I often find this location really inaccessible, though in the evenings, it can be a very pleasant walk along the river to the location if you are coming in from Clarke Quay or Fort Canning MRT, which is about a 20-25 min walk. The closest MRT station would be Havelock MRT, which is approximately a 7 min walk.

The Damage

We had a splendid deal as part of Citi Prestige Haute Dining, meaning our meal cost only SGD 206 for 2 pax. Expect this amount to double if you are visiting without any dining programs.

Would We Recommend?

Yes and we think that more people should know about Jiak Kim House. This restaurant feels like the kind of restaurant Singapore needs more of. One that respects its SEA roots while speaking fluently to the present. Chef Seow's plates are confident and grounded in memory and showcases flavours neatly, suiting both the local palate and for our visiting friends.