A peek into the all-new Coach Restaurant in Singapore at Jewel Changi Airport

First there was the Coach Bar at Keong Saik in May, then Coach Coffee Shop at Weave Sentosa a few months in, and less than half a year later, we’re getting our very own Coach Restaurant at the iconic Jewel Changi Airport, no less.

Located at the ground floor of the world-famous landmark, The Coach Restaurant Singapore opens officially on October 31 — right next to Jewel’s Coach store — where Peranakan restaurant Violet Oon once stood.

Coach Restaurant isn’t a new concept in itself, though, having debuted first in Jakarta, Indonesia in early-2024.

With the opening of this third F&B concept in Singapore, however, our city becomes the first in the world to house all three concepts by the luxury fashion house. Not bad at all, for a small island.

CEO and Brand President of Coach, Todd Kahn, says that this is one of the new ways that the brand is exploring, to “connect with our customers beyond the traditional retail experience”.

Promising an experience that “feels fresh and unmistakably Coach”, the spacious 56-seater restaurant at Jewel is sleek and distinctly branded, but not too in-your-face.

Even if you strip away the Coach detailing, the luxe leather finishings, use of curved booth partitions, and deep gold accents still gives the place a touch of sophistication, while remaining approachable, warm and casual at the same time. 

Perhaps it’s the chef’s counter seats, which offer you unbridled viewing access into your entire meal preparation (we lost count of the number of times we spoke to the chef directly as he plated up dishes), or the New York yellow taxi cab suspended over the middle of the restaurant. 

Or maybe it’s the literal wood-fire in front of us, which makes us feel like we’re a lot closer to the action than we actually are. 

Diving into The Coach Restaurant Singapore’s menu

Interiors aside, the kitchen is led by head chef Kurt Sombero, who has been behind-the-scenes at popular wood-fire restaurants such as Burnt Ends, and the now-closed Kubo and Meatsmith Little India. 

The restaurant concept is positioned as a reimagined classic New York City steakhouse, so you can naturally expect a lot of steaks, and steakhouse classics such as duck fat French fries, and even a towering NY-style cheesecake. 

While the menu was still in the works at the time of our visit earlier this week, we landed on a few easy favourites, of the lot we tried.

For starters, we enjoyed the caviar-topped Black and White bagel, an elevated take on NYC’s iconic black and white cake-like cookies, popularised by Bavarian immigrants to the city.

The restaurant’s version is savoury, with cream cheese and briny caviar, set on a thin bagel — nothing too heavy or excessive. 

The Maryland swimmer crab cakes were also a refreshing starter, packed tightly with generous amounts of crab flesh. The housemade tartar was a nice touch, though I didn’t realise it was a smidge acidic, before I spritzed the accompanying lemon half judiciously onto the patty. It’s a good thing I don’t mind sour. 

If you’re one of those who loves a good “branded” dish or two, get the steak tartare with hand-chopped USDA beef tenderloin, shaped in the letter “C”, topped with chives and a raw egg yolk. 

It’s a hefty amount of beef, lightly seasoned, tied together by the creamy egg yolk. You can enjoy it with the toasted white bread, but I found it pleasant even without. 

As a New York steakhouse, with wood-fire elements to boot, you can trust that the place has its steak menu items solidly in place. 

You can opt for anything from a 200g USDA Prime ribeye (S$40) to a Japanese Satsuma wagyu cut (from S$95), or even a decadent 1.2kg T-bone steak (S$295) — the sky (and your wallet) is really the limit here.

All steaks come with garlic confit, butter shaped in the brand’s iconic “C” logo,  and a quartet of sauces including the quintessential steak accompaniment — A1 sauce. 

Those looking to diversify the spread on their table can also opt for the leather-wrapped Chicken Bucket (five drumsticks for S$28), served with a trio of sauces — hot honey, ranch, and hot sauce — all housemade. 

Be warned about the hot sauce, though, it packs a crazy amount of heat. 

That said, I found myself drizzling the hot honey repeatedly over the crispy chicken, which had hints of mala. Not only are the squeeze bottles incredibly user-friendly, but the hot honey has a good amount of spice and flavour, which doesn’t linger — or perhaps it was negated by the honey itself.  

In between plating dishes, chef Kurt tells us that the leftover pulp from the hot sauce was used for the hot honey, so you get the fiery flavours without the intensity. Brilliant touch, we’d say.

If you have the stomach for it, definitely get the Maine lobster (S$95), served with black pepper Hollandaise. 

It was one of the freshest lobsters we’ve tasted locally, and for good reason — the lobsters are brought in live (straight from the adjacent Terminal 1, the chefs joke), and made to order. 

And last but not least, don’t leave without at least trying the PB&J Bombe Alaska (S$18). 

Flambed tableside with rum, the PB&J Bombe Alaska is comforting with its classic peanut butter-and-jelly filling tucked inside a fluffy torched meringue, but still manages to stay light on the palate at the same time. 

We were full by now, but finished almost every last morsel of this dessert.

While I wasn’t drinking at the time of the tasting, the teeny sips of sparkling wine and chardonnay I managed had me convinced that the fully-American wine selection by head sommelier Jane Yoon — also formerly from Burnt Ends — was worth returning for.

That, and the S$12 crisp martinis that it’s bringing over from The Coach Bar. 

You best believe I’ll be back, sliding right into one of its 10 bar seats for a glass of wine (or a martini) and a PB&J Bombe Alaska, maybe before my next flight out of the country. 

This was a hosted tasting.

For more eats around Jewel Changi Airport, check out our full listicle of our picks around Jewel, or visit Porsche cafe right next to the restaurant.