Tucked along a row of shophouses on east coast road, Jag Wine Bar & Restaurant is a gem that serves up hearty European food and some specially considered wines.
Chef Karti helms the small kitchen at Jag. A Penang native who has worked around Asia at top hospitality hotel groups such as The Four Seasons, you can be assured that the menu is well thought out and executed brilliantly. Expect classics, Chef Karti’s award winning dishes and seasonal creations, all served in a casual, unfussy bistro style.
Sommelier Azzam is front of house, greeting guests and recommending wines with knowledge and aplomb. The specially curated wine menu also features an in house Sicilian wine specially bottled for Jag that has lightly spiced notes of cherries and plums with hints of oak.
Sommelier Azzam is not short of good wine recommendations, and is well known in the east coast amongst regular wine drinkers. The chef’s menu that we experienced, featured a stunning spread of 8 dishes.
Jag Starters
It started with delightfully crisp, light, delicately seasoned apple and celery slaw (pictured above). Followed by the smoothest, creamiest, most comforting carrot and ginger soup (pictured above). Subtly sweet carrot goodness with restrained hints of ginger notes, this is the soup to order if you’re considering something nourishing and tasty.
Jag’s Choice Seafood Dishes
Crab cakes (pictured above) came next, deep fried fresh crab meat is lightly coated in breading and served with garlic aioli, a perfect snack for sharing. Another delicious communal style sharing dish is pan-seared Hokkaido scallop (pictured above) on truffle cauliflower mash, it was so good, we wolfed it down in less than 60 seconds.
Chef Karti showcased one of his award winning dishes - freshly baked double decker crusted snapper loin (pictured above) with corn fricassee topped with crispy potato crust and white wine sauce. This dish is hearty, full of textures, with classic white wine and cream flavours, a pescatarian’s go to dish.
Another standout was the Prawn Stew (pictured above) with Chanterelle mushroom, with chicken jus and white wine and a touch of cream, served with homemade baguette.
Meat Jag
For the classic dishes such as rack of lamb (pictured above) and slow-braised wagyu beef cheek (pictured above), you can just tell Chef Karti has made this so many times in his career that he’s got it down pat. Familiar, traditional flavours meet quality meat, you just can’t go wrong with that. It comes in generous portions too.
All desserts (pictured above) are made in house. We tried their pistachio creme brûlée and panna cotta with mix berry compote. Both were delicate and definitely not for sharing!
Jag Restaurant, with its excellent menu of classics and seasonal dishes done so competently, a well advised wine list, cosy mid-century modern interior design and neighbour hood friendly vibes; it’s a no-brainer, especially if you’re living in the east.
