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

YinJi Singapore 银记肠粉店 @ Far East Square

Snacking on chee cheong fun? Keke, it certainly was interesting! As part of our foodie adventures 'coz we stayed nearby at The Clan , this shop was just a few steps away from our hotel. 

I think it was like tea-break because we went there at about 3.40pm. And, we had a feeling that our dinner will be around like supper time as per the night before. Read more about the long wait for the previous night's dinner at GO! K-BBQ.

big signboard

alfreso dining

not just chee cheong fun

but we were here for the chee cheong fun though

As usual, I left the ordering to the cute couple and Ivan. Ahh, now I remembered saying that I wanted to try the beef chee cheong fun with egg.

our choice

Salted Pepper Chicken @$5

Fresh Prawns Egg Roll @$7.50

Am amused that a plate of chee cheong fun costs more than a plate of fried chicken cutlet. Hehe.

Tender Beef Egg Roll @$7.50

tender beef, that's true!

I liked the tender beef egg roll. Wished there were more pieces of the meat but its texture was as expected. Smooth and tender. The chee cheong fun was slippery smooth and the sauce was strongly flavoured.

prawn egg roll (closer view)

The one with the fried dough, was a surprise. I thought the fried dough fritters would be crispy but it was not. Slight chewy and the skin of the rice roll was only 1 layer, so it was just a thin sheet wrapped around the dough.

Fried Dough Roll @$4.50

The more I chew the fried dough and the cheong fun, the more tasty it seemed? Hahhaha! But my favourite from this shop is still the tender beef egg roll.

Interesting to eat cheong fun when it is not breakfast time.

YinJi Singapore 银记肠粉店

Address: #01-01, 133 Amoy St, Singapore 049962

Contact: 6443 3875

Business Hours:

Sun: Closed

Mon:  9:30am – 4pm

Tues - Sat:  9:30am – 7pm

Luna and GO! K-BBQ @ Amoy Street

For our first dinner at Telok Ayer where we were doing a staycay at The Clan, we actually whatsapp'ed a place to reserve but unfortunately, no response by dinner time. Dropped by the said place and was informed that, sorry, the earlier reservation did not go through. Hence, we walked around and decided to try GO! K-BBQ, one of the many Korean BBQ places around the area. Left our name in the waitlist and walked over to Luna for some dessert first.

The shop had some tables left, so we sat down comfortably and ordered some cakes and drinks. Can see the cakes on display, make your order and pay at the counter. Return to your seat and the friendly crew will call you when the order is ready.

Gula Melakaya (back) and Matcha Opera (front) @$8 per slice

Gula Melakaya

Truth be told, I thought the cakes looked rather dry. But, I'd soon discover that after taking one big bite, that was not so, as the layer of cream complemented the texture and taste. Sweet but not overly. Gula Melakaya tasted of pandan and coconut-ey.

Matcha Opera

There's a bit of edible gold flake on the Matcha Opera, so that gave it an instant chic feel. As the fork cuts through, one could feel the denseness of the cake. This is matcha gao gao (strong matcha taste). Of matcha mousse, ganache and chantilly cream. Very likeable and recommended to share.

Luna

Address:  53 Amoy St, Singapore 069879

Website: https://www.luna.sg/

Business Hours:

Mon - Fri: 12–6:30pm

Sat: 12–6 pm

Sun: 12-4pm

By 8pm, we went back to the BBQ place to check if it was close to our turn. Alas, not quite. So we guai guai stayed in queue. Think there were about 3 to 4 groups ahead of us still.

GO! K-BBQ

let's eat meat!

Noticed that the Manager running the place was super busy. He does almost everything from attending to the customer queue, cutting up the meat and serving the tables, and that's pretty impressive.

looking at pictures while waiting

We finally got a table around 9pm and the floor manager was pretty apologetic about the long wait. No problem but first up, let's order meat! Left it in the good hands of Tracy and Hence to recommend while I made a quick dash to the washroom.

By the time I returned, the table was starting to get crowded.

side dish and wraps for the BBQ, the pickled leaves should be 깻잎 장아찌

lots of lettuce 많은 상추

salad

steamed egg 찐 계란

let's have a big bite

Big Beef Rib Soup 큰 쇠고기 갈비 수프 @$22++

It was comforting to have the hot food. Steamed egg was soothing and the beef soup was good, with bits of ginseng and red dates. The meat was good with a dab of salt.

Have you tried beef tartare / yukhoe before? I had it in Busan and it was good. But in Singapore, this was my first time trying. A bit squeamish when you see those reddish hue of the liquid from the pear mixed with the raw meat. Taste wise, it was enjoyable and non-funky.

Yukhoe 육회 @$28++

Let's wash it down with some soju. I'd prefer flavoured soju but this original one, was not bad as well.

Jinro Soju @$15++

But let's get some BBQ action going, shall we? Guests can sit back and relax as the staff will do the grilling for you. Jerome was assigned to our room and he's pretty quick.

Beef

let it sizzle

almost done

ready to eat

Within a few minutes, we finished consuming the first place of meat. Not enough, let's have some more. This time round, let's try pork. As with aged meat, there was some smell emanating from it but the taste was alright and the texture was nicely tender.

pork neck and pork belly with tteok 돼지 목과 삼겹살

let's brown it

not yet

almost

I think in total, there were 4 portions of meat, 1 yukhoe, 1 soup, 1 egg and lots of vege, all consumed from within 1.5 hours. Yes, we were that hungry!

finale, of iron pressed pig skin

If you like QQ, then the last bit of pork skin will appeal to you. For me, not so much in this manner and moreover, our dinner was more like supper hence, felt sinful after inhaling all the meat.

Food adventures with Tracy, Hence and Ivan.

GO! K-BBQ

Address: 76 Amoy St

Contact: 6423 0308

Business Hours:

Mon - Fri: 11:30am–3pm, 5:30–10:30pm

Sat - Sun: 5:30–10:30pm