Food Review: Jia Wei Chinese Restaurant at Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy – One of the Most Underrated Chinese Restaurants in Singapore

Tucked away at the second floor of the Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy in Katong is Jia Wei, an unassuming Chinese restaurant in the chain hotel. Although most of Singapore’s best Chinese restaurants are usually located in town, this Katong gem piqued my interest after an acquaintance on Instagram posted a couple of mouthwatering dishes from the venue. A quick check at various websites also revealed a few value-for-money deals so the decision to come was really a no-brainer.

Get a 20% discount voucher at Jia Wei here

As of this writing, I have been to Jia Wei five times. The first two times were for the value lunch sets. Portions were quite big and I was amazed by the 4 courses that came with the meal I chose. Following that, I was invited by the restaurant for dinner to check out the ala carte menu. I also dropped by a couple of times for their seasonal menus. The restaurant has a special dish that changes each month.

Jia Wei uses locally sourced ingredients whenever possible and that includes the greens in its vegetable dishes and even some of the seafood. Believe it or not, Singapore does have a thriving agri/aquaculture sector.

During my latest visit, Jia Wei had just launched its new dimsum offering. Available for lunch, the restaurant has rolled out a number of unique dishes perfect for yum cha. Among the most beguiling are the Tangerine Peel Spare Ribs (S$8), Butterfly Pea Har Gow (S$7.80) and the Australian Scallop in Pea Flower Rice Roll (S$8.80). The latter two are presented in blue, with the skin made with blue pea which is supposedly rich in antioxidants. 

Presentation aside, I love the rice roll in particular due to the plump scallops found within. In most dimsum restaurants, one gets to choose either prawn or char siu filling. I rarely get to see scallops as an option for this quintessential yum cha dish.

The Wok-Fried Daikon Cake with XO Sauce (S$10) is another highlight. I don’t know how they do it but they managed to achieve a crispy exterior while still retaining a wonderfully soft and moist interior for the radish cake. 

Aside from the dimsum offerings, Jia Wei has also rolled out a few new ala carte dishes. The Curly Kale Soup with Braised Crab Meat and Bean Curd (S$20) makes use of locally-sourced vegetables. I was rather pleasantly surprised by the taste of this soup as kale usually has a rather more pronounced flavor than other leafy vegetables. The flavor was rather mild in the soup, and the end result was a taste similar to Chinese-style spinach soup.

For meat lovers, the Wok-fried Wagyu Beef Cubes, Black Garlic and Asparagus (S$48) was delectably tender with an earthy flavor stemming from the garlic. I would imagine wok-frying to be a tricky affair for beef as it cooks quickly and there’s always that chance of over-cooking. 

Another starter I recommend is the Crispy Local Farm Soft Shell Crab with Crystal Ice Plant, Plum-infused Tomato and Yuzu Dressing (S$22). This was simply a delight to the senses with its varying textures, most notably from the ice plant that gave it a cold, crispy feel. This juxtaposed nicely with the distinctively sweet tomato, made fruity due to the plum infused in it. The yuzu dressing on the other hand wasn’t as pronounced as I expected.

A must order at Jia Wei is the Crispy Iberico Pork Collar with Sweet and Sour Hawthorn Sauce (S$30). Sweet and sour pork is a guilty pleasure of mine and this restaurant’s rendition comes with a delectably tangy sauce that would go nicely with a bowl of plain rice. The Iberico pork used here ensures that each piece is as plump as can be, with less of the starch fillings that often overwhelm this quintessential dish in other places.

Jia Wei has just 5 vegetable dishes in its menu with an emphasis on leafy greens. The Wok Fried Local Farm Pea Sprout with Minced Garlic (S$22) came recommended and didn’t disappoint with its chewy stalks.

While it is tempting to just settle with a bowl of plain rice – especially given the juicy sweet and sour pork that came previously, the Jia Wei Ocean Gems Vermicelli in Opeh Leaf (S$28) is a carb dish I can personally vouch for. As the name suggests, the noodles came brimming with lots of seafood including scallops and prawns as well as generous servings of mushroom. The secret here is the broth which has been boiled for hours using chicken stock, giving the vermicelli a heightened appetizing flavor.

Alternatively, go for the Crispy Noodles, Ocean Gems, Chicken Broth Gravy (S$26) which uses crispy noodles rather than vermicelli. This is a less dramatic carb dish as it’s served in a large bowl rather than an opeh leaf.

We ended the meal with a highlight for dessert – the Chilled Home Made Coconut Pudding with Ice Cream (S$15) was presented in a novel manner, with the pudding and ice cream housed inside a young coconut and with smoke billowing out of dried ice for added effect. Theatrics aside, I found it to be a rather refreshing sweet ending. The coconut pudding here is homemade and you can immediately make out the greater concentration of the actual fruit in Jia Wei’s version compared to the ones readily available in the supermarkets.

With my multiple visits over the years, I remain quite impressed with Jia Wei. It is quite underrated and not a lot of people know about it but the food is really quite topnotch. It is one of those few restaurants that I have saved in my mind and intend to revisit regularly. The ambiance may be a tad ordinary but the cuisine certainly is not. I can’t wait to be back soon.

Jia Wei Restaurant
50 East Coast Road
Roxy Square
Singapore 428769

+65 6340 5678

20% discount vouchers for Jia Wei available here