Kelim Dakdoritang (계림닭도리탕) @ Kensington Park (Serangoon Gardens)

Hence asked if I would like to join him and Tracy for lunch at Kelim Dakdoritang. I said "Ok" as I was curious on this dish loaded with mountain of minced garlic that I saw in instagram recently. Haven't tried any and didn't see much of it during previous travels to Seoul. Searched it up a bit and dakdoritang (닭도리탕) is essentially a spicy chicken stew. 

shop front

menu

We did not make any reservations (and from what I read online, seems like walk-ins are encouraged). Reached the place at about 12.45pm and there was a queue. Put up your name so that you are in queue. Staff will periodically scan this list (usually after the earlier table had left) and call out to the party or phone them. From what we saw, the staff will usually call more than once.

We waited for more than half hour and then it was finally our turn. It might be a longer wait if the person in front of our queue had turned up.

Orders were quickly placed as we were hungry. Opted for the Dakdoritang (small) as there were only 3 of us, and added the Jumeokbap (DIY Flying Fish Roe Seaweed Roll) and the Grilled Semi Dried Squid.

Jumeokbap 주먹밥 @$9.90

mix it yourself (cr: Tracy's hand)

Jumeokbap is literally translated as 'fist-rice', so am guessing you need to make one as big as a fist? Hmmm, kid's size fist will do for me!

tasty rice ball

Next up, I was curious about semi-dried squid. It looked like a regular dried squid and thankfully, not tough. It was still chewy and the squid was flavourful.

Grilled Semi Dried Squid @$20.90

rice ball with grilled squid toppings

And then, our stew arrived. Small is a good size for 3-pax. And indeed, there was a mountain of minced garlic in the stew. We added the King Oyster mushroom with a top-up of $5.

Dakdoritang @$36.90

The stew itself came with potato chunks, chicken (fresh chicken is used) and rice cake (ttokpokki). The MVP were the chicken and the potato!

let it boil up

enjoy!

We requested for one level up of spice for our stew when we ordered and the spiciness was not too strong. It was just a hint only.

The broth tasted good and appetising, chicken parts tender (even for the breast meat) and potatoes were so good! The chicken itself was flavourful and overall, this dish was somewhat comforting.

yummy

And then when you're done with the meat, just indicate to the staff that you'd like to have the handmade noodles. The stew comes with complimentary noodles but if you would like more, then it is also $5 per topping.

kalguksu added

The noodles takes a while to cook so just let it boil and you'll notice when the texture becomes softer.

not yet

noodles is ready

Unlike ramen when we could undercook it a little, the handmade noodles tasted doughy if you eat it before it is fully cooked. Unless, you like this texture... hahaa!

And we are not done yet, there's one more portion of rice after you're done with the noodles. Staff will scoop up the excess stew and place them in a separate bowl and leave just enough liquid to do the fried rice in the same pot.

fried rice in-progress

mix it around

flatten it

done

let's eat!

Depending on the staff that did the table-side fried rice,  the end outcome might be slightly different. For ours that day, the rice didn't achieve the desired slight crisp at its bottom but that's ok too. I enjoyed the meal, though the place tend to be crowded during weekends.

The meal fed all 3 of us sufficiently, and more. It was rather filling with the potatoes, noodles and rice and we also had jumeokbap, so double double of that rice. Expect to spend about $35 per pax without alcohol for a hearty meal.

Kelim Dakdoritang (계림닭도리탕)

Address: 14B Kensington Park Road Singapore 557265

Website: https://www.kelimdakdoritang.com.sg/

Contact: 6241 4241

Business Hours:

Daily:

11:30 am - 2:30 pm (last order)

5:30pm - 10:00pm (last order)

Breakfast @ Ginger (PARKROYAL on Beach Road)

Was doing a staycay at Parkroyal on Beach Road and was looking for breakfast the next morning. Hotel breakfast is served at Ginger and not at the Club Lounge. Had mistakenly went to Level 6 and there was no breakfast service. So went back down to lobby to enquire on where is the breakfast location and was directed to Ginger.

