Jolly Time with Jolly Frog

26th September 2010. Written by Xin Li.

Located along Neil Road near Dim Joy and Tiffin Club, Jolly Frog is a gourmet bistro bar that is related to Kith Café and Boomerang. I was told they planned to open another one in CHIJMES named Hunger. The Jolly Frog gourmet bistro bar serves Australian cuisine and it is more upscale than Kith Café and the upcoming Hunger at CHIJMES.

Hayden and I had a pleasant breakfast at Jolly Frog before. Hence, I recommended Jolly Frog to my studio for a gathering. The service at Jolly Frog was very friendly, helpful and hospitable. However, I hope they would clear the used plates automatically.

While there were set meals for lunch and dinner consisting of appetizer, main course and drink (13 – 16+ SGD for lunch sets and 20 - 25+ SGD for dinner sets which include a glass of house wine to match the main course), we decided to order from the ala carte menus instead.

For a start, we ordered Smoked Salmon Carpaccio (15.90+ SGD) Norwegian smoked salmon with chopped onions, capers, arugula dresses with fresh lemon. It was a nice start to the meal, the salmon lacked the fishy aftertaste and it was very savory and rather addictive too. While I am alright with the arugula, my studio mates didn’t seem to enjoy it.

The Fish and Chips (16.90+ SGD) – battered dory served with truffle steak fries, was decent but it my studio mates thought that it wasn’t as good as Fish and Co.’s. For me, I still prefer the one at Bistro@Changi.

The management was kind to cater a Vegetarian item, I think it is a Penne with Mushroom Cream Sauce for our vegetarian studio mate.

Grilled Cod Wrapped in Bacon (19.90+) consisted of grilled cod, bacon, and asparagus with mango mayonnaise. I didn’t get to have a bite of it. My studio mate thought it was good except that the portion was small.

The Wagyu Beef Burger (19.90+), served with onion compote, grilled tomato, cheddar cheese with aged balsamico received mixed feedback. Perhaps it’s because of the doneness of the meat. My studio-mate who had it well-done did not enjoy it as much as another of my studio-mate who had it medium.

The Creamy Salmon with Green Peppercorn Pasta (15.90+ SGD, Sautéed salmon slice with dill, parmesan garlic and green peppercorn, fettuccine) was the star of the day. The cream has a light, delicate salmon flavor. The fettuccine and salmon slices were nicely cooked too. The result is creamy pasta that wasn’t too heavy. It was very delicious and I like how the green peppercorns add some warmth in the pasta as well as how the cheese flavor was kept in check with the right degree of cheesy flavor. All in all, the pasta has a nice balance of flavors that worked together.

The Meat Lovers Folded Pizza (19.90+ SGD) consisted of Homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, ham and sautéed onions. I didn’t get to try it. Its appearance earned the nickname of “the giant curry puff”.

Pan-Fried Salmon (19.90+ SGD, pan-seared Norwegian salmon, potato leek cake served with parsley sauce.) I thought the salmon was overcooked as it was quite firm and dry when I tasted it. My studio-mate enjoyed the potato leek café though.

Grilled Sirloin Steak (22.90+ SGD, Beef sirloin, herb butter served with olive mashed and greens of the day). I was sort of disappointed in the grilled sirloin steak, perhaps it would be better as medium rare. I found the meat to be too dry and a bit bland even with the sauce. However, I enjoyed the greens. The flesh had that melt-in-your-mouth feeling with there was a nicely charred exterior with the right amount of seasoning. The mash was quite ordinary.

At first, we wanted to order a coffee crème brulee but they didn’t have it so I decided to go for the Apple Crumble (8.00+ SGD, apple crumble, granola served with vanilla bean ice cream). However, this happened to be an excellent choice indeed. The apple crumble was good. The apples’ sweetness was accentuated by the fragrant cinnamon without becoming overbearingly sweet. The crumble has a delicate buttery flavor and came across was nicely baked. Together with the crunchy granola and vanilla ice cream, it was a great dessert. The only flaw for this dessert is the icy vanilla ice cream.

At the end of the meal, we were given complimentary coffee and tea, which in my opinion tasted good and looked even beautiful with the nicely crafted coffee art. I read that the owner, Hidayat Ahmad is one of the less than 10 internationally qualified baristas in Singapore.

After the drinks, we were given the opportunity to take a look at the second floor, lounge area. The lounge area looks nice for a small party for about 20 to probably 30 people. It has booth seats and normally seating like the main dining area. There is even a DJ booth. If you are looking for a classy, more private and stylish place to have a gathering, this is somewhere you could consider.

Finally, there are some hits and misses for the food which they could work on. However, there are still a number of things that I enjoyed at Jolly Frog besides the Salmon Carpaccio, the Apple Crumble and Salmon Pasta. One of it is the great service at Jolly Frog, the people there were very friendly, helpful and welcoming.

Last but not least, according to the receipt, Jolly Frog does not charge GST, hence the prices only have 1 plus sign!

Jolly Frog Gourmet Bistro Bar
Address:
81 Neil Road Singapore

Tel: +65 6222 9227

Opening Hours
Sun–Thu: 9am – 11pm
Fri–Sat: 9am – 1am