Unveil Mimi’s Secrets with her New Oriental Tapas Menu

CONTENT: Yiew Kai Jie

After its official launch back in July, the three-in-one F&B concept location The Riverhouse has officially opened its oriental restaurant Mimi to much fanfare and anticipation. The Chinese tapas restaurant is located on the second floor of The Riverhouse and like its name which means “secret” in Chinese, the entrance leading up to the restaurant is shrouded and hidden out of sight unless one looks for it carefully. This quirky little concept pays homage to the culture and heritage of the once-thriving “secret society” of the notorious Ghee Hok Society, where the building used to be its secret headquarters for all of its infamous operations.

Under the watchful eyes of Chef Sam Chong and Executive Culinary Director Chef Daniel Koh, the duo brings more than 20 years of culinary experience and their skills and expertise across a wide contrast of Chinese cuisine. The chefs are attempting to redefine Chinese dining through an approachable contemporary menu that incorporates both traditional and modern preparation techniques. Guests will discover the familiar flavours of Sichuan, Shanghainese, Cantonese and Mongolian cuisine served in a western shared plates style paired with the restaurant’s extensive selection of wines and beers.

Knowing the importance of how important a communal meal is to some families, the restaurant has focused on tweaking its dishes to encourage guests to order from a wide array of over 40 sharing dishes on the menu and share the love with their friends or family!

To whet one’s appetite, the Crispy Beef ‘Jerky’ ($14) features paper-thin slices of beef tenderloin coated in a mild Sichuan spice with peppercorn, chilli powder along with a sugar glaze and deep-fried ginger. This dish takes a lot of effort and love to make as the beef can only be sliced and cooked to order due to the meat being starchy and inedible if the protein is cooked in a big batch beforehand. Guests can also dip into the Escargot Spring Roll ($14) that is filled with deep-fried escargots and mushrooms should they be unable to eat beef.

One of the more Insta-worthy dishes from Mimi includes the Garden of Mushrooms ($15) that imitates the fertile ground of an actual garden. The ‘mushrooms’ arrives at the table in the form of handmade char siew baos, coated in cocoa powder and lying on a bed of crushed Oreo chocolate soil. Despite the peculiar pairing, the mild sweetness went stupendously well with the delectable taste of the pork filling. Guests can coat the buns with the additional layer of Oreo soil to further sweeten the deal- just don’t double-dip into the oreo mix!

A local favourite and must-order on the menu, A Saucy Crab & Egg Affair ($18) features an eye-catching pool of ‘yin yang’ spicy chilli crab sauce with a generous amount of crab meat with a briny soup of egg whites surrounded by a ring of fried crispy mantous. To wipe the plate clean, additional mantous are available for order at an additional $1 per piece.

Moving on to the main proteins, the Snout About Stout ($18) incorporates traditional Chinese zichar with modern western cooking techniques – tender pork ribs glazed in an addictive “pork rib king” sauce and dotted with Guinness espuma.

A dish that would bring an adult’s childhood days back to life is the Oh My Cod ($28) a pristine piece of delicately steamed cod topped off with spicy sauce, sesame oil with a layer of steamed egg at the bottom. While the dish might look rather ordinary, this dish is sure to bring back fond memories to some diners when they remember the time their parents or grandparents whipped up the dishes in the comfort of their kitchens. While some guests might complain that the dish might taste rather bland, the dish is meant to be less salty then what some of them might have been used in their own dining rooms so as not to overshadow the main ingredients of the dishes.

For guests who prefer a more western spin to their meal, guests can opt for the Salmon Medallions ($26) cooked in a soy sabayon and topped off with crispy salted egg fish skin. The salted egg fish skins are bound to be a hit with every diner regardless of their age, however the salmons could have used more marination as it felt underseasoned and would be overwhelmed with the distinct taste of the fish skins.

As with every modern restaurant, there has to be at least one dish that showcases the ingredient that every Singaporean considers being a new modern mainstay: the truffle. The Unsubtle Truffle Mein ($20), showcases al-dente rice and mung bean vermicelli (bee hoon and tung hoon) topped off with shrimp along with a small pitcher of thick black truffle sauce as the pièce de résistance. The two different types of noodles helps give the dish a bit of a bite along with the deshelled prawns while the warm sauce containing genuine bits of shaved truffle are poured over the noodles.

Finish the delectable meal with a refreshing Icey Berry Jelly ($8) or a more heartwarming classic Yammy Orh Nee ($8).

Overall, the new tapas menu will prove to be a hit with many customers regardless if they are young or old due to its wide variety and ingenious unity of oriental and western ingredients and cuisines. However, the portion size of the dishes will leave a lot to be desired- as many guests will be too used to the more generous portions that one can easily find in a typical zi char store.

Mimi is located at The Riverhouse, 3A River Valley Road, Level 2, The Riverhouse, Clarke Quay, Singapore 179020 Open daily from 12pm to 2pm and 6pm to 10:30pm.

Reservations are highly recommended, please call: +65 62611189.