Lai Lim Bistro @ Jurong East: Jay Chou-inspired Cafe Food Review
Hey friends! 只是回憶的音樂盒還旋轉著 要怎麼停呢～ Recognize these lyrics? If you are - great! You're a true blue Jay Chou fan! I'm a big fan of Jay Chou as his songs basically dominated my Sony MP3 player in the 2000s, so imagine how excited I was when I found out about this Jay Chou-inspired cafe called Lai Lim Bistro located at Jurong East. Lai Lim Bistro is located at Vision Exchange and is just a short walk away from Jurong East MRT.
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| Lai Lim Bistro: Interior |
We made a reservation a few days in advance via WhatsApp (telephone details below) and were told that they had only one 'roller coaster seats' left at 7pm, so we said, sure thing! Lai Lim Bistro was a lot smaller than I imagined, but I didn't mind that because I love smaller, cosy restaurants.
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| Lai Lim Bistro: Interior |
From the outside, it looks like a regular restaurant, but it's only upon entering when you notice all the Jay Chou posters and quotes on the wall. The song 簡單愛 was also playing which immediately activated all my feels!
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| Lai Lim Bistro: Jay Chou posters |
There is also a bar in the restaurant and you could see the bartender whipping up all sorts of drinks. It's very interesting how the aesthetic of Lai Lim Bistro changes every time you look somewhere else - certain parts look more like a bar while the other parts look like a cafe. It depends on how you are seated and where you are facing!
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| Lai Lim Bistro: Bar |
We went to the roller coaster seats. It actually didn't resemble a roller coaster much and looked more like a booth table, but I liked the decor and the fact that it offered more privacy.
The staff came over to hand us our menu. One was a regular menu, and another - their signature cocktail menu - came enclosed in a CD case. All cocktails on the signature cocktail menu cost S$22. The cocktails names were also inspired by Jay Chou songs, such as 山湖海 (Summer Passion) and 七里香 (Orange Jasmine). How creative! |
| Lai Lim Bistro: Signature cocktails menu |
The drinks were served first. I got the 採紅(Rainbow Paradise) which was a mix of grenadine, pineapple juice, and blue curacao. The drink was very pretty and came in three colours, and when mixed became this beautiful lavender shade. The taste was very refreshing although I couldn't really taste the alcohol, and the pineapple flavour was very strong.
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| Lai Lim Bistro: Rainbow Paradise |
My boyfriend got the 黑色幽默 (paiseh can't remember the English name), which was this whiskey cocktail. The whiskey was super strong but after the ice melted it became very mellow and easier to drink.
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| Lai Lim Bistro: Whiskey |
The food took a while to be served which I thought was odd considering the menu consisted of very few items. Mine came first which was the 來 (Lai) Lim Signature Fried Kuey Teow (S$10). I loved the dish and the wok hei was heavenly, but the portion was too small for the price!
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| Lai Lim Bistro: Lai Lim Signature Fried Kuey Teow |
My boyfriend ordered the Fried Rice (S$10) and this was super flavour with a lot of wok hei, although we would have liked a little bit more salt.
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| Lai Lim Bistro: Fried Rice |
As we were still feeling hungry after gobbling down both dishes, we ordered a plate of Hokkien Mee (S$10). The Hokkien Mee felt a little similar to the kuey teow but this had a lot more sauce and ingredients such as the shrimp and fish cake. The chilli was a great addition as well.
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| Lai Lim Bistro: Hokkien Mee |
View the Lai Lim Bistro menu
There are a lot of interesting items on the menu and you should try their Seafood Combo (S$16) which comes served in a Ferris wheel! The combo consists of calamari, onion rings, battered prawns and fish, and fries.
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| Lai Lim Bistro: Seafood Combo |
If you're in need of more drinks, try their Rainbow Ferris 12 Shots (S$98) with vodka, grenadine, white rum, tequila, orange, cranberry juice, and more!
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| Lai Lim Bistro: Rainbow Ferris 12 Shots |
There's also this item called the Chess 32 shots (S$108) where you basically play chess and the loser gets to down a shot!
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| Lai Lim Bistro: Chess 32 Shots |
Lai Lim Bistro has a really cool concept and I believe that people would come here for the food and the drinks even if they're not a Jay Chou fan - although, who isn't? The bistro may come off a little gimmicky but I think it works (?) and I don't mind them at all since it's all in the name of fun. My main complaints are that the food portions are small and the service is slow, although it's obvious that they are understaffed so I am understanding of this.
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| Lai Lim Bistro: Interior |
Still, the food is pretty good and the prices are net so there's no GST or service charge. Lai Lim Bistro is a cool place to have lunch or dinner and a few drinks with friends, and I can see it being around for a long while!
Thanks for reading, and see you next post.
Lai Lim Bistro @ Jurong East Address: 2 Venture Dr, #02-33 Vision Exchange, S608526
Telephone: +65 8870 6648
Website
Telephone: +65 8870 6648
Website
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