Parent's Day Menu 2023 @ Goldleaf Restaurant 金葉餐廳

Parent's Day is observed in South Korea on 8 May