The Place The name Kongsee has two meanings. The first being “company”, as in a commercial business, in Hokkien – a Chinese dialect. Second, it also refers “to share” in Malay. With these, you can perhaps pre-empt the food offerings here at The Kongsee being communal dining with sharing plates, and most likely with some drinks to get merry! It was an accidental option to head to The Kongsee for me, as my initial dinner venue on a random Saturday was cancelled by the restaurant at the eleventh hour. 

Upon browsing through the menu at Kongsee, reality is not too far from expectations, except that the restaurant is extremely dimly lit. Personally, I prefer to be able to see the food that I am eating. That’s definitely not possible here since the neon purple lights will make all the food look, well, purple. 

The Kongsee is located at Gemmill Lane, joining the street already crowded with various other dining concepts including Burger Joint and Bar-A-Thym. 

The Food Other than looking all purple, the food menu here is the brainchild of Chef Willin Low, Chef-Partner at Kongsee as we understood. Love his food at the now-defunct Relish/Roketto Izakaya at Fraser’s Tower, and decided to visit his latest restaurant for some Mod-Sin food.  

Had to order the Krapow Prata Pizza (S$15), which was a favourite back at Relish and I was glad to spot in the menu here. Still the same shiok taste, Thai basil minced chicken on roti prata and baked with cheese!  

Do not judge me for ordering this, Ika Geso Karrage (S$16/S$32) is basically fried calamari. In good spirit of sharing food here at Kongsee, this sounds like a must-order. Nothing exceptional, except that it is good fried calamari. 

Their namesake dish, the Kongsee Fried Chicken (S$18/S$36), seems too tempting not to have. Aptly named KFC for short, the restaurant uses French poulet drumstick and coated with fermented shrimp paste; or what we would more commonly refer to as Har Cheong Gai. Unfortunately, this fell short of expectations, with the shrimp paste taste lacking and the fried chicken tasting rather bland.   

If you visit here, I recommend you to order the Iberico Satay (S$15/S$30). The fatty pork is very juicy and tender, with a good char from the grilling. The peanut sauce and pineapple salsa did a great job in elevating the taste. My dining companions agreed that the skewers were the best dish for the night. 

Rants Turn on the lights. Perhaps using dim warm lights works, but no to neon lights. Just no. 

Will I Return Again? I am not quite the target crowd for this concept. Head here if you are looking for some drinks and bar bites. But if you are looking for a better rendition of Chef Willin Low’s creations, just visit Relish at Cluny.  

TheRantingPanda says: 
Taste bud: 3.5/5 
Hole in the pocket: 4/5 
Ambience: 2/5 
Overall Experience: 3/5  

The Kongsee 
10 Gemmill Lane 
Singapore 069251 

Opening Hours 
Tuesday to Saturday: 12pm till 12am 
Closed on Monday & Sunday 

Ranted by The Rantee