[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

[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

[Tasting] Bearded Bella @ 8 Craig Road

Bearded Bella is a cosy casual eatery with good coffee, wholesome food and good company. Started by Regina Tay and Sarah Ling, the place exudes a lovely soft ambiance and staffed by fun, young adults. There's a front-yard where diners could chill outside too.

front-yard

Happy Birthday Bearded Bella!

Was invited for dinner and its dinner menu would be of sharing plates concept. A quick browse of the dinner menu had us easily identifying our dinner plates. But first order of things, would be....drinks, of course. It was TGIF after all!

Wanted something with sweetness and was recommended a G&T named as "The jam sessions." Special drink for its reverse infused gin and tonic. Botanist gin and tonic infused with mixed berries, lemon and sage. A lovely pinkish hued glass that is adequately sweet and easy to drink.

"The jam sessions" @$14

Or, you could opt for some bright gold sparkling Spanish cava. Fresh, crisp and with fine bubbles. 

Franck Massard Mas Sardana, Cava Brut Nature @$14

Snacks

Though we'd start strong with an order of beef cheeks. The portion was just right for us. We were a party of 3! The Australian grass-fed beef cheeks was braised in red wine jus till delicately fork tender and served sitting on-top of a puffy mound of creamy celeriac puree. Devoured in two bites. Ok, probably 3-bites for more lady-like dining.

Australian grass-fed beef cheeks @$15

SGD9 for two eggs are not exactly economical but glad I ordered the Devilled Eggs at Bearded Bella. Lovely golden yellow hues for its crips parmesan chip as well as the tasty miso yolk. Was pleasantly surprised with the slight sweetness at the end of the bite. Was there caramelised sugar?

Devilled Eggs @$9

Garden

Yes, it is mandatory to have two servings of vegetables for every meal. Hence, we got ourselves the cauliflower done three ways; roasted, couscous and crisps. Loved the puree in this dish. So creamy and milky. I enjoyed the cauliflower couscous and the roasted version but not the crisps as it tasted like dehydrated.

Cauliflower done 3-ways @$12

Regina sent us one of her favourite garden plate and that was how, the baby beetroot plate landed on our table. Would I have ordered baby beetroot? Unlikely. But after having a taste of this version, I'd gladly order one if I'm there again!

sweet baby beetroot, beetroot juice, pickled beetroot, feta @$10

Sweet is so apt to describe the baby beets. So sweeeeet~ in fact. So good with a bit of the feta cheese crumbs and those crunchy nuts. More please.

Sea

The treasures from the sea that we opted for was the sea bass. I liked that the sea bass natural flavours were accentuated with the coconut tom kha sauce and the fragrant curry leaf. Good mouthfeel overall.

Sea bass, lime, coconut tom kha sauce, grilled tomatoes, curry leaves @$22

Another dish that I enjoyed was the seared scallops. Good price point, reasonably sized and bouncy scallops with refreshing mint pea puree. Loved the colours on this plate.

Yuzu ponzu pan-seared scallops, mint pea puree, hazelnuts @$17

Land

Pork, beef or chicken? We had pork jowl as well as the beef cubes. Be warned that these would be quite filling especially after all the starters.

Seared Spanish pork jowl, honey truffle pear, celeriac and pork crackling @$13

Yes, we did the pork crackling test and it was amazingly crunchy! If you could only hear the sound of the crunch. So loud! Hahahaa! Yes, it was a tad embarassing but in a good way. For this dish, best to get a drink ready as the pork jowl was fatty and rich. Flavourful, oily mouthfeel with super tender meat and scoop a few of those julienned sweet pear and some celeriac mash. So good!

Of course, on the other extreme, you could opt for the healthy lean chicken. I think this would make very good gym food. Lean white meat that wasn't tough, clean tasting and paired well with creamy cauliflower puree.

Chicken, roasted butternut squash, cauliflower puree @$14

For the second most expensive plate around, it was the Australian grass-fed tenderloin cubes. 180g was enough to induce a short bout of meatgasm. The medium rare meat was jaw friendly, flavourful with each chew and complete with jus.

Australian grass-fed tenderloin cubes (180 g), yuzu shoyu, chili threads @$28

It was at this stage that we figured that we had eaten more than we should. Tummies filled and heart full.

But, what about dessert? Will we be able to bear leaving yet not knowing how dessert would have tasted like?

Plated Dessert

Dark chocolate and orange bread pudding @$13

Yassss to dessert! But because we only can choose one (as any more we would've combusted there and then), we exercised caution and a long deliberation before deciding on dark chocolate and orange bread pudding.

I think this plate was nothing short of magical. Scoops after scoops of that pudding went into our mouth as though we had not eaten anything for dinner prior! It was just that good.

Served warm, its texture was delightfully moist (or dare I say, molten?) and contrasting with the wonderfully cold (but melted too fast) vanilla bean ice-cream. Sweet endings indeed.

This is bounced up into the must-order list.

Thank you Kris for the invitation. To Regina, thank you for your generosity and hospitality. To Bearded Bella crew, thank you for taking care of us on our night of visit.

See you again!

