We had a nice dinner at MIMI *秘密 Chinese restaurant at historic Riverhouse which is the oldest restored building in Clarke Quay by the Singapore River.
*秘密 means secret in Chinese.
The dishes were creations of chef Sam Chong’s 26 years of culinary experience. Chef Sam brings insights from his stints at Nanjing Impressions (Singapore), Jumbo (Bangkok) and Crystal Jade (San Francisco) into his modern interpretations of classical Huaiyang cuisine and iconic Singapore dishes (like chicken rice and chili crab).
Come, taste with me.
First dish Escargot Spring Rolls.
Crispy fried spring rolls filled with moist soft chopped snails imported from France. The chopped escargot felt and tasted like soft spongy mushrooms stewed in a robustly savoury soy sauce.
Chef Sam showed us the escargot before they were chopped up to stuff the spring rolls.
I like this appetiser. (It is not a menu item. If you like to try it, got to order 2 days in advance.)
Mala Fried Carrot Cake.
I like this appetiser. The savoury gently spicy crisp outside wrapped sweet diakon (radish) inside which was warm, juicy and soft like tofu. (Needs pre-order.)
Chef Sam turned the iconic Huaiyang Lionhead classic on its head.
Instead of the usual minced pork, chef Sam used Aussie Angus beef. Swee lah… the large beef ball was cooked to just the right doneness, so it almost melts in the mouth to release its sweet beefy flavour and aroma.
Must order this Angus Beef Lionhead 清炖牛肉狮子头 in Superior Beef Soup. Price $18++.
Flambe Dry Bak Kut Teh 火焰肉骨茶. $18++.
Took one bite.
Wow. Fall off the bone tender. The tender meat falls off cleanly like peeling a banana.
Tender and juicy with visceral fat, it was sweet inside and infused with a gentle delicate blend of savoury herbal spiciness. Really tasty, I like it.
Truffle Mushroom Filo Pastry.
Various mushrooms sautéed with truffle wrapped in a crispy flaky layered shell. Spongy mushrooms with layers of savoury flavours overlaid with prominent truffle aroma and taste. (Needs pre-order.)
Saucy Crab & Egg Affair 鸳鸯蟹肉配馒头. $18++.
Actually nowadays, I like to eat my chili crab this way 😄 The meat extracted and mixed into the sauce. No need to fight the crab claws with my fingers 🦀
But, I am picky lah – the crab must be very fresh.
This is good. Fresh crab meat in chef Sam’s interpretation of chili crab – the sauce is well balanced mild savoury, sweet, tangy, spicy flavours which allows us to taste the crab’s natural sweetness. There was a bit of pleasant gentle spicy heat on the palate that lingered briefly.
The yang (white) section was also savoury sweet with more crab flavour but sans tangy and spicy taste. The little browned fried bun (mantou) was sweet and good enough to eat on its own.
Matsutake mushroom, carrot, water chestnut etc in a tofu pocket 松茸素珍袋. 2 pieces $16.00++.
The Unsubtle Truffle Mein 黑松露鸳鸯米. $20.00++.
Bee hoon (rice vermicelli) and glass noodles stir fried with white button mushroom, prawns and crab. Dressed with black truffle sauce and aromatic oil.
Robust unsubtle truffle flavour and aroma over savoury sweetness of the two types of noodles and bits of mushroom, prawn and crab.
Hainanese Black Chicken Rice 海南黑鸡饭. $17.00 ++.
Chef Sam’s noir interpretation of the old classic white chicken and white rice. Does it work?
If I were to taste this poached chicken blindfolded, I may have a hard time telling that it was a black chicken. So, in that regard, the chicky sweet taste is about the same. But, the black colour does make the dish a bit more interesting.
It was a small free-range bird, with little visceral fat and rather thin skin. So, people who are not big fans of fat birds will appreciate this more.
I like this rice. It is a Spanish rice boiled in chicken stock coloured by squid ink.
Tasted exactly like white chicken rice (the squid ink contributed colour but I didn’t detect its inky taste). The Spanish rice grains were relatively heavy, tender, had a bite like boiled barley. The grains were well infused with chicky taste which complemented the rice’s sweetness. Moist but not greasy.
Thank you chef Sam for a nice dinner. I like the creative twists in all the delicious dishes. I enjoyed every dish, particularly memorable were the mala carrot cake, bak kut teh, beef lionhead, and chili crab. Makan kakis were raving about the black chicken rice, truffle mien, escargot spring roll etc.
Disclosure: Please note that this was a media tasting.
River House was a property belonging to Tan Hiok Nee who was a powerful businessman, gambier & pepper plantation owner, Major China of Johor 1870 – 1875 and Leader of Ngee Heng Kongsi (a chapter of Tiandihui Society) 1864 – 1885. He was close to Johor royalty.
In 1875, Tan Hiok Nee recused himself from Johor affairs and moved to live in Singapore. River House was one of several mansions he built. It was known then as 涟漪轩 or “House of Ripples”. Tan Hiok Nee retired to his hometown in Chaoshan, China where he passed away in 1902 at age 75.
After his death, the once grand River House went through a few transformations. In 1913, it was the grounds of Tuan Mong School. In 1918, it was converted to Ho Ho Biscuit Factory. River House went from a grand mansion to godown for gambier, school grounds, biscuit factory, a warehouse and later languished for decades in disrepair. Salvation came in 1989 when it was gazetted for conservation by Urban Renewal Authourity of Singapore. Restored in 1993, it was re-purposed to house upmarket F & B businesses.
Today, there is a Jalan Tan Hiok Nee in Johor Bahru in his memory. Known also as 文化街 “Culture Street”, it is a busy heritage food hub and venue for civic events in Johor Bahru’s old quarter.
There’s another theory that River House started life not as one of Tan Hiok Nee’s mansions but was actually the unofficial (read secret 秘密) headquarters of the Ngee Hok Society. In the 1880s, the powerful Ngee Hok Society had some 15,000 members in various vocations from street hawkers to coolies. They ran gambling dens, opium dens, brothels and often clashed with rival societies.
Wu ya bo? (Is it true?) It’s a secret 🤫
Ah… that’s why this restaurant is called MIMI 秘密 which means secret in Chinese…. .
Restaurant name: MIMI 秘密
Address: 3A River Valley Road, #01-02 Clarke Quay, Level 2, 179020
Tel: +65 8879 0688 📞 +6562611189
Hours: 5:00pm – 9:30pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 17 Jul 2020
