Tom JAG Wine located along East Coast Road (close to Joo Chiat district) was a restaurant we checked out this time due to the 50% discount via Eatigo. Known for their curated wines and gourmet dishes, we decided to drop by to find out why JAG Wine continues to attract locals and expats alike…
JAG Wine Review: Our First Impressions
Upon entry into JAG WINE, it felt that we had entered into a quaint little restaurant in Europe. Wooden furniture and rustic finishes welcomed us and we were immediately shown by the staff to our table for 2. Prompt and courteous service. First impressions were definitely good…
After being shown to our seats, we were introduced to some of the items on the menu this evening. We were also asked if we were having some wines – leaving our wines glasses behind after confirmation from us. We were then given some time as we scanned through the menu at JAG Wine…
JAG Wine Review: Menu at JAG Wine East Coast Road
There were several items that we wanted to try on the menu this evening such as the Braised Lamb Shank, French Duck Confit as well as the Spaghetti Aglio Olio. However, we settled for
1. Crab Cake (Homemade fresh blue crab cake with garlic aioli and basil oil) – $15
2. Four Cheese Pizza (Tomato Mozzarella, Blue Cheese, Parmesan and Ricotta) – $23
3. BBQ Pork Ribs (Pork Ribs with potato of the day and daily vegetables) – $28
4. Beef Cheek (Slow Braised Wagyu Beef with potato of the day and daily vegetables) – $36
With the Eatigo deal, all of the above was 50% off except for the starters (tapas) of crab cakes. Next, we went to choose our bottle of wines for the evening…
There is a little wine cellar inside JAG Wine where all their wines are on display. There’s an in-house wine connoisseur who accompanied as we selected our wines. She was also aware of the foods that we ordered and recommended to us wines that would go with our food choices this evening. However, the first couple of wine recommendations exceeded $100 per bottle and we shared that we wanted to keep to within $100 for the evening.
With the budget in mind, we were recommended the Chianti Classico Uggiano (Prestige). We were told that it was the only bottle left and sold at cost price. Moroever, it matched our food choices this evening…
A quick search revealed that Vivino sold the wine at $88 (the price that we bought from JAG Wine). Of course, there are websites that sold for less but to be brought into Singapore, there would be some costs involved as well. Moreover, the “Classico” shows that the bottle of Chianti was produced in the historic Chianti district in Italy. Hence, we were happy with our selection and recommendation by our JAG Wine connoisseur this evening.
Soon, our dinner was served…
JAG Wine Review: What We Had at JAG Wine
Having tried some of the best crab cakes at San Francisco Wharf (Cioppinos) and even at Chops Grille on Quantum of the Seas, we found the crab cakes at JAG Wine to be ok. Mostly because of 2 factors. Firstly, the portion was a little small. They resembled more like crab cake “poppers” rather than a well-portioned crab cake – probably the smallest crab cake that we’ve tried. Secondly, there was a slight rancid odour upon taste instead of the fresh sweet crab meat that we anticipated.
Next, came our mains…
First up, the Four Cheese Pizza. We enjoyed the rendition of the humble four cheese pizza at JAG Wine. Though it may seem simple, the choice of cheese as well as the pizza dough that delivers the crisp textures came together perfectly. The complex taste of the cheese coupled with the thin crust pizza was simply delicious.
Next the Homemade Balsamic Pork Ribs. What we love about this dish was the gravy. Tangy and enticing. The meat of the pork ribs were also fall-off-the-bone tender. Both are hall marks of a great rack of pork ribs. The only thing that we didn’t like was that the meats on top of the ribs was not chunky. It was rather “thin” which reduced the overall texture on bite. One way to improve on this would be to reduce the number of ribs but increase the meatiness per rib – something that JAG Wine could consider.
Lastly, the Slow Braised Wagyu Beef Cheek. This was the dish that we thoroughly enjoyed. No complaints about it. The meat was chunky, tender and flavourful. As you tear into the beef cheek, you could see that the sauce had infused into the meat, granting it a beautiful pinkish red tinge, indicative of the slow braised process. Definitely a well-prepared dish.
Concluding Thoughts on JAG Wine
As we enjoyed the rest of our bottle of Chianti Classico at JAG Wine, we were pretty satisfied with the recommendation by our wine connoisseur. The Chianti had a crisp texture with tastes of berries as a medium-bodied wine that went pretty well with our selected mains this evening. The ambience in the restaurant was also casual where guests were seen to be having a pretty good time among friends and family.
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There were a couple of misses in the food department though (crab cakes and pork ribs). Nonetheless, if we were staying in the East Coast / Joo Chiat area, we could definitely see the attractiveness of JAG Wine to locals and expats with its ambience, extensive choice of wines and some great gourmet cuisine on offer as well. If you have visited JAG Wine, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
