Was really excited to visit JL Studio for dinner even though my friends were questioning my decision since they serve modern Singaporean cuisine. And to go all the way to Taichung to enjoy flavours you are familiar with when you can eat the real thing in Singapore must be strange for many. But hey, you need to try to see what’s the hype about right, given all its accolades. And since I was in Taiwan, I decided to give it a try

The restaurant is housed on the second floor, with the restaurant on the first level serving Italian cuisine. The restaurants here are under Singya Corporation which had a range of restaurants under the group

You will be personally led up to the second floor once they verify your reservation and greeted by an open kitchen as you walked into the dining area

The 9 course menu is priced at NTD5,880 but in actual, you get more than 9 course. So much food I wanted to roll out of the place

It’s a very elegant place and the table deco puts a smile on your face. They only have alcohol pairing and non-alcohol pairing available. Meaning you cannot order by the bottle nor by the glass. This probably wasn’t something I preferred but I guess, they really want the drinks to go well with the food. So yes, you can choose not to order any drinks if you like as well but as I glanced across the tables, I see most tables have drinks on their table. lol

Amberjack | Starfruit | Jackfruit

Assam Fish

I tried the broth first. Wow, it’s good. More impressive cos they actually used starfruit juice and chilli prawn oil to recreate flavours of Assam. The beautifully plated dish of sliced starfruit, sweetness of the jackfruit and texture of the amberjack really comes through as you enjoy the ’assam’ sauce together

Langoustine | Abalone | Oyster Sauce 

Beef Horfun

‘Horfun’ was made using squid ink to give that extra fragrance. If I have to pinpoint, the ‘horfun’ can be a little softer to actually feel like horfun. It was a pity it was a teeny weeny hard. But the overall dish left an impression as you sliced through the dish to find green vegetables sitting at the end with the langoustine similar to the prawns you find in your horfun dish. And when you eat everything together, there was really that familiar flavour lingering in your mouth, with the spicy green chilli bursting at the end, complete with wok hey taste. It’s amazing how they create this dish without frying it. Not bad, not bad at all

Porky

Hidden dish. I loved how the presentation was so on-point, down to the wrapper inside the box. Made using Taiwanese flavours, the porky was actually quite good with a mixture of saltiness and sweetness playing on your palate

Grouper | Chamomile | Ginger

Chicken Rice. Chef’s signature dish

You can smell a whiff of the faint chicken rice when the dish was served. But when I smelled even harder, all I can smell is the freshness of the steamed fish. Lol. If you eat every component by itself, it taste like each on their own with the freshness of the fish and sweetness of the asparagus. Even the broth was simply a sweet fragrant broth with a subtle umami taste. However when you eat them all together and especially with the green chilli paste, wow, it really tasted like chicken rice. I thought the highlight was the green chilli paste. Cos without it, the whole dish wouldn’t be complete. And when I did a little burp later on, I could really taste chicken rice. It was actually quite mind-blowing. Lol

Squid | Curry Leaves | Sambal

Nasi Lemak

The ‘rice’ was made using squid (but I believe there was something else in it). Served with fried mussels to mimic how the real nasi lemak always served with something fried. Overall, the whole dish was too saucy. And when you mixed it all up, the sambal got covered up as well. And if they could create something that represent the saltiness of ikan bilis, I think they would have up their game with this

Roti Prata

Hidden dish. Made using hae bee hiam croissant roll and served with a side of cold ice-cream and butter, the croissant was well made on its own. As you pulled the croissant apart and taste it, you can taste the crisp and warm layers that were soft and flavourful. But when you dipped it with the ice cream, I say it tastes like roti prata (complete with curry sauce) 100%. I told them they can continue to keep this on their menu. lol

Maine Lobster | Kohlrabi | Fermented Banana Curry

Popiah

The only dish that went off track. I was really confused by the dish. Not sure if they meant for the dish to be visually popiah-looking and the taste supposed to remind me of something else. I was so bothered by this I actually asked them about it. And I say this definitely doesn’t taste like popiah. And it was a pity given their dishes so far had been been able to bring me back to Singapore

Hokkaido Rib Eye | Pistachio | Pineapple

Satay

Never knew beef could remind you of satay. But they really managed to. You could taste the charcoal grill from the outer layers of the rib eye that reminded you of the sweetness of the satay but the highlight here was actually the pistachio sauce that gives the entire dish the nutty flavour. Without that, this dish would actually be lacking. Execution of the beef was perfect and they had used Taiwanese pineapple as sides to mimic the traditional pineapple satay sauce, such that when you eat all the components together, your brain could actually identify that familiar taste of satay

Not forgetting the ketupat that you will find in satay sauce. They had used Taiwanese glutinous rice as a replacement. I say, it’s somewhat like, and somewhat different. The glutinous rice used here is slightly sweeter and not as fragrant as the original

Rojak

Palate cleanser

This palate cleanser was done well as it reminded me of the tamarind sauce and the fermented prawn paste and they had done the components really well

Tau Huey | Pandan | Peanut

I’m actually not a fan of tau huey so I was a little apprehensive of this dish. But I was pleasantly surprised to find a floral version of this tau huey dish. The tau huey was really smooth. The whole dish was less sweet than the original but it had fragrance of a floral taste to it. Quite refreshing and a easy-to-stomach dessert given how full one will be at this point of time

Yaw Kun Roti Kaya

Presentation 100%. The only one dessert can be eaten while the rest below are all raw eggs. Made using frozen kaya, burnt toast, salted butter and a touch of whisky. It actually tasted like the real thing. You could taste the burnt toast in the frozen kaya. The egg shell was made using biscuit but when you bite into them, it actually tasted like texture of egg shell (when you eat them accidentally). I was like wow, such great details they had actually considered so far

New Nanyang Oolong Tea

Each meal comes with complimentary coffee/tea and I went for the tea instead

Sweets

Bandung | Ambon

Petite 4 which I was so full I really couldn’t stomach anymore. But yes, the petite 4 were excellent as well

There were hits and misses but I did enjoy my meal here overall. Chef Jimmy Lim did appear for awhile before disappearing again. Personally, I was impressed how they can recreate that familiar flavour using ingredients you wouldn’t expect and it’s not common to find fine dining restaurants that serve a touch of home. It was a good experience, and I don’t mind trying it again given another chance (if they had changed their menu)

And every diner get to bring home Laksa cookie and a packet of tea

JL Studio

408, Taiwan, Taichung City, Nantun District, Yifeng Rd. Sec.4, 689號2樓