Daily Beer @ Telok Ayer

There were 3 things that stood out when I was perusing their online menu; fried chicken, craftbeer with localised names (hello Kampong Pilsner, Telok Hazy??) and of course, Ivan's favourite Fish Cake Soup.

It was an approximated 8 to 10 minutes walk from Telok Ayer MRT station (DT18) and one should head towards the temple/Telok Ayer Market/Hawker Center direction. 

shopfront

menu

No reservation is available, so our party arrived at 630pm on a weekday evening and only outdoor seats were available.

complimentary munchies

Order via the app and the food will arrive shortly after. Fried chicken took the longest to arrive but it was worth the wait. Let's see what else we tried for our party of 5.

Nacho Chips @$14

We took a bite of the nachos chips and we just looked at each other. Hmm, it tasted like a healthier choice version. There were obvious seasonings (cheese powder, seaweed bits and raisins) on the chips but those fell off as soon as the chips were picked up.

Grilled Dried Pollack @$28

The plate of grilled dried pollack looked impressive, I must say. Taste-wise, it was a close cousin of the nachos chips. Natural tasting and pretty much unsalted as well. Dunked it into its accompanying mayo sweet soy sauce and it was more enjoyable. The same mayo dip worked well with the nachos too!

Beer Flight @$35

Ok, the beer flight was placed in such a way that I can't see what is what. One can't pick the sampler flavours, so that night we were served K-Ginseng Lager, Seoul Weizen, Telok Pale Ale, Telok IPA and K-Festbier.

As per its name, the K-Ginseng Lager tasted of ginseng but it was still light and hoppy. Perfect for our hot humid weather. Bitterness level of slightly less than 1 out of 5. Seoul Weizen was smooth and bready, with a hint of bitterness that's slightly stronger than the lager. The Telok Pale Ale and IPA both have pronounced fruity fragrance that's accompanied by prominent bitter after taste that's between level 2 and 3. Lastly, the Festbier was the most different from the lot with its rounded sweet caramel malty flavours. I had flashback of chicken essence from this drink. Hahaha!

If you have at least 3 drinkers in the group, I do think the beer flight is a good way to taste multiple flavours at one go since it was served in a 200ml glass. The flavour that I really wanted to try on next visit, is the Busan Hazelnut Porter. 

Premium Fish Cake Soup @$28

We were glad that we ordered the fish cake soup. Lovely soup that warms the tummy. Classic tasting and there were chicken cutlet, eomuk (fishcake), and hard boiled egg in there. Enjoyable after a couple of beers.

Angry Bird (Original - whole chicken 8 pieces) @$30.90

Since it was our first visit, let's get their original version to try. Surprisingly, this already came with some heat (spicy). Nicely seasoned and freshly fried. Outside crunchy and inside was juicy even for breast meat. I had the wings and the ribs, and was satisfied with this order. Will visit again for fried chicken and craft beer.

Thank you to my food and travel buddies; Tracy, Hence, Ivan and Shermaine for the meet-up and the dinner treat!

Daily Beer

Address: 212 Telok Ayer St, Singapore 068645

Website: https://dailybeer.com.sg/

Contact: 66698090

Business Hours: 

Sun - Thu: 11:30 am–11 pm

Fri - Sat: 11:30 am–12:30 am

[Tasting] George Town Tze Char & Craft Beer 乔治 海鲜 New Menu @ 81 Boat Quay

Was invited to try their new signature dishes, so let's get right to it. Looking at the variety of dishes in its new menu, diners now have the option of not only being able to enjoy traditional Penang dishes that its known for, but also more fancy dishes of lobster, A5 wagyu, caviar and abalone to name a few! Chef Michael Khor Choon Keat, culinary maestro with over 25 years of experience, is now helming the kitchen team at George Town Tze Char & Craft Beer.

Let's have a look!

Black Truffle Sauce Lobster

Black Truffle Sauce Lobster @$68++

plump with hints of truffle

A thing to note of this dish was that the aroma of truffle was really subtle to the nose. Only when it lands in the mouth that one truly taste the truffle.

Foie Gras with Caviar

Foie Gras with Caviar @$38++

Always wanted to impress your dining companion with foie gras and a glass of wine at a tze char place? Now you can!

The salad looking dish consist of duck meat cubed and slightly spicy. Interesting.

Lemon Butter Prawns in Yam Ring

Lemon Butter Prawns in Yam Ring @$38++

yam

The prawns at George Town has always maintained its standard this was no exception. The sauce was nicely thick though lemon taste was somewhat barely there.

Black Pepper A5 Wagyu

Black Pepper A5 Wagyu 120g @$48++

The sauce of the wagyu dish is strongly flavoured so, get ready with your drinks for this one.

Supreme Lobster Paofan

Supreme Lobster Paofan @$68++

clams, fish, baby scallops

lobster

And I think I have said this before, after all the drinks, it is really nice to have a bowl of comforting soup. The paofan here is our favourite dish that night. No, not because we had a lot of drinks (I had 1 glass of beer) but because the broth was flavourful and hovering between light and medium bodied. Seafood in there like the baby scallops, lobster and clams has a subtle sweetness and the crispy rice puffs made it all fun eats.

Abalone, Sea Cucumber and Mushroom

Abalone, Sea Cucumber and Mushroom 至尊三宝  @$38++

This dish of deliciously braised abalone, sea cucumber and mushroom combination is one that I may find in a wedding banquet but you can also enjoy it at George Town!