The place was bustling at 830am. The restaurant is of a good size and should be able to accommodate plenty. Its interior seemed to be Peranakan themed gives a light and spacious feels.

Guests are free to sit anywhere and hence, if you're a solo guest like me, sometimes the table would have been taken by another as staff would try to clean up the table once the guest vacate the seat. 

prata corner

essentials for breakfast; baked beans, scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausages

I like eggs for breakfast, so off I went to the live station where the nice staff would be busy preparing egg omelettes upon order. I'd usually go for 'all-in' as it is easier to order. Just nod when asked, haha!

omelette station

If you do not want to wait for the omelette, actually there's a counter that guests can just freely take the pre-fried scrambled eggs or sunny side eggs. Psst, some of the sunny side up have yolk that's slightly runny if you prefer those.

table for one

Let's eat breakfast! Oh, the drinks section has jugs of juices such as orange, cranberry as well as milk and water. Every now and then, staff would come by to refill the emptied ones.

not so big breakfast

Can you guess the next items that I took? Noodles? Yes you are right!

specialty corner

mee siam

I was a tad amused when the guest ahead of me, took her bowl of mee siam without adding any condiments to it. 

The mee siam sauce (or more like broth) was leaning towards the sweeter side, slightly tangy and not at all oily. Added the hard boiled egg, chili, spring onions and shallots.

I like the congee a tad more than the mee siam. So comforting but the cut chilies that day, was spicy! 

congee

Lastly, time for dessert. There's an automated mini pancakes machine, and it seemed like a curious toy that attracts children. A father was telling his son about the workings of the machine, while I was quietly listening behind and wondering when they'd press the button to start making them pancakes. Hahaa!

make your own mini-pancakes

A single press makes 2 pieces of those mini-pancakes. There are various sauces available on the table, so you could have strawberry jam, kaya, chocolate sauce, peanut butter, or honey for the pancakes.

mini pancakes with chocolate sauce (back) and peanut butter (front)

Overall, expect busy ambiance at Ginger but it was rather easy and fast to obtain the food. Fun thing about buffet styled breakfast is, once you see a line at a certain counter, just move on and eat something else first.

Staycation at PARKROYAL On Beach Road

Decided to give PARKROYAL On Beach Road a try since I wanted to hide away from the world for a short while. Check-in was seamless and staff was friendly. Was upgraded to PARKROYAL Club Premier Room located at its highest level, which is at the 7th floor.

42sqm Club Premier Room

Room was very spacious, with proper dining table and a couch. Has a bathtub and a balcony! Wow.

bathroom

shower

loved these

water dispenser in the bathroom

balcony

view from the balcony

Was enjoying the room when suddenly, the room door opened and quickly closed when the person realized that the room was occupied. Then, the staff rang the doorbell and of course, I opened it to see what was that about. Turns out, she was bringing up the welcome amenity and didn't realise that guest had checked-in. Quite a dramatic entrance, this pack of salted egg biscuits, which by the way, was tasty. Got a box of macarons too, since the room was booked under the National Day package deal.

treats!

The sweet treats were actually in time for tea break. The macarons tasted sweet and light. There were rose and lychee flavours. Thank you Parkroyal and GHA Discovery for the treats.

Dilmah teas

rose flavoured

Nespresso

It was nice to chill in the room and roll around amongst the space. Went to the Club Lounge at Level 6 for some evening drinks and canapes.

Club Lounge at Level 6

cheeses, cakes

cheeses, popiah, wakame and Sauvignon Blanc

My favourites were the mac & cheese, wakame (hmm, daily dose of vegetables?), chicken yakitori that's flavourful and tender. The pandan and chocolate cakes were lovely to end the meal.

mac & cheese, chicken yakitori, popiah, wakame, cakes

night view

zoom in to MBS and Singapore Flyer

sunrise

Breakfast was served at Ginger, located next to the lobby. It was pretty crowded by 830am. Overall, it was a nice stay at the Club Premier Room. Staff was amiable and friendly. 

PARKROYAL on Beach Road, Singapore

Address: 7500 Beach Road Singapore, Singapore

Website: https://www.panpacific.com/en/hotels-and-resorts/pr-beach-road.html

Breakfast @ Mosella Pan Pacific Orchard

Was doing a staycay at Pan Pacific Orchard and the National Day Package came with breakfast, so decided to go there at around 8am, in case it gets crowded at the later timing. Mosella is located at Level 2 of the hotel, which is at the same level as the lobby.

interior

view from my table

coffee machine

The place is beautiful and felt spacious with its high ceilings. Minimal explanation or introduction from the staff unless you asked the question first. Breakfast is basically a buffet format, and live stations included eggs and noodles stations. Coffee is self-serve from the machine unless you needed some special milk for the coffee then staff would attend to that. Staff emphasized that coffee beans from both machines are the same.

Let's breakfast, shall we?

congee station

congee with condiments with a side of scrambled eggs

For hotel breakfast, I do like eggs and I can't pass on the congee, so let's have both!

scrambled eggs congee

Was a nice soothing bowl of porridge, lightly flavoured from all the condiments like century egg, preserved vege, salted egg, scallions and braised peanuts.

roasted cherry tomatoes, string beans and mini sausages

There's a noodles station too, so I went and got myself a bowl of Singapore Laksa. The version here has a brightly coloured broth and tasted coconut-y milky rich.

Singapore Laksa

The noodles station was really well equipped with lots of fresh vegetables (at least 2 types), mushrooms, fish cake, chicken breast, quail's egg, beef slices and I said yes to all! Hahaa, there goes my order of 'little bit'.

fully loaded

Soup was hearty and not overly sweet. I forgot to add sambal chili, so it was one notch less in spiciness. Both meats (chicken and beef) were lovely. Actually, first time a seeing beef slice in my bowl of laksa. 

One of the staff, Lorraine, stopped by my table and asked if I would like her to get me a cup of coffee. What a nice gesture. Yes, please. And so she brought a cup of latte over. 

latte

 

Now, let's go check out the pastry corner. It was placed at the area that you will notice when one is either entering or departing from the premise. It was actually quite funny when I was walking towards the pastry section and the Chef's there were like, "Thank you for dining with us. See you again." And I was like, no no.... am not done yet. Getting some pastries/dessert! Hmmm, was it a sign that I ate too much? Hahaha!

cakes, pastries

chocolate croissant and brioche

I asked both the noodles and pastry Chefs which were their favourite pastries, and so one said the brioche is his fav, while another said hers was the custard croissant. She also pointed out that chocolate everything seemed to be the crowd favourite. Hehe, and so, I selected the pastries based on these info.

(back to front) custard croissant, chocolate something

close up view

The visuals for the pastries were on-point. I liked the brioche most. Looked the most ordinary but tasted lovely. They were of the right sizes too. Gone in 3 bites.

honey

At first, I had the impression that there wasn't much food but then, it turned out that I hadn't been paying attention when I was exploring the spaces. I had almost missed out on the cold cuts section.

cold cuts selection

I think it was the way the slices of smoked salmon were being propped up, that made it looked as if it would be a mistake to pass over them. And, I hadn't seen any beet cured salmon before, so had to try at least a slice.

salami, ham, smoked duck, beet cured salmon with dijon mustard and capers

Go for the smoked duck. It was yums! The cheeses looked good too but I was so so full by now.

The place gets busier starting from 9am onwards. Thanks to Lorraine, I got my coffee served, my table cleared of empty plates so that I could enjoy the next dish. Also appreciate that we were able to converse a bit when the place wasn't too busy yet.

Overall, Mosella offers a nice breakfast with adequate variety and its high ceiling helps in creating that spacious feel when dining there.