Singaporean cuisine is beautifully complex. It is rather unique from general ‘Asian’ food in that their flavors and spice mixes are inspired from the conglomerative cultures of the country; namely Malay, South Asian, East Asian and Eurasian.

Despite the endless number of foodie options in the city of Dubai, we’ve been pretty restricted when it comes to Singaporean dining options. Sure a chili crab may feature in a menu or two, but what if you wanted an entire Singaporean experience?

Great news! Iconic Singaporean restaurant Kim’s has opened doors in picturesque Al Seef Dubai. 

The interiors are invitingly bright and cheerful featuring stunning pop-culture art, an open bar and staff wearing uniforms inspired from Singapore Airlines. I also love their marbled table tops, so perfect for Instagram flatlays!

I visited Kim’s Seafood Restaurant last Friday with my little girl, and got rather click-happy in their stunning interiors.

 

We started off with Pumpkin Soup. Let me tell you, this tastes nothing like the usual run of the mill pumpkin puree watered down and peppered. At Kim’s they’ve added flavor dimension with minuscule bites of crab and other exotic herbs. The soup is stylishly served in high-standing bowls, and my little pumpkin-detesting child actually lapped it up and commented “It was delicious Mummy, I wish they served more.” Yes, the quantity could have been a little more generous.

No complaints on quantity for the Chicken Prawn Rolls though! This large platter will easily suffice for 4 adults, and we were only one and a half. These rolls consist of minced prawn stuffed with chicken, battered and deep-fried. They go deliciously well with the sweet sticky soya-sauce and the sweet chili sauce that is served on the side.

 

For our mains, we tried Kim’s signature Chili Prawns. If you’re not an expert at picking out bits of flesh from a crab (or on a first date to impress, and don’t want any messy foodie business happening), I’d highly suggest this dish as the main premise of the sauces are similar. However, Kim’s has created a special twist to the sauce by adding a whole egg that is painstakingly cooked at 85 degrees, and kept semi-permeable. You can see wobbly bits of egg in the sauce, yet it all works so beautifully well together, and tastes epic when swiped down with the Singaporean Fried Buns that are served on the side.

 

Yet again, my little girl loved this dish and Jude, our server for the day, was kind enough to get her another plateful of buns.

We also tried Kim’s Black Pepper Chicken. As the name suggests, this is a fiery, peppery dish and not for the faint of palate. The hit of pepper is strong, dark and absolutely delicious.

 

We sipped on exotic mocktails through our lunch. We tried Kim’s Crazy Rich Asians, inspired by the best-selling book. This drink features lychee and lemon-grass, and the foam on top made my little girl claim this drink. It looks very attractive, but was a little too sweet for my liking.

 

I preferred the December Breeze; a watermelon-based mocktail enhanced with a hint of lemon-grass and the fiery goodness of ginger.

 

We ended our meal with an exotic Lemon Jelly dessert. I’ve traveled to Singapore many a time in the past, and despite having a major sweet-tooth, I’ve never really been a fan of their desserts. Kim’s Lemon Jelly was a pleasant surprise. The dessert features a refreshing lemon sorbet and a lemon jelly base. The citric flavors work well to cleanse the palate after the heavy lunch, and acts as a respite for the summer heat.

 

Overall, I really enjoyed my time at Kim’s Seafood Restaurant, and have been recommending it to all my foodie friends. From the ambiance to the service, and the exceptionally good, authentic Singaporean lineup of food, Kim’s will surely be a place I will be revisting often.