While not new on the menu, do watch out for their $1 chili crab promotion too and do enquire about the terms and conditions when ordering.

Chili Crab

chili crab

Lobster Mixed Platter and 3-Litres Amber Lager Tower

Priced at $88++, it's a delightful combination that's likely will appeal to the social drinkers in this area, looking for a great night out with their buddies. This combo works great for a group of 4 pax.

Lobster Mixed Platter, serves 4 pax limited to one per table

cheers!

lobster meat

prawn rolls

tako balls

Gobo sticks

deep fried octopus

mentaiko

The Lobster mixed platter consists of snacks that goes well with the beer. You may want to enquire on what are the small plates for that day before ordering.

Thank you Jennifer (Jennifer Yeo Consultancy ) for the invitation and George Town Tze Char & Craft Beer for hosting the tasting. Special thanks to their friendly staff who attended to our table that night.

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 3am

Blue Smoke @ Joo Chiat

I first got to know about 1925 Brewing Company was via its beer, "Liang Teh". Haha, yeah. So curiosity was piqued when I found out about Blue Smoke, an Asian Smokehouse by 1925 Brewing Co., which incidentally, is within the vicinity of my staycay at Katong.

Kris, Tracy, Hence and Ivan are agreeable to have dinner at this place, so Ivan made a same day reservation since it was risky to do a walk-in on a weekend evening. There's a $15 per pax deposit for reservations of 4-pax and above.

Walking to Blue Smoke from Hotel Indigo, took us about 10 minutes or so. Ivan, Hence and Tracy were already seated by the time Kris and myself got there.

signage

interior

The early birds had ordered appetizers of chicken skin and belinjo. So we reached at the right time!

Crispy Chicken Skins @$14

Emping Belinjo @$6

Chicken skin was not as crispy as we had imagined it to be, but for me, it was strangely addictive. One piece after the other. The emping belinjo was as expected and the homemade chili balado became a star on our table. It has the right spicy kick and loveable taste! We refused to let go of it, even when the belinjo crackers were long gone. This later was proven to be the right choice, as the chili balado goes well with the dirty rice too!

Vienna Lager @$7

I got myself a Vienna Lager, which is a limited edition brew. Limited till when? No idea also, but am a sucker for this type of wordings on the menu. Hahaa! Flavours of malt with a touch of bitterness as the aftertaste.

Lychee Lager @$7.50

I like the Lychee Lager more, as it was sweeter and more refreshing as that night was hot and humid!

Miso Shitake Buns @$8

Read plenty of reviews about the umami miso shitake buns. It was just alright for me. Good flavours of mushrooms earthiness but was somewhat expecting a stronger flavour punch. Loved the soft brioche, but everything on it was soft too.

Smoked Crispy Pork Belly @$22

Our first plate of meat was the pork belly! Lovely vibes from this dish. Not too porky taste, meat was tender with a good bite, and lovely to eat with the wasabi sour cream.

But, of course we need our vegetables too! Thus, I insisted on the cabbage.

Charred Napa Cabbage @$14

We could probably get alot of Napa Cabbage from the market with that price but oh boy, this plate was delicious! Cabbage was softened, the fried shallots on top gave it a hint of crunchiness, and swipe a piece with the garlic aioli, and oh yes, this one was umami! One of my favourite plate of that night.

served with roasted garlic aioli (that blob there, the one that looked like a prune..)

Chargrilled Wagyu @$28

200 gms of wagyu, was finished in no time. Flavours were on-point, but pistachio crumble were really scarce. Didn't taste much of it. Enjoyable mouthfeel for each piece of the wagyu slice. 

Smoked and Grilled Pineapple @$10

I didn't remember much of the pineapple but the sunflower seed cream, was causing me to lose my mind. It has a peculiar taste and that was the most intriguing part of this dish. We even asked the service staff to enquire if there's anything special in the sauce. I found it interesting!

"Dirty" Rice Basmati @$8

Initially, I thought ordering rice will not be a good choice as usually, I'd avoid carbs when eating out with the group. But this, was worth ordering especially for sharing. It paired real well with our main course of Wood Smoked Beef Brisket.

Wood Smoke Beef Brisket (left to right: Naval End, Point End) @$48

If my memory is correct, I think we got 100gms of Naval End and 200 gms of Point End with Point End being the fattier cut.

Naval End Smoked Beef Brisket

Loved the pickles served with the brisket. The rendang sauce, basmati rice and the bits of the brisket goes very well together. And, add a dash of that homemade sambal balado for extra oomph!

Having had brisket from other smokehouse before, I like the version at Blue Smoke more as the seasoning is not too strong.

Wood Fired Basque Cheesecake @$18

Ended our meal with the cheesecake and birthday wishes from the group. Thank you Tracy, Hence, Ivan and Kris for the meal! 

Special thanks to the two friendly service staff who attended to our table and answered all our queries during dinner.

Blue Smoke

Address: 261 Joo Chiat Rd, Singapore 427515

Website: http://www.the1925.com.sg/bluesmoke

Contact: 8923 1592

Business Hours:

Closed: Mon

Fri - Sat: 12:30 pm–12:00 am

Sun: 12:30–10:00 pm

Tues-Thu: 4:00–11:00 pm

[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