[Tasting] New Drinks and Tasty Eats at George Town Tze Char & Craft Beer @ 81 Boat Quay

Back for more Hitachino Nest (bottled craft beer), and this time round, managed to try the Red Rice Ale. Previous visit, I had the Dai Dai and also a sip of White Ale. Wouldn't that means, 3 out of the 4 flavours tasted? My favourite is now the Red Rice (红曲米) Ale. It has a definitive fragrance of the red rice, mildly sweet and refreshing. Plus, very good price during Happy Hour. Cheers indeed!

bevy of beauties - bottled craft from Japan

Brewdog Bottled Craft Beer from UK

For food to go with the drinks, we had the small squares of golden brown homemade chestnut tofu, and freshly fried. Yummy! However, there was less of the crunchy chestnut that I enjoyed from the previous visit.

Crispy Chef's Homemade Chestnut Beancurd @ $12++

introducing Chuga Soju with Milkis

Salted Egg Yolk Soft Shell Crab would be perfect munchies for the beer.

Salted Egg Yolk Soft Shell Crab @$18++

Happy to see soju on the menu, so we tried the lychee, green grape and watermelon flavour, in preferential order. Happy Hour promo, one gets 3 bottles for $36++. Mix it with cold Milkis for a change.

On rainy days, the best thing to eat would be Claypot Mutton Stew with Beancurd and Radish. A pot of well braised tender mutton with a good chew but the surprise was in the radish. Bursting with savoury satisfying flavours! Drizzle all the 'zup' onto a bowl of steamed rice and relish in simple pleasures. It was like a putting the final piece of the puzzle together. So good. No funky business here, only tasty stuffs.

Claypot Mutton Stew with Beancurd and Radish @$25++

Penang Laksa Steamed Fish Head @$28++

If you missed eating assam laksa, why not give Penang Laksa Steamed Fish Head a try. This newer version has been slightly tweaked.

a toast with Brewlander Love (Wild IPA)

Next dish, was a good sized Tilapia for the Penang Crispy Fish. Loved the crisp edges of the fish and remember to scoop the sauce from underneath the fish. This dish paired well with beer as well as soju, and I'd reckon some red too. Just that I wasn't drinking any red wine that night. Hey, it's just Monday!

Penang Crispy Fish (Tilapia) @$28++

For the finale, we were served the Golden Chicken. It is special because underneath the chicken skin, there's a layer of fish paste. The result was a pleasant surprise due to the difference in texture and taste, yet still maintained a familiarity from the crisp roasted chicken skin. 

Golden Chicken - $20/$38 for half/whole chicken

close up view

I enjoyed the refreshing soju, cold beers (bottled craft/tap) paired with tasty tze char food. From what I've tried, it paired quite well so far. Try it and do share if there's any particular combination that stood out to recommend to others.

Thank you Jennifer for the invite, Charles for your kind hospitality and George Town Tze Char for hosting the dinner. 

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

FB: https://www.facebook.com/georgetowntzechar/

Contact: 6535 6277 

For bookings: Whatsapp 96823826

Business Hours:

Daily 12pm to 11pm

Chao Shan Cuisine 潮山林 @ 17 Phillip Street

Chaoshan 潮山 cuisine is similar to Teochew cuisine, which in turn bears similarity with Fujian cuisine. The restaurant Chao Shan Cuisine is located near Raffles Place MRT and according to Google Map, is about 5 minutes walk away. 

Chao Shan Cuisine restaurant entrance

The noticeable landmark opposite the restaurant, is the Yueh Hai Ching Temple.

Yueh Hai Ching Temple

Seems like the place is popular for cold crabs but unfortunately, it wasn't available on our day of visit. The restaurant seemed popular as the place filled up rather quickly by 730pm. 

interior

cockles 螄蚶

liver roll 肝卷

The cockles sauce was tasty but it was of a smaller morsel. Less shiok. The liver roll was nicely moist and flavourful. No funky taste.

lala 啦啦

The stir fried lala was good too and we were happy with the appetiser. I spied that the other tables had ordered red wine. A peek into their menu revealed that the bottle price was reasonable but we didn't have any.

