Jewel Cafe & Bar

C says:

We’re always thrilled when old favourites do well enough amidst stiff competition to open up new branches, that are sometimes even better than the original outlet. Kith is one of them, and now Jewel Coffee too.
 
We’ve always been a fan of Jewel at Shenton Way – their coffee is good, and more importantly (for us), so is their food. Their chicken wings with kicap manis are to-die-for, and I love their mushroom medley linguine as well. Their second outlet, Jewel Cafe & Bar, is more of a proper eatery with a full menu, complete with a drinks/cocktail menu too.
 

Loads of things on the menu called out to us, and after a very painful process of elimination, we chose the Shio-Koji Octopoke to start with, and one item each from the pasta and burger sections. The Octopoke had diced octopus seasoned with shio koji, mixed with ginger flower and a wasabi sauce. This was a good palate awakener – bright and fresh, and tart without being too sour.
 

No mushroom medley on the menu here, but there’s a Roma Carbonara, which I assume is the traditional Roman-style carbonara which doesn’t use cream. Just egg, bacon and cheese. This was a truly awesome carbonara. Every bite was infused with smoky bacon flavour, and the sauce was really light yet tasty. I could easily polish off the entire plate on my own next time.
 

They have a selection of very tantalizing-sounding burgers. This time, we decided to try the Port and Blue Cheese one. This was also a winner – the patty was a juicy medium-rare and quite flavourful, and the port-infused onions weren’t overpoweringly sweet. I could do a bit more blue cheese though. They use buttery brioche buns for the burger, and for the first time I actually found myself eating all of the bun as well.
 

For dessert, we tried the pan-seared watermelon steaks with balsamic syrup, basil and pineapple sorbet, and apple crumble with vanilla ice cream. Both were really good. The sorbet was excellent, and while I would have liked the watermelon to have been a bit more charred, the whole flavour combination worked really well. The crumble was slightly deconstructed, and paired with a lovely burnt caramel that saved it from being too predictably sweet.
 
There are so many more things that I want to try, from more burgers and pasta to some of their sinful-sounding sides. I foresee us venturing to Rangoon pretty often in the coming weeks.

A says:

Except for the lack of parking, this place is awesome. Service is casual and relaxed while the menu is right up my alley. A definite contender for best finds of the year.

Jewel Cafe & Bar
129 Rangoon Road
Tel: 6298-9216
Opening hours: 8 am - 10 pm
Closed Mondays