The Venus @ South Bridge Road - New French Restaurant With An Asian-Inspired Twist Opens In Chinatown

Nestled within the heart of Chinatown, the new French restaurant, The Venus, offers contemporary French cuisine with a hint of Asian flavours. Inspired by the Greek Goddess Venus, the setting was elegant and refined, with marbled tables, plush teal-coloured seats lining the gorgeous space, and high booth seats made for intimate seating corners. The restaurant also offers affordable set menus and ala carte dishes. So if you're looking for date places that won't break the bank, The Venus has just the thing.

We tried their daily 3-course set lunch, priced at $38++.

Har Cheong Gai 3.8/5

To start off the menu, we had the appetiser of Har Cheong Gai, the familiar favourite prawn paste chicken but elevated with goji jam, caviar and calamansi. Unfortunately, while we enjoyed the crispy and succulent chicken pieces, they lacked the shrimp paste flavour.

Signature Angel Hair 4/5

The Signature Angel Hair is available at a supplement of $5. It has a strong truffle scent, served with ikura, Kaviari caviar and tobiko. The angel hair pasta was cooked to a perfect al dente texture, with little pops of ikura and tobiko adding a nice briny sweetness to the dish.

Fragrance Oil Confit Duck Leg 4.2/5

Available at a supplement of $5, the Fragrance Oil Confit Duck Leg is served with crushed potatoes, split jus, and pan-roasted vegetables. The confit duck leg has a nice crispy skin, with superbly tender and juicy meat underneath.

Black Angus Beef Ribeye 4.2/5

The Black Angus Beef Ribeye served with watercress, Padron peppers, and five-spice mustard jus was also excellent. The medium rare meat was incredibly tender with hints of the smoky marinade and black pepper.

Profiteroles 4.2/5

We ended the course meal on a sweet note with a choice of desserts. The Profiteroles are filled with milk oolong cream and Chantilly cream. We enjoyed the crisp, crumbly texture of the puff pastry, and the cream, which has a fragrant hint of oolong milk and vanilla, was delicious.

Mandarin Peel Madeleines 4/5

The Mandarin Peel Madeleines are served with passion orange marmalade, adding a sharp zestiness to the soft and fluffy madeleines.

Words and photos by Crystal. A girl who likes to eat, photograph, and write about food, and dreams about travelling around the world one day. Note: This is an invited tasting.


The Venus
198 South Bridge Rd
Singapore 058747
Tel: +65 81838181
Facebook
Nearest MRT: Chinatown (DT Line, NE Line), Maxwell (TE Line)

Opening Hours:
Daily: 11am - 230pm, 5pm - 11pm

Direction:
1) Alight at Chinatown MRT station. Take Exit F. Walk to traffic junction Cross Street and South Bridge Road. Cross the road and walk down South Bridge Road. Walk to destination. Journey time about 3 minutes. [Map]

2) Alight at Maxwell MRT station. Take Exit 2. Walk straight down South Bright Road towards Upper Cross Street. Journey time about 5 minutes. [Map]

Jin Jue Seafood @ Jalan Besar - Cantonese Style Seafood Zi Char That Opens Until 5am

Just across the busy cluster of eateries in Jalan Besar is the new brightly lit signboard of Jin Jue Seafood. Specialising in Cantonese-style seafood zi char, it has a homely space with a reasonably priced menu. It operates till 5am daily, serving as another supper spot you can booklist.

Red Snapper Fish Head Steamboat 4.5/5

The signature of Jin Jue Seafood would be their charcoal Red Snapper Fish Head Steamboat ($38). The fresh snapper slices are deliberately served separately to avoid having the fish break up throughout the meal and for diners to be able to have them fresh upon cooking. We especially enjoyed the broth's herbal notes, which resulted from the addition of goji berries and dang gui.

You have vegetables like yam, seaweed and Chinese cabbage in the base. You can opt to top up for additional ingredients to go along, such as Prawns ($18/5 Pieces), Spinach ($6), Enoki Mushrooms ($4) and more. We appreciated our pot was promptly refilled and that they provided the actual broth for refills instead of watered down base or water.

Lemongrass Pork Ribs 4.2/5

It looked unassuming, but the Lemongrass Pork Ribs ($18) was quite a crowd favourite. The sweet-glazed exterior had a nice slight crunch, while the meat was tender and easily torn off from the bone. The hints of spice also had us wanting more. We didn't mind it, but as its name suggests, we expected the lemongrass flavour to be much more pronounced than it was.

Stir-fried Dried Scallops & Kailan 3.5/5

The Stir-fried Dried Scallops & Kailan ($15) had stir-fried kailan beneath deep-fried kailan. Adding dried scallops helped lend an umami touch, but we found the dish as a whole too oily.

Curry Fish Head 3.8/5

I haven't had that many curry fish heads to compare, but my dining companions found Jin Jue's Curry Fish Head ($35) pretty satisfying. It came with a generous portion of vegetables like brinjal and ladyfinger, along with crisped beancurd skin. The curry leans more milky and creamy, and we thought the spice could be more assertive.

Black Pepper Crab 4/5

We were impressed by how fresh the Black Pepper Crab (Seasonal Price) was, the meat was firm and sweet, and it came with a good amount of roe. Their black pepper sauce leans sweeter, with a medium spice level from the chilli and peppers used.

Photos and words by Jo. A girl who loves her Mala (麻辣) at Da La (大辣), discovering hidden food gems and a good cup of matcha latte. Note: This is an invited tasting.


Jin Jue Seafood
369 Jalan Besar
Singapore 208997
Tel: +65 65303689
Facebook
Nearest MRT: Bendemeer MRT (DT Line), Farrer Park (NE Line)

Opening Hours:
Daily: 5pm - 5am

Direction:
1) Alight at Farrer Park MRT station. Take Exit H. Walk towards Kitchener Link. At Kitchener Link walk to Petain Road. Turn right at Petain Road, walk towards Jalan Besar Road. Turn left at Jalan Besar Road. Walk to destination. Journey time about 8 minutes. [Map]

2) Alight at Bendemeer MRT station. Take Exit A. Left right and walk to Kallang Bahru towards Lavender Street. At Lavender Street, turn right and walk towards Foch Road. Turn left onto Foch Road and walk towards Jalan Besar. Cross the road at Jalan Besar. Walk to destination. Journey time about 8 minutes. [Map]