By Kiana Koh

Jem is a shopping mall in Jurong East that has got almost everything! Rows of boutiques and well-known brands, to classy restaurants and food joints, everyone will definitely find something for themselves there!

Since we’re on the topic of food, there is a place that is very interesting in Jem that serves up really good food. It is called the Cookhouse @ Jem, and is a unique place that serves local fare and international cuisine at super affordable prices! What’s even better? The entire place is air-conditioned! So it’s basically like a hawker centre without the humidity.

I was exploring the entire area of the cookhouse and I saw a western stall that looked promising.  I walked up and queued ordered a beef aglio olio and the total price was around $9 and I have to say the portion was big!

The beef was so tender and it was so easy to cut into smaller bite sized pieces to a point it almost felt as if I were cutting butter. And the black pepper sauce complemented the beef really nicely! The aglio olio had a slightly salty and spicy taste to it that is different from other aglio olio and it was so delicious.

After I went home that night I just kept thinking of the food and couldn’t help but salivate at the thought of it! The next day I went back with my mum to try out other things they had on the menu.  I picked the carbonara with grilled salmon and my mum picked the classic black pepper steak.

The salmon was grilled to perfection and the skin was crispy and the meat was soft and savoury. The carbonara was really creamy and each strand was coated with their own special mushroom sauce. And yes, all pictures are taken by me – sorry if some weren’t that good I was just too excited to try the food out ☺

My initial thought was that this Cookhouse @ Jem was just another typical shopping mall food court but I was so pleasantly surprised after I tried it! It left me wanting more and more and yes I think I’ll be heading there more often now whenever I feel like having western food! There is really no way I could do it justice just by writing it down, you really must try it!!

Nearest MRT station: Jurong East Mrt station.

Location: Jem, level 5.

Stall name: Hungry Jack (not sure as their name is pretty small and I couldn’t find it anywhere even though I looked it up)