Breakfast @ Bearded Bella 8 Craig Road

Last visited in 2019. Read more about that visit here. We were doing a staycay at Amara and decided to drop by here one early morning for breakfast.

long time no see

Having started so early in the day, we needed coffee and Tracy of course, her tea.

White Cold Brew @$9

Homemade Chai Latte @$7

White Coffee 5oz Single Shot @$5

Ordered two mains from their brunch menu and a bundt cake for dessert. The Kookoo (am always amused by this name), goes meatless. But, definitely suited for brunch. What's not to like? There's rosti (potato), copious amount of greens (for good health), mushrooms and a lovely poached egg. Generous portion!

Kookoo v2 (V) @$22

customary egg flow shot

The Scallops & Cold Pasta, had an enormous amount of sprouts ontop. That gave it a somewhat 'raw' taste which I didn't like. Otherwise, the pasta itself was flavourful.

Scallops & Cold Pasta @$22

spot the scallops

It's been a long while since I last had a quiche. I think it was Tracy's pick? The bacon and asparagus quiche.

Bacon & Asparagus Quiche @$7

Hmm, the quiche was definitely milky! Its insides were soft and wobbly. 

profile view

And then, the chocolate bundt cake. But just to be sure, we asked if it contained coffee. And indeed, it does. So, no dessert for Tracy.

Chocolate Bundt Cake @$8

I think the gang misses Australia...

Bearded Bella

Address: 8 Craig Rd, Singapore 089668

Website: https://www.beardedbella.com/

Contact: 9880 0775

Business Hours:

Mon to Thur: 7:30am–5pm

Fri: 730am to 10.30pm

Sat-Sun: 7.30am-6pm

[Tasting] Goldleaf Reunion Feast 2022

For families opting to host this year's Chinese New Year reunion dinner at home, Goldleaf Reunion Feast Takeaway is priced at only $288 nett and good for 4 to 5 pax. Goldleaf Restaurant is open through-out the Lunar New Year, hence do make your reservations early!

Goldleaf Reunion Feast 2022

Goldleaf Reunion Abalone Yu Sheng

assembled and ready for auspicious tossing

For yusheng, everyone ought to know the drill by now. Mask-on, no shouting, no verbalising of the auspicious terms.

Still happy because once again, we could still enjoy the freedom to gather for a meal.

silent lou hei

Goldleaf Reunion Feast (good for 4 to 5 pax)

Super loved the crispness of the vegetable and its sweet flavours. Lovely.

Mushrooms with Seasonal Vegetables

The steamed seabass is another classic and well-loved dish. Enjoyed by all and thank you Alvin for helping to portion it.

Steamed Seabass in Hong Kong Style

One of my favourite dish from this set, is the Housemade Roast Chicken. The meat was tender and its rustic flavours on-point.

Housemade Roast Chicken

The Signature Golden Porridge is true to its name, revealing a large pot of shimmering golden deliciousness that is generously packed with seafood. There's clams, mussels, abalone, scallops, squid and prawns. Wow.

Signature Golden Porridge

closer view

Comforting and full of umami, the porridge was a winner and understandaby a crowd favourite. Just be careful with the shells.

For all lovely singles out there, there is a special takeaway set featuring 9 dishes (bento box style), a small bowl of Signature Golden Porridge and a mini yu sheng. Looking at the portion of this set, it can also be comfortably enjoyed by two pax.

small Signature Golden Porridge (front), mini Yu Sheng (right), 9-classic dishes bento (back)

Tasty classic signature dishes for porridge.

delicious homely dishes

Thank you Kris for extending the invite and as always, Karen for your hospitality! Reunion dinner with Kris, Ivan, Alvin, and Hence.

Goldleaf Restaurant

Address: 88 E Coast Rd, #01-05/06/07 Katong Square, Singapore 423371

Website: https://goldleaf.com.sg/

Contact: 6346 1088

Business Hours:

Daily: 11:30am–3pm, 6–10pm

Champion Bolo Bun @ 92 Tanjong Pagar Rd

It was right after lunch nearby, and we wanted to have coffee. Walked past by this shop and decided we could try. Very popular and there was a line of 6 pax in front of us.

signage

discounts, nice

Self-service and the time for buns to arrive is indicated in-store.

We were there at 2pm ad the buns were scheduled to arrive around 2.30pm and we queued for 15 minutes, before we discovered that the ones not queuing can actually check-in to the store, and look for a seat at Levels 2 and 3. Oooh.. washroom is at Level 2.

stairs

buzzer for the classic buns

tea-break

We ordered the mini buns as it was readily available, Tracy ordered the Classic Bun with Butter, and for drinks, we had the Champion of everything; coffee, milk tea and lemon tea.

 4 mini classics @$4.50

Mini-buns are like 2-bites can finish that kind but otherwise, is a replica of the Classic Bun. Hehe. Most interestingly, was its crust. Which I thought it tasted like the 'hup tou soh' (walnut biscuit). The body of the bun was so soft and pillowy!

Champion Coffee @$5.50

I was afraid that I wouldn't like the coffee as usually the milk used for Hong Kong milk tea is slightly overpowering for me. But this Champion Coffee was really nice and smooth. I'd drink this again!

Classic Bun with Butter @$5.0

lovely hue

Yes, upon finishing our food, we cleared our own table.

Champion Bolo Bun

Address: 92 Tg Pagar Rd, Singapore 088513

Website: https://championbolobun.com/

Business Hours: 

Closed on Mon.

Tue to Sun:  11am–7pm

Noodle Star K 누들스타 케이 @ 58 Tanjong Pagar Road

Was doing a staycation nearby at Amara, hence dropped by here for lunch. We were led to Level 2 of the shop.

shopfront

menu

Ordered the cold noodles, chicken noodles, tangsuyuk (because I insisted!) and gogi mandu (meat dumplings).

Side dishes are served once our order has been taken.

boiled beansprouts, pickled radish, sauce for mandu and kimchi

The kimchi here has a stronger fermented smell to it, hence am not used to this version. Taste wise was ok, quite appetizing.

The orders are served quickly. Pretty efficient!

Chik Naengmyeon 냉면 (冷麵)

Chicken Kalguksu 닭칼국수

soft, chewy noodles

Cold noodles are refreshing while the chicken kalguksu is more comforting. Both were nice.

Given a chance, I'd always want to try tangsuyuk from the various shops here. Have I found the one? Not yet, unfortunately. The criteria involves good batter, ratio of meat to batter, flavour, and sauce taste. Even in Busan, the portion given was impressive but the ratio of batter to meat was overwhelming with very little meat to taste.

At Noodle Star K, the tangsuyuk is kind of slim whereas other places seemed to go with the flatter rectangular slice. The batter wasn't crispy but still tasted nice when it was warm. The sauce was sweet but not overpowering.

tangsuyuk @$28

dipping or pouring?

lean meat

Gogi Mandu

The barley drinks here costs $3 per glass. Not sure if it is refillable. Noodles are priced at $16+ onwards.

We spent about $28 per pax for lunch.

Noodle Star K 누들스타 케이

Address: 58 Tg Pagar Rd, Singapore 088479

Website: https://noodlestark.com/

Contact: 6224 6061

Business Hours:

Daily:  11:30am–3:30pm, 5:30–9:30pm

Ikkousha Hakata Ramen 博多一幸舎 @ Tanjong Pagar

It was rainy afternoon, and we still haven't have our lunch. Walked into Ikkousha at about 3.30pm and ordered some food.

shop front

Oooh, didn't know they still serve complimentary hard boiled eggs!

complimentary hard boiled eggs (served chilled)

 

Ok, let's have one. Pretty easy to peel.

I ordered karaage to share and a small bowl of chashu don. The fried chicken was nicely fried and there's a small serving of flavoured salt on the side. Loved the size of the fried chicken too.

Karaage @$5

Cha-Shu Don @$4

Was happy with the cha-shu don. Just the right size as a snack. The rice has some drizzle of soy sauce and tasted good. Cha-shu was nicely tender and flavourful. Quite yummy. Then, I added some broth from the ramen. DIY chazuke? Keke!

yummy

In the past, I liked Ikkousha ramen for its flavourful soup. That still stands and now the cha-shu don can be a good alternative when you're not that hungry. Just wished that they could serve a small bowl of soup with it as well.

ramen

Ikkousha Hakata Ramen 博多一幸舎 

Address: Apt/Blk 7 Tanjong Pagar Plaza #01-104B, Singapore 081007

Website: https://www.ikkousha.sg/

Contact: 6538-1880

Business Hours:

Monday to Saturday

11:30am - 10:00pm (Last Order 9:45pm)

Sunday

11:30am - 9:00pm (Last order 8:45pm)