[Tasting] Celebrate Merriment at George Town Tze Char & Craft Beer 乔治 海鲜 with Festive Delights and BBQ Favourites

Beer On-Tap

What would you like to drink today? How about a cold Japanese draft beer? Tried for the first time, a Mosaic Lager.

Hitachino Nest Mosaic Lager

It is so named as the beer was brewed from mosaic hop pellets, and is known for its complex floral, fruity bouquet.

Festive Delights

Festive Dual Flavoured Turkey 双味火鸡  @$28

Fancy having turkey at a Tze Char place? Well, it was certainly my first time and what an interesting experience. The turkey was done two-ways; deep-fried and braised (with Guangxi sauce).

Happy to report that the turkey meat was not dry nor tough. In fact, I almost forgot that I was eating turkey meat. The braised version tasted like steamed chicken but of a firmer texture. The Guangxi sauce tasted of scallion, onion, ginger oil mix.

脆皮炸火鸡与 广西酱炖火鸡

crispy skin

The deep fried version was of a golden brown with crisp outer layer. Pretty good.

For those who enjoys stronger flavours, the Hotplate Black Pepper Wagyu with Parmesan Butter would definitely be right up your alley.

Am a fan of the black pepper sauce at George Town Tze Char and to top it with Parmesan Butter just screams out tasty, in flashing neon. Now, I need a bowl of rice.

Hotplate Black Pepper Wagyu with Parmesan Butter @$28

In-line with strong flavours, one could try the Garlic Fried Tilapia. Loads of minced garlic, that'll surely scare off any vampires.

Garlic Fried Tilapia 蒜炸尼罗红 @$35

The fish was expertly deep-fried till nicely golden and we sure enjoyed the extra crispy (garing) bites! But do be careful when biting down as some bones are harder than the other parts.

Metal Jacket Drumlets was quite a favourite dish for my table. Was impressed by how tender the meat was. Sauce tasted pretty similar to Mongolian pork ribs sauce.

Metal Jacket Drumlets 铁公鸡 @$18

Now, let's eat some vegetables. There's the usual kailan, or dragon chives so today we had the choy sum. Actually, after having it that night, this vegetable dish is now one of my favourite. So flavourful and just enjoyable.

George Town Choy Sum 乔治菜心 @$12

We also had the Penang Fried Kway Teow, and this plate was gone in no time. Well-fried, and tasty. The kway teow here is of the smaller type, more like sar hor fun type.

Penang Fried Kway Teow @$10 (small)

BBQ Favourites

assorted BBQ skewers 

BBQ vegetable skewers

BBQ beef, mutton, intestine skewers

tasty

The BBQ skewers are priced from $1 upwards, depending on which meat/vegetable item of your choice. For us, here was what we had:

• Wagyu Beef - $5
• Mutton - $1
• Beef Tongue - $3
• Pig Intestine - $2
• Taiwan Sausage - $2
• Potato - $1
• Brinjal - $2
• Mushroom - $2
• Asparagus - $2
• Long Bean -$2

Thank you Jennifer for the invite and Charles for hosting the dinner. Always a pleasure to dine here.

George Town Tze Char & Craft Beer 乔治 海鲜

Address: 81 Boat Quay, Singapore 049869

Website: https://george-town-tze-char-and-craft-beer-boat-quay.business.site

Contact: 6535 6277 

For bookings: Whatsapp 96823826

Business Hours:

Daily 12pm to 11pm

Hand In Hand Shandong Restaurant 手拉手山东菜馆 @ 69 Boat Quay

Was doing a staycation nearby, and this was one of our dinner destination. Makan kakis have patronized their Jalan Besar outlet before and this is our first time trying the Boat Quay one.

Had a reservation but the staff had mistakenly put it down as 8pm instead of the earlier timing of 630pm. Hence, there was a bit of a scramble to get us a table. Only available ones seemed to be at their third floor, which involved some steep steps climbing.

restaurant entrance

interior

ready to eat

I trust my buddies to order and we waited for the food to arrive. The food would be sent up using the food lift. And I had a good view of it, so it was always in anticipation if those were our orders.

First to land on our table, was the plate of cold appetiser of shredded cabbage with jellyfish. Hmm, first time having this and it was rather refreshing as it was vinegary and light.

Shredded Chinese Cabbage with Jellyfish @$9.80

Next, was the Peking Duck, served on a tray and looking all glistening and nice.

Peking Duck @$38.80 (half)

yummy

Next, we had a couple of baskets of dumplings but for some odd reason, the speed of serving these started to slow down. The interval between each basket of the dumplings seemed to be between 10 to 5 minutes each.

Steamed Xiao Long Bao @$6.80

Steamed Crab Roe Xiao Long Bao @$9.80

Was too hungry so the steamed xiao long baos were quickly devoured. Loved the crab roe ones. I think they are comparable to another famous brand.

Fresh Cuttlefish Dumplings @$9.50

insides of the cuttlefish dumplings

Dumplings with Chive Egg and Shrimp @$7.50

fully loaded

In total, we had waited for about close to an hour for all the dumplings and with two to three reminders to the wait staff in between.

We had chosen the duck bones to be cooked in cabbage soup and boy, that was a good choice! A huge bowl of soup was brought to our table and just the perfect dish on a cold night. It is rare for me to say but the tofu in the soup was pretty good too. The cabbage had nicely soaked up on the delicious broth and tasted sweet. The glass noodles were slurp worthy as well.

Duck Bone Stewed Cabbage with Tofu and Glass Noodles @$13.80

cabbage soup

The last to arrive was a wrong order but since it was already sent up, we ate it. It was pork shao bing (pork pancake) and, it was pretty yummy albeit a tad oily. Freshly cooked and was somewhat piping hot when served. The shao bing was crisp on its outerside yet airy when bitten into. The fillings consists of bell pepper, pork bits and green onions. Pricier but delicious nonetheless.

Old Beijing Pork Sauce Pie @$13.80

All in all, it was a good meal shared with good buddies. Cheers to our impromptu food adventures and here's to many more to come!

Hand In Hand Shandong Restaurant 手拉手山东菜馆

Address: 69 Boat Quay, Singapore 049857

Website: https://handinhandfood.com/

Contact:  6970 0226

Business Hours:

Daily 11am–3pm, 5:30–10:30pm

[Tasting] The Sampan @ 63 Boat Quay

It's been over a year, hence a good opportunity to revisit and to check out the new menu. Here is the link previous visit. Thank you Kris (@msginginly) for the invite, and The Sampan team for taking care of us that night.

shopfront

featured menu board

On previous visit, our group was seated right in the center of the restaurant and this time round, we were at the alfresco area with beautiful view by the riverside.

evening view

Happy Hour is still 8pm, but there's also a whole day special where Stella was going for just $9.90+ for  pint. WOoo! But I was intrigued by a 'Liang Teh' under the alcoholic beverage section. "What's this Liang Teh" I asked. Turns out this is a locally brewed beer by The 1925 Brewing Co. Cool! A chrysanthemum lager, it says. Must try, right? Hahahaa!

Liang Teh (The 1925 Brewing Co. Joo Chiat) @$10+

The lager was light, and only a hint of the chrysanthemum with a touch of sweetness. Perfect for our hot humid weather.

behind story

Complimentary cold/warm water is available and if you opted for cold, a jug would be left at the table. Service staff size was lean on weekdays, but they will attend promptly with a gentle wave.

Mocktail @$10+

Let's get started on the food, shall we?

small plates to share

By this time, it was nightfall. Good view, good food, good company!

Glazed Soy Sesame Chicken Salad @$12+

whets the appetite

The glazed soy chicken salad was interesting as there's some fish muruku snack thrown in as toppings. That familiar taste sent us in a loop. Hahaa!

If you prefer something spicier, go for the Singapore Rojak Bandung Salad.

Singapore Rojak Bandung Salad @$13+

This salad has cuttlefish in small bits, kangkong (eh, then this was derived from cuttlefish kangkong dish?), quail eggs (hard boiled), taukwa cubes, crushed peanuts, honey pineapples and sweet red sauce (mee bandung sauce, I think). Overall, this salad was of stronger flavours and just so satisfying. Yummy!

Or, if you prefer meatless appetiser, try the Szechuan Style Tofu & Shitake Mushroom. There's wok fried mushrooms and bell peppers underneath the tofu. Visually, the tofu looked 'rugged' and that's a good thing. Milder flavours for this dish in comparison with the salads.

Szechuan style Tofu & Shitake Mushroom @$8+

Let's move on to the mains. If you prefer seafood, try the Javanese Styled Fish Wrapped in Banana Leaf. For small eaters, no worries as the portion was just right. The grilled seabass was snug in the banana leaf. Fish was firm and the yellow rice could hold its own.

Javanese Styled Fish Wrapped in Banana Leaf @$19.50+

If you prefer duck, then perhaps the Five Spiced Szechuan Duck Breast served with Pimentos Pomme Puree may be more of your thing? The dish was visually appealing, and deep fried kale, what's not to like? The interesting part was the puree. So so creamy! For me, I'd like to combine the airy-slight bitter of the kale with the sweetness of the pomegranate and topped with the rich creaminess from the puree. Slather all those on top of the duck and enjoy! Oooh, not forgetting that tiny tiny burst of peppercorn numbing flavour if you happen to bite into one of those.

Five Spiced Szechuan Duck Breast @$19.50+

The Chicken Roulade served with Red Sauce and Asian Achar was good too, though it was a tad lacking in its visual appeal.

Chicken Roulade served with Red Sauce and Asian Achar @$19+

I'd reckon that the chicken roulade dish as a lighter tasting one. It's flavours were mild and the red sauce was of the masak merah variant but since there's only a spoonful of it on the meat, the taste was subtle. Felt somewhat festive when having the roulade, as it has stuffings in it. Don't forget the achar. Loved those pickles!

Sliced Beef Mee Goreng @$14+

For finale, we had the Sliced Beef Mee Goreng. Not the typical noodles as this looked more like mee pok/pad thai variant. Beef rump was used and it was a tad tough. The noodles were springy and enjoyable although leaning slightly towards the sweeter side. But no worries, just bite onto one of those chili padi to balance it out. Yums!

Overall, The Sampan serves up good quality Asian food, and with adequate selection of drinks for Happy Hour. A tipple with good food, sounds about right. Enjoy!

Thank you Kris, Herman and The Sampan for the invite. Thank you Chef Ahmad and team, for the delightful tasty food!

The Sampan

Address: 63 Boat Quay, Singapore 049851

Website: https://www.thesampan.sg/

Contact: 6732 1698

Business Hours: 

Mon to Fri: 11.30am to 12am

Sat: 5pm to 12am

Closed on Sun