At the Basement 1 of Jurong Point, head towards Shokutsu Ten Japanese Food Street and right after the bread shop, you'll notice an area that had been recently revamped. This would be the &JOY Dining Hall, the new multi-concept daily dining destination.
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| &JOY Dining Hall |
One noticeable difference in &JOY Dining Hall are the availability of self-service kiosk for ordering and payment. Note that if you pay by cash, then you will need to bring the receipt to the Cash Payment counter first, and after which the food order will automatically be sent to the respective stall. There are also QR code sticker at the corner of every table, and you could order and pay (via credit card only) from your own device. This makes food ordering a breeze and no need to queue if you do it from your device. Otherwise, the self-service kiosk at the stall may have a queue also.
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| why queue? |
There are queue number panels conveniently setup around the dining area, so that you could sit comfortably while waiting for the food to be prepared. Numbers watching. One thing that I noticed was that some diners didn't realize that the orange highlight meant that the food is ready.
While the initiatives made it easy to send the orders in without much queuing, now the bottleneck would be at the stalls, depending on its speed to fulfill the orders received. During the day of visit, it was dinner time and we waited for about half hour.
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| dining area |
There are 6 brands concepts to choose from at this dining hall. Roman. Tei (ロマン亭) and Ramen KIOU (らーめん亀王) are two new Osaka brands making its mark here in Singapore for the very first time. There are also 3 new original concepts being introduced; Sushi-Go, Pittarino and My Gohan.
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| Chef's Recommendation |
When one is ready to order, simply scan the QR code at the corner of the table. Browse through the menu and make your choice. Complete the payment and await for your queue number to appear on the queue number panel. Look for the stall name and your number should be there.
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| Scan to order |
If you are unsure of how to navigate through the tech stuffs, there are a few RE&S "Angels" roaming around the dining hall on 19 and 20 Oct 2019 to provide explanation on the ordering system.
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| cheerful Joy, one of the Angels |
Here is the list of promo items during this opening period. Don't say bo jio!
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| Opening Specials |
Here's a glimpse on the ordering interface via the browser.
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| Start |
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| Select your choice |
Went around looking at the respective stalls before deciding on our choice for sharing.
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| Roman. Tei |
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| Chefs busy preparing the orders |
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| one of those could be mine |
The wait for the food was rather long. Finally, it was ready and you could tell when the queue number is highlighted in orange.
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| Roman. Tei - Beef Steak Zen @$17.90 |
Roman. Tei is a beef specialist from Osaka and this is their first overseas outlet. Even in Singapore, we could enjoy the authentic experience of eating the beef steak rice from an exquisite Jyu (lacquer) box. The Beef Steak Zen set comes with a bottle of hot dashi, some condiments, pickled mustard leaves, chilled tomato, mini salad, garlic chips and wasabi and a bowl of clear beef miso soup. I like the idea of having the rice in hitsumabushi style, as well as to enjoy it as it is.
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| beef steak medium rare |
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| add these to the rice and pour the hot dashi in for a different style of eating |
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| wasabi and garlic chips |
There are actually two types of beef in the Beef Steak Zen set meal; the beef steak and thin slices of beef cooked in onions, soy and mirin. Like those you find in gyudon (牛丼). Two flavours in one set. That's neat!
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| beef steak slice |
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| beef slice over rice |
And of course, we had to try Ramen KIOU and we got the recommended Tomato Cheese Ramen with additional toppings of tamago and chashu.
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| Ramen KIOU - Tomato Cheese Ramen @$17.40 |
Ramen KIOU offers robustly delicious ramen that is typically characterised by a milky pork bone broth, and roasted chashu that's super tender. Loved the chashu, especially round its charred edges. Almost melt in your mouth.
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| noodles |
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| super like this chasiu |
In case you are still not full from eating the ramen (how is that even possible!), there's a complimentary bowl of rice with garlic chips and seaweed shreds to fill you up even further.
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| carbs on carbs |
Next up, the pizzas from Pittarino. Loved the striking yellow colour theme that they have. So cheery!
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| take out box (additional $1) |
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| Pittarino - Half & Half Pizza @$14 (opening promo price) |
The Half & Half Pizza consisting of Teriyaki Chicken and Truffle Mushroom costs only $14 as part of the opening special until 15 Nov 2019. The dough at Pittarino is of the chewier variant. The truffle and earthy mushrooms flavours were subtle with a stronger hint of the truffle aroma.
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| onsen egg center |
The Teriyaki Chicken and Scallion pizza was stronger in flavours and I liked it more than the Half & Half. Wished I had a glass of ice cold Asahi!
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| Teriyaki Chicken and Scallion pizza @$17 |
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| so messy, so tasty |
If you are looking for something more homely, try My Gohan. The queue seemed to move pretty fast over here and we crafted a meal comprising of Hokke Hiraki, Mentaiko Tofu Gratin, Hijiki Salad and Zaru Udon.
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| "Create My Gohan" meal @$20.90 |
The hokke fish was plump and meaty with a good mouthfeel. I was most impressed by the chewy Zaru udon. So refreshing when eaten chilled! Absolutely loved it!
First time seeing tofu gratin though. The taste of mentaiko was mild here.
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| Mentaiko Tofu Gratin @$2.50 |
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| (cold) Zaru Udon @$4 |
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| Hijiki Salad @$1.50 |
Thank you Samantha, RE&S for the invite and for the tour around the dining hall. Congratulations on the opening of &JOY Dining Hall!
&JOY Dining Hall
Location: 1 Jurong West Central, #B1-47 Jurong Point, Singapore 648886
Website:
http://njoydininghall.com.sg/
Business Hours:
Daily 11am to 10pm
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