Ring in the Chinese New Year with Mimi at The Riverhouse as they celebrate the lunar festivities with an enticing offering – Lunar Soirée, featuring three festive menus from now till the 9th of February.
Perfect for Lunar reunions and gatherings with friends and family, Mimi redefines Chinese dining through its approachable modern menu that incorporates both traditional and modern preparation techniques.
Ideal for celebrations and relaxed communal dining, the Lunar Soirée menus invite groups ranging from four to six at $68++ per head, to eight to ten at $108++ per head. With each menu carefully curated, celebrants can expect a bountiful meal that will leave them with ‘prosperous’ bellies. Selected items are also available as a la carte options.
All set menus comprise the Mimi Prosperity Akagai Yu Sheng 鱼生捞起 ($48 for small, $88 for large) which includes ingredients such as Akagai ark shell clams, deep fried yam, pickled red ginger and winter melon, pomelo, deep fried salmon skin, truffle oil and yuzu dressing to name a few. Guests can add abalone to their prosperity toss at a top-up of $10 for a truly ‘huat’ time.
I personally got to try Set Menu B and I gotta say I was hands down impressed, none of the dishes disappointed me even in the slightest. I can’t even decide which dish was the best as there’s a straight up tie between the braised Dried Oysters, Pork Trotters or the Mimi’s Signature Roast Duck. The Pork Trotter was basically fall off the bone and dividing it between the guests was simply done with a fork and dinner knife and it was pretty much melt in your mouth with phenomenally made sauce to compliment it.
The Duck on the other hand was BIG, cut and displayed nicely for guests to pick their favourite parts (breast for me personally). I would say it did get slightly dry at some parts but the crispy skin and the flavour of the duck just shot it right to the top.
The Fish Maw in Crab Meat soup tasted very much like sharks fin soup which I love but am always conflicted due to the ethical implications of the dish. This solution makes it a great ethical alternative as it had all the flavour elements without the tasteless sharks fin.
The Yam Ring was fried wonderfully although I’m still not a big fan of yam. What was inside the basket was definitely the highlight with several pieces of abalone and prawns that more or less completed the feel of an Auspicious Chinese New Year set menu.
The Truffle Fried Rice was a first for me as I’ve never heard anything like it, but after tasting the dish I could see why it works. The truffle flavour is very subtle but gives the dish a little more depth that is more than welcome to an otherwise very traditional Chinese dish.
While not all the dishes were particularly outstanding, they were great renditions of their traditional flavours, which is fine considering the traditional nature of the season. That said, I would give a special shout out to the Salmon Sabayon which was definitely different and cooked wonderfully with a hint of that slightly under-cooked pink I love.
The Mango Sago was delightfully not too sweet and was complemented with a flaky pastry stuffed with red bean. I am usually not too big a fan but it was honestly pretty good, the warmness of the pastry and filling gave a nice mouth feel when eaten alongside the cold Mango Sago which gave me a bigger reason to finish the pastry
The price point of 88++ per head for a six to eight person meal is pretty reasonable considering location and quality of the food. The only issue I’d have is that there’s no printed alternate choices for dishes so it kinda sucks if you’re allergic to something or don’t like a certain dish–but then again you never know unless you ask the staff.
The ambience of the place is pretty nice as well as it does mimic a modern restaurant without losing the core of it being a Chinese restaurant, however it’s on the second floor of a bar/club so I’m not very sure how it may affect the atmosphere in the night.
Overall, Mimi’s CNY Set Menus are something I’d definitely recommend to my friends celebrating CNY this year, especially if they wanna go somewhere a little more fancy as compared to the usual coffee shop, toss Yu Sheng and order your variety of dishes.
For More Information on Mimi’s CNY set menus head Here
Mimi at The Riverhouse is located at:
3A River Valley Road, #01-02 Clarke Quay, Level 2, 179020