Shhh! share a secret about Mimi at Clarke Quay

But some secrets are too delicious not to share.
Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

Have you heard of the secret at Clarke Quay? About Mimi at Clarke Quay? Not “Mimi” as in the name “Mimi Rogers” or the nickname of Mariah Carey but “mì mì” as in the hanyi pinyin of 秘密 (which means secret in Mandarin). 秘密 Mimi is a new Chinese restaurant which opened in Clarke Quay in the second half of 2019. Mimi restaurant occupies the upper level of The Riverhouse, previously occupied by VLV Singapore, and offers contemporary Chinese cuisine.

The Riverhouse

The Riverhouse along Clarke Quay, built in the 1880s by a wealthy Teochew merchant, was known as “House of Ripples” or Lianyi Xuan (涟漪轩) in Chinese. An article in NLB’s Biblioasia says the three owners in 1870 of the land where Riverhouse was built included two headmen of the notorious Ghee Hok Society (also known as Ghee Hok Kongsi; 义福公司), and The Riverhouse could have been or intended to be a secret society house.

Today, the modern Chinese restaurant Mimi 秘密 (secret) is on the second level of secret society house by the Singapore River. The restaurant is run by the 1-Group which also operates Yin – a lounge and bar – and Yang – an international Asia nightclub – in The Riverhouse.

Mimi 秘密 has a stylish dining space featuring a skylight with a vaulted glass ceiling and large contemporary Chinese portraits in pop art colours on the walls.

Mimi Restaurant Menu

The menu offers dishes classified by cooking methods – braised, deep fried, steamed etc. There are dim sum items and “modern Chinese tapas” meaning small sharing plates of Chinese and local zhi char dishes presented with Instagram in mind. Items include char siew Kurobuta pork belly, roasted spring chicken flambéed in rose wine, deep-fried lychee shrimp balls and salted egg fried rice.

Below are pictures of a few pages of the a la carte menu of Mimi.

The real secret about Mimi Restaurant is that it has an affordably priced Work Week Lunch Specials menu. Available from 12 noon to 2 pm on weekdays, the lunch set comprising a main and a dessert is only $16.80 per set. Currently, there are 3 different sets available.

Mimi Work Week Lunch Specials

We ordered the Stewed Lamb Shank Set and Pumpkin Seafood Congee Set ($16.80 each) and a dim sum item from the a la carte menu – King Dumplings with Prawns ($5 for a basket of 3 pieces).

Dim Sum

The King Dumplings with Prawns were essentially har kow. They had delicate but firm skins and the prawns were plumb.

Lamb Shank

The Stewed Lamb Shank was served in a metal pot and came with steamed white rice. The lamb shank, braised with root vegetables and herbs in red wine gravy, was fragrant and flavourful and the meat was really tender. The portion was quite substantial and could easily be shared by at least 2 persons.

Pumpkin Seafood Congee

Mimi Restaurant’s Pumpkin Seafood Congee not only looked luscious and delectable but tasted really good. It was easily the best dish of our lunch. It had a nice smooth texture punctuated by morsels of prawns, scallops and sliced fish. The piping hot pot of porridge with natural sweetness was enjoyable comfort food.

Dessert & Coffee

Our lunch ended with the dessert of the day which was a nicely decorated jelly. We also had coffee ($8) which was quite unremarkable.

Good Mains Great Value

Overall, lunch at Mimi did not have a strong ending but the mains were very good. The weekday lunch set was good value for the quality and quantity of the main dishes offered in a very pleasant and comfortable space. Mimi Restaurant is a secret we do not mind sharing and we are looking forward to discovering more tantalizing morsels it has to offer.

Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: 3
Value: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs