Standing for “joint Asian market”, the new culinary project by the group behind Hansik Goo, Ying Jee Club and more presents casual dining options for dine-in and takeaway
In 2020, we gained Basehall at Jardine House, and this year sees the opening of another gourmet food hall in Central—and this time, it’s by local dining group ZS Hospitality, the company behind a wide range of Asian restaurants including Mingoo Kang’s Hansik Goo, Michelin-starred Ying Jee Club, and vegetarian hotspot Miss Lee. J.A.M, which stands for “joint Asian market”, takes over the space previously housing Vietnamese restaurant Moi Moi, and presents four distinct restaurant concepts.
The 200 square meter space is modest but efficient, with touchscreen ordering systems and two entrances; the bright, modern look and feel is the work of Nelson Chow of NC Design & Architecture, the designer behind restaurants and bars including Please Don’t Tell, Mak Mak and Foxglove. Four different cuisines are represented at J.A.M., including Vietnamese, Cantonese, Korean and Singaporean, with three-course set menus that will rotate weekly and change completely every three months.
From 12:00pm to 2:00pm, a lunch menu is served; after 2:00pm the afternoon tea menu will take over until 5:30pm. Due to government restrictions, the food hall will close by 6:00pm until further notice.
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J.A.M. is the location for the first international outpost of Mamalee Market, a concept developed by chef Song Ha-Seul-Lam, previously the culinary director at Mingles in Seoul. Offering homestyle Korean cooking, the menu features the likes of Korean fried chicken and teok mandu guk (beef rib soup with dumplings and rice cakes).
Those who used to be regulars at Moi Moi can be reassured that the venue still features creations by the brand, headed by chef Dinh Dinh-Tuan; dishes include taro and pork spring rolls, banh xeo, and Vietnamese coffee creme caramel. Other familiar additions to the food market line-up include Uncle Quek by celebrated chef Barry Quek, formerly of Beet and Return of Lemak at Basehall. Quek is bringing comforting Singaporean classics including his cult favourite, bak chor mee, as well as dishes such as otah otah (grilled fish cake in banana leaf), beef rendang and kueh dadar (coconut pandan crepes with peanuts).