Jumboree: Jumbo opens its first food hall in Tai Seng with 10 different brands, live music, and beer and wine taps!
Most Singaporeans would be familiar with the iconic seafood restaurant brand, Jumbo.
The brand’s history stretches back to 1987, and it’s since become a go-to for chilli crab, especially with visiting friends or for clients!
What many people might know is that the group also manages a multitude of other F&B brands.
The diverse portfolio includes iconic names such as Kok Kee Wanton Mee, Tsui Wah, and even Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh — it makes so much sense for Jumbo to open its first-ever food hall concept.
Opened in early February, Jumboree is meant to gather all the group’s best food offerings in one spot, with 10 distinctive food concepts available!
It’s housed in J’Forte Building, which is a short distance from Tai Seng MRT.
Besides food, diners can also expect evening live music and craft beers, making it a great option for the nearby office crowd to unwind, or for nearby residents to hang out at night.
Easy ordering, and self-service beer taps!
One of the best features of Jumboree is the easy digital ordering system.
If you hate queueing, the food hall lets you do everything just by scanning the QR code at each table.
Once your orders are placed, you’ll get an order number, which you can spot on the array of wall-mounted LCD screens scattered all throughout — so you can sit and chill, until your food is ready for collection!
Those who love beer would probably also be intrigued by the self-service beer and wine taps at Jumboree’s drink stall.
You just have to load up a store value card, grab a chilled glass from the fridge — you can even pick your favourite brands including Guinness and Heineken — then select your choice of poison.
Jumboree’s taps are self-service and charge by the millimetre, so you can pour as much as you like, depending on your appetite for booze on that day.
The prices for each beer are displayed on the screen so you can make a selection.
Craft beers such as the Ondeh Ondeh porter and osmanthus pear cream ale by local brewery Sunbird cost S$0.32/ml, while mainstream staple Heineken goes for S$0.34/ml.
A pint of around 500ml will set you back S$15 to S$16.
Jumboree food options
Of course, the most important thing is still the food.
What does Jumboree offer that will give you a reason to head down to Tai Seng?
Needless to say, there’s Jumbo Seafood’s main offerings, but the food hall also gives a few other options so you can mix and match for some variety.
Do note that there are two standalone mini restaurants (Tsui Wah and Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh), and if you want to eat to consume them in the food hall, you’ll need to get them as takeaways.
Jumbo 1987
Jumbo 1987 is the anchor concept at Jumboree, inspired by Hong Kong-style seafood dai pai dongs (old-school open-air stalls known for their Cantonese wok-fried dishes).
The menu is super diverse, serving up everything from frog leg to lobster, making it great for big groups and family gatherings.
While Jumbo’s signature crabs are always a good bet, the live crab on steamed flat rice noodles with black bean sauce (S$88, about 600g) is a unique one that is definitely worth trying.
Not only do you get some nice, juicy crab, but it also comes with sheets of delightfully bouncy and chewy rice noodles.
If you love mala, then the live Australian mapo tofu (S$88, about 500g) will tickle your palate with its punchy mix of numbing spice, silky tofu, and succulent lobster flesh.
Chao Ting Teochew Pao Fan
Jumboree is also the only other place you can find Chao Ting Teochew Pao Fan, besides its Telok Ayer flagship that opened in 2019.
The star here is the soup, which is rich and comforting, and goes well with almost any carb.
You can just get evergreen options such as the fried fish pao fan (S$10.50) or premium seafood pao fan (S$14.50), which includes both fish and prawns, but it also gives you options of noodles such as mee tai mak and thick bee hoon, too!
Tai Seng Satay
If you’ve grown up on hawker fare, you’ll know that satay is the most perfect side dish to accompany your zi char feasts.
Jumboree’s satay option, Tai Seng Satay, offers three different meat options, in sets of six sticks: Pork (S$6.80), chicken (S$6.80), and mutton (S$7.80).
Nothing too fancy — just nice, juicy, and smoky skewers that are great for munching on in between bites of seafood.
Tsui Wah
Here’s another excellent accompaniment to your spread — dim sum.
That’s especially true when it’s Tsui Wah’s signature egg tarts (S$2.20), which we can never say no to, for a little treat before or after the meal.
It also offers its range of Hong Kong-style drinks — the bottled milk tea (S$4.80) in particular – which provides a good alternative to the offerings at Jumboree’s drink stall.
But, as mentioned before, Tsui Wah’s food is only available for takeaway if you want to enjoy it in the food hall itself.
All the concepts at Jumboree
With 10 concepts available at Jumboree, you probably won’t able to try everything on offer in one sitting! Here’s the full list:
- Jumbo 1987
- Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh (mini restaurant)
- Tsui Wah (mini restaurant)
- Jumbo Premium Quick Meal
- Chao Ting Teochew Pao Fan
- Kok Kee Wonton Mee
- Tai Seng Satay
- Claypot Fun
- Bao Zai Chicken Rice
- Xing Zhou Fried Delights
With all the craft beer and live music, it kinda reminds us of an air-conditioned Tiimbre+ that focuses on local flavours.
In an area that really doesn’t have much going for it food-wise, we’re happy to see Jumboree giving Tai Seng’s office crowd and nearby residents something new to try out!
This was a hosted tasting.
For more ideas on what to eat, read our stories onthe vibey coffee and chill hideout in a tableware shop and best new spot for Italian food in the East
Tue 7am - 12am
Wed 7am - 12am
Thu 7am - 12am
Fri 7am - 12am
Sat 7am - 12am
Sun 7am - 10.30pm
- Tai Seng
Evan started off writing about food on Instagram, before joining outlets such as Buro and Confirm Good to pursue his passion. His best work usually comes after his first whisky shot in the morning.
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