We made sure to order their braised goose since they didn't have the cold crabs. Very rare to see goose on the menu in Singapore, I think.

braised goose 卤水鹅片

The portion served for the braised goose for a table of 8 pax, seemed rather small. I think ours was defaulted to medium size for all the plates. Goose slice was alright but it didn't have that distinctive goose taste. If you don't say, I'd think it was duck meat except for the thicker layer of fats on its skin.

pork slices in garlic 蒜泥白肉

If you're not a vampire and able to take pork, then the suan ni bai rou (蒜泥白肉) dish may well be a favourite. Lots of minced garlic!

Another definitive Teochew dish, would be the oyster omelette or orh lua. 

orh lua 蠔烙

close up view

Most of the dishes that we ordered seemed to be those that we eat for fun (吃爽) hence, able to order more.

chives with scallops

After having 4 appetisers and 2 mains, we decided we could do another poultry dish and that was the Chestnut Chicken which was added after we've eaten the first 6 dishes.

Chestnut Chicken

Oooh, I like the Chestnut Chicken especially that skin. Its flesh was also well braised, yummy and soft. Plenty of chestnuts to go around too. If we weren't full before, we were definitely there by this dish.

Most disappointing, was the fried noodles. Probably because of the 'kee' or alkaline taste from the noodles.

fried noodles (portioned out)

However, we made the right decision to order dessert. When talking about Teochew cuisine, one can't help but to also try the orh nee (taro paste). We had the one with pumpkin but didn't expect that the pumpkin wasn't melded into the paste, but was just sitting prettily ontop of the glistening taro paste.

orh nee 芋泥

The version here is not shy from sweetness and am satisfied by the dessert. 

Overall, the food had a down to earth kind of feels, and the place seemed to be popular with their regulars. Must order would be the liver roll, chestnut chicken and orh nee.

Chao Shan Cuisine 潮山林

Address: 17 Phillip Street #01-01/02 Grand Building, 048695

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chao-Shan-Cuisine-at-Philip-Street/1846079735621931

Contact:  6336 2390

Business Hours:

Sun - Fri: 11:30am–2pm, 5:30–10pm

Sat: 11:30am–2pm, 5:30–8pm

Hand in Hand Beijing Restaurant 手拉手京华小官 @ 141-143 Jalan Besar

First experience was at the newer Boat Quay outlet and we decided to check out its original outlet located at Jalan Besar, which is the usual one that our lovely couple goes to.

As with any Chinese restaurant, there's cover charge in the form of peanuts and wet tissue. 

peanuts (unsalted) @$1++

We ordered similar things as per the Boat Quay outlet, except we didn't order Peking duck here. To start, we have the Shredded Chinese Cabbage with Jelly fish. Pricing wise, the Jalan Besar outlet may have dishes at a better rate, but by large, mostly similarly priced.

Shredded Chinese Cabbage with Jelly fish 白菜丝半海蜇 @$12.80++ (M)

I liked the cabbage salad. Doused generously with vinegar, it's an enjoyable cold dish with crunchy soft jelly fish texture.

Scallion Oil Chicken 葱油鸡 @$8.80++

Tried a new dish; Scallion Oil Chicken which was decent, but probably not as famous as its cousin the 口水鸡 (Steamed Chicken in Spicy Sauce).

Braised Chicken Feet @$3.80++

The chicken feet were 'fall off the bones' kind of tender. Tasty and easy to eat.

Chive eggs pancake 韭菜鸡蛋饼 @$8++ (2 pieces)

Fresh Cuttlefish dumplings and Dumplings with Chinese Cabbage @$9.80++, @$6.80++ respectively

Fish Meat Dumplings @$9.80++

Dumplings with Chinese Cabbage @$6.80++ (original serving size - 8 pieces)

From all the dumplings that I had tried here, the fish and cuttlefish dumplings were more for the novelty of it and at times, it may be a tad fishy for some. To be safe, I'd go for the dumplings with Chinese cabbage.

The must order, is the Steamed Crab Roe Xiao Long Bao, or any xiao long baos for that matter. This recommendation is consistent for both outlets.

Xiao Long Bao/Steamed Crab Roe Xiao Long Bao @$8.80++ / $13.80++ respectively

juicy

After this meal, we were in dumplings coma for the rest of the day. Hence, words from the wise... order enough xiao long bao so that one gets to try the original first, and followed by the crab roe version. Recommend minimally 2 pieces of each to satisfy. Otherwise, not quite complete.

Expect to spend between $25 to $32 per pax for a meal.

Lunch with fellow foodies; Hence, Tracy, Ivan and Kris. 

Hand in Hand Beijing Restaurant 手拉手京华小官

Address: 143 Jln Besar, Singapore 208859

Website: https://handinhandfood.com/

Contact: 6297 1398

Business Hours:

Daily: 10am–3pm, 4:30–10pm

[Tasting] Back at George Town Tze Char & Craft Beer 乔治 海鲜 81 Boat Quay

For fans of Hitachino Nest and Brewdog, hop on down to George Town Tze Char for their latest promo for these. Cold beer and hot tze char food, can't say no to these!

bottled craft beer options

Guess what I drank. 

Hitachino Nest Craft Beer bucket of 4

Had tried the red rice ale before, so this time round, opted for Dai Dai IPA for its fruity flavours.

Dai Dai Ale @6.2% ABV

mikan taste was subtle, hoppy with a bitter aftertaste

side by side

Now, I was thirsty. so the beer was handy as a thirst quencher. If you're not that hungry yet, let's try some munchies, so that our stomach have enough space for the main course later on.

Salted Pepper Eggplant @$10++

The egg plant was well-fried, not spicy and tasty when eaten hot. Enjoyable. 

However, my favourite appetiser vote went to the Crispy Chestnut Beancurd. Golden brown, bite-sized flavour bomb. Loved the sweet crunchy texture of the chestnut!

Crispy Chestnut Beancurd @$12++

There's just something about beer and deep fried food. It can't go wrong! The Thai style soft-shell crab was a tasty snack to have with the IPA. Between soft shell crab and squid, my heart (and tummy) still wants the Thai Style Sotong.

If you prefer prawns instead, I'd say go for the Crispy Butter Prawns. Don't forget to enjoy the 'bak chor' (a nickname that Nikolai gave to the brown rounded crisps that looked like minced meat), which essentially, is the fried butter bits.

Thai Style Soft Shell Crab @$18++

Crispy Butter Prawns @$20++

There's also Salted Pepper Pork Ribs for something simpler and meaty.

Salted Pepper Pork Ribs @$18++

Another new dish that I'd come back for, is the Live Oyster Crispy Omelette. Some may prefer it to be more crispy, but I was happy with the fluffy omelette. Yums!

Live Oyster Crispy Omelette @$15++

If you're feeling the summer heat, you might want to order the colourful Paradise cocktail to cool down. A sweet concoction that's pleasing to the eyes. As you might have guessed it, there's Blue Curacao, orange pulp and syrup.

The crab promotion is still on-going and guests could choose amongst these sauces; Rendang, Black Pepper, Chili and Salted Egg Yolk. I've tried three flavours and lucky me, this time round, we had the Salted Egg Yolk. The sauce is smoother here as there's steaming process involved and expect intense flavours.

Salted Egg Yolk Crab @$15++ (promo price)

Black Pepper Angus Beef @$28++

If you love your black pepper and beef, there's Black Pepper Angus Beef to satisfy the cravings.

On my first visit here, I've enjoyed the Thai Curry Fish Head quite a bit. This time round, we tried the Penang Laksa Steamed Fish Head.

Penang Laksa Steamed Fish Head @$28++

ready to dig in

By looking at the toppings on the fish, I reckoned that this was supposed to be somewhat similar to Penang Assam Laksa kind of flavours. Somehow, it didn't taste like that but it was nice to eat the condiments like sliced raw onions, cucumber and pineapple strips. Kinda refreshing and it'd be complete if there's mint leaves to complete the flavours. The sauce was rather spicy that night and we were informed that this was possibly due to the rather generous amount of bird eye chili used.

In general, the food was likeable and of stronger flavours. Reservation is recommended.

Thank you Jennifer for the invite, Charles for your kind hospitality and George Town Tze Char for hosting the dinner. 

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