Came across Jae’s Kitchen 见兴 which has opened its doors for quite a while at Grantral Mall / Grantral Complex @ Macpherson – they were one of the first few tenants which have moved into the mall when the mall had first started its operations. Jae’s Kitchen’s operating hours has always been something they we found pretty intriguing; operating only for breakfast and lunch hours as opposed to the other F&B tenants within the same building, we have often found them closed for the day whenever we come around the mall during the evening. Turns out, Jae’s Kitchen was a home-based business that has started its operations some time back in 2021 — they had since become a brick-and-mortar eatery that is located right beside the Tai Feng Wei 台豐味 outlet within Grantral Mall / Grantral Complex @ Macpherson that is situated near the entrance of Grantral Mall / Grantral Complex @ Macpherson close to Tai Seng MRT Station. The entire eatery is decked out in a simple interior design scheme comprising of wooden tables and plastic stools; despite the simple appearance, the use of bright colours within the space provides a cheery look that induces positive vibes for its diners. Serving up a small variety of light bites on its menu for breakfast, Jae’s Kitchen’s menu comprises of items like Chee Cheong Fun and Yam Cake which are available all-day; specials for lunch are being rotated around on a daily basis — available from 11:30am onwards, the menu for lunch is indicated on an chalkboard placed at the front of the entire shop space. Aside from all these, Jae’s Kitchen also serves up a small variety of buns that are displayed prominently at the counter; beverages includes espresso-based specialty coffee, as well as a small variety of tea.

Having walked past Jae’s Kitchen once whilst going around the mall during an afternoon out, we found out that they actually do serve up curry buns as part of the selection of buns on display at the counter. It appears that Jae’s Kitchen has been serving up curry buns during their days operating as a home-based business — the menu board inside the eatery also indicates the curry bun as the Signature Curry Bun. Given the significance of the item on the menu, it is needless to say that we would have to give the Signature Curry Bun a go here — the Curry Bun does carry quite a neat aesthetic that is almost akin to a bun usually found in neighbourhood bakeries; all that without the overly glossy sheen and that slightly deflated look that some of those carry. The bun actually does carry a little bit of weight with it; tearing it apart, we found that the Curry Bun comes well loaded with curry gravy, potato chunks and chunks of chicken. Sinking our teeth into the bun, the bun was light, airy and fluffy; we would expect the bun to have been a bit firmer given how it looks but this came as a delightful surprise to us where the texture of the bun is of concern. The curry gravy within the bun was also irresistible; the hint of curry spices were so prominent and absolutely flavourful — savoury with quite a good spicy kick that tingles the tastebuds even for those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness. It can be easily said that the curry gravy could rival that of the same that can be found in some curry puffs around; there was a good portion of chicken chunks to munch on whilst the potatoes provided a soft bite — pretty much spot-on with all aspects here.

Despite its rather small and limited menu, Jae’s Kitchen does encapsulate what a family F&B business is all about — they seem to big on serving up items that are handmade from scratch with love; all that whilst bringing a taste of their family’s recipes to their patrons. Having also tried their Yam Cake, the Yam Cake feels like a rather home-y creation; the Yam Cake being all springy and bouncy with cubes of yam for a soft bite, and the bits of mushroom providing for a QQ texture. Topped off with shallots, chili and spring onions, there is some crispness and savouriness amidst the slightly spicy kick that would be tolerable to those whom are able to take moderate levels of spiciness; a pretty light but hearty treat on its own and best paired with the piquant chili sauce and sweet sauce on the side for yet another dimension of flavours. Meanwhile, we were pretty impressed also with their execution of the White — whilst Jae’s Kitchen does look like an establishment which does not place too much of an emphasis on their specialty coffee offerings, we were surprised that they were able to pull a decent cuppa with nicely drawn latte art; the beans were a little over-extracted with our cuppa, but it was already and unexpected feat to pull off a cuppa that could even surpass the standards of some neighbourhood cafes out there. Prices of the food at Jae’s Kitchen are rather reasonable considering how they are an individual “cafe” on its own — the lunch items are priced between $5.50 and $6.50, while the light bites and buns are priced from $1.60 to $2.20. With such stellar Curry Buns being served at Jae’s Kitchen, we would probably think of dropping by Jae’s Kitchen again during tea break to enjoy one of their buns with a cup of coffee to spend an idyllic weekend afternoon away — definitely somewhere which we would be excited to make a revisit soon!