Bearded Bella

Address: 8 Craig Rd, Singapore 089668

Website: https://www.beardedbella.com/

Contact: 9880 0775

Business Hours:

Monday to Thurs: 730am to 5pm

Fri: 730am to 11pm

Sat to Sun: 730am to 6pm

[Media Invite] Element On Tras Street and Element @ Amara Hotel Tanjong Pagar

On which occassions do you dine in hotels in Singapore? For most locals, perhaps during weddings, or to seek out buffets, high-teas, or for other celebratory occassions like anniversary, birthdays etc. Amara Hotel has been around for the longest time and the restaurants that I usually associate with it, are Hyang-to-gol and Thanying. Nearby and within hotel vicinity, there's Bar-Roque Grill which recently was awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

Was invited for a hosted tasting at Amara Hotel and we tried Element on Tras and Element Restaurant. If you walk in from the hotel lobby, you'll find Element Restaurant at the lobby level. Element On Tras Street (EOTS) is the alfresco extension of Element Restaurant. Bar is open from 12pm to 1am while dinner hours are from 6pm to 1030pm. Serving Spanish fare and there's about 17 tapas on the menu, with a couple of soups, starters, mains and dessert. Cuando pienso en España, pienso en tapas y sangria.

Element on Tras Street

Element on Tras Street (EOTS)

kitchen

Happy Hour till 8pm, and one could quench their thirst with draft beer, house sparkling, housepour wine and selected spirits for $10. Cheers! Enjoy the lively music and view of the street from EOTS.

House Sparkling @$10++ /$15++ (HH/Non-HH)

The house sparkling (Piccini Prosecco Vino Spumante Extra Dry) was nice and bubbly, and one sort of wish that the weather would be kinder. Maybe beer would work better in our humidity. Nevertheless, music was lively and company was great.

As there were only three of us, we sampled 4 items from the tapas menu. The usual classic order would be meatballs, gambas (prawns) and pulpo. Which we did.

Brava Meatballs @$14++

Pulpo ala Gallega @$18++

Thought it tasted of blue cheese in the beef meatballs but later on, found out that it had been stuffed with goat cheese. The sauce was spicy tomato and contains pork but it wasn't spicy at all. Flavour of the goat cheese made it interesting but the meat a little dry.


Enjoyed the pulpo quite a bit. The sliced octopus was tender and strongly seasoned. Goes well with wine or sparkling and of course, beer! I think I ate the whole pan of these.

Gambas al Ajillo @$15++

Mini Hamburguesas de la Casa @$16++

When comparing price points and value, I'd go for the mini hamburgers where one gets dry-aged beef burgers with its solid patty done medium rare. The buns was a bit of a letdown though as it was rather dry and not fluffy.

dry-aged beef patty in house dressing

On the tapas menu, there was an item that I was interested in but had forgotten to order, was this Provolone a la Plancha; grilled Provolone cheese with raspberry coulis, honey mustard and balsamic reduction. Let me know if you had try it.

Element Restaurant

If you're interested to know what Element Restaurant has to offer for its current buffet line, here are some photos:

sushi and sashimi counter

cold seafood section

cooked cold seafood

breads

cheese

cooked food

The dishes that I've enjoyed was the pasta cooked upon order at the pasta station. Chose a carbonara and mini raviolis (pork and spinach). Simple in taste and prepared with heart. There is also ramen station if you like but I'd prefer the pasta.

carbonara cooked ala-minute

from ramen station

From cooked food section, I liked the braised pork with black fungus quite a bit, stir-fried beef and salmon mini croquette. The mutton rendang was rather nice too.

braised pork with black fungus

stir-fried pepper beef

salmon croquette

There were french onion soup and ginseng chicken soup available during our visit on a weekday night. For the sashimi, we sampled unagi, cooked prawns, octopus, ika, salmon, maguro and mekajiki. Usually I will skip the ika as I believe it should be eaten very fresh or cooked.

sashimi platter

For dessert, I tried the mango pudding and tiramisu. No complaints there. The staff brought us jackfruit creme brulee and it was a surprise taste as I wasn't expecting this flavour.

tiramisu

jackfruit creme brulee

Thank you Lindy and Amara Singapore for hosting the tasting session. Enjoyed the introduction to Element on Tras Street tapas and its flavours of Spain, and hope to see new menu on the buffet line in Element Restaurant.

Amara Hotel

Address: 165 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088539

Reservations and enquiries:
Tel: (65) 6879 2607
Email: fnb.sg@amarahotels.com

 

Element on Tras Street

Business Hours:
Restaurant
Lunch (Monday to Friday), 12pm to 2.30pm
Dinner (Monday to Saturday & Public Holiday), 6pm to 10.30pm

Bar
Monday to Friday, 12pm to 1am
Saturday, Sunday & Public Holiday, 3pm to 2am

Element Restaurant

Business Hours:

Breakfast (Daily), 6.30 am to 10.30 am
Lunch (Monday to Friday, except Public Holiday), 12 pm to 2.30 pm
Weekend Lunch (Saturday, Sunday & Public Holiday), 11.30 am to 2.30 pm
Dinner (Daily), 6.30 pm to 10 pm

Buffet Lunch (12pm to 2.30pm, Monday to Friday)
Adult (12 and above): S$49++
Child (5-11 years old): S$25++

Buffet Dinner (6.30pm to 10pm daily)
Adult (12 and above): S$65++
Child (5-11 years old): S$32++

Brunch (Saturdays/Sundays & Public Holidays – 11.30am to 3.30pm)
Adult (12 and above): S$49++
Child (5-11 years old): S$25++

Weekends Only

Element on Tras Street: Breakfast Set
From S$15++ per pax

Element: Breakfast Buffet
Adult: S$25++ per pax
Child (6-12 years old): S$12++ per pax

Opening hours:
Weekend breakfast: 7am – 11am