While calling yourself the least authentic Chinese restaurant isn’t the best way to describe a brand, Maggie’s is exactly that. It serves up inventive dishes with a focus on regional Chinese flavours so if you’re looking for a legit Peking Duck, you won’t find that here.
Vibey Restaurant in Keong Saik
Opened by the folks behind Marcy’s & Parliament Bar, Maggie’s shares the same heart of creating great dining experiences. Even before tasting the food, you can already feel the amount of heart that went into the place through the interior.
This is perhaps one of the best spots we’ve dined at recently. Its intricate golden ceilings are filled with motifs of ancient Chinese architecture, and the posters on the walls give off an old-school Hong Kong vibe.
There’s even an actual dragon in the restaurant, which looks like it came from a lion dance company.
The 60-seater restaurant is decorated with glittering chandeliers, gold elements, and vintage medicine cabinets, which immediately transports you back in time, maybe to a city like Hong Kong or Shanghai.
Maggie’s Menu
The menu is split into 5 sections: cold dishes, warm starters, big plates great for sharing, carb focused dishes and desserts.
For cold appetisers, you have items like a Seabream Crudo ($26), which brings together Kyushu Seabream, oak-aged pickle sauce and a dongbei sauerkraut. There’s also the Master’s Drunken Quail ($32), featuring an Australian Jumbo Quail with aged ZheJiang Shao Xing Wine.
We tried the Lamb Tartare ($23) which combines Tasmanian Lamb Short Loin, Century Egg and Sichuan Pickles. It might sound like a difficult dish, but the combination works. It’s slightly spicy, but it grows on you a lot.
The Golden Prawn Croque Madame ($25) from the warm starters portion of the menu is one Maggie’s signature dishes, and for good reason. Instead of the usual brioche, the version here uses housemade focaccia bread, with a plump tiger prawn filling, topped with a sunny side up and a side of passion fruit hollandaise sauce.
We really enjoyed the slight peppercorn notes from the dish and how the egg yolk added a nice creaminess to the overall dish.
For mains, you can choose between the Xinjiang Lamb Prime Rib ($49) or the Roasted Pomfret ($36 – half, $58 – whole), and we went for the latter. The pomfret fish is deboned, making for an easy dining experience. It’s topped with a green peppercorn salsa verde and extra virgin olive oil.
Our choice of carbs came in the form of a Furu e Pepe ($26), a Chinese take on Cacio e Pepe. Instead of pasta, the dish uses hand-pulled La Mian and Fermented Bean Curd to add a nice creaminess. Inside, you’ll also find Jinhua Ham instead of bacon—a very interesting twist on a classic.
We absolutely loved the dessert, which was Maggie’s 8 Treasures ($16). It’s a glutinous rice-based dessert, drawing inspiration from 8 Treasures Rice. It was a lovely combination of date gelato, a red bean cloud foam, longans and jujubes. Very familiar ingredients, very nicely put together.
Least Authentic Chinese Restaurant
While least authentic Chinese restaurant might not be a compliment, it’s what describes Maggie’s best. You’re not getting the truest form of Chinese cuisine, but modern takes on iconic Chinese flavours, which make the whole dining experience more fun and interesting.
The interior’s a huge plus point as well.
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Maggie’s
1 Keong Saik Road, #01-04, Singapore 089109
Tues-Thurs, Sun: 5:30pm-11pm
Fri & Sat, 5:30pm-12am
*This article is based on a media-tasting event, but all opinions expressed about the food are entirely our own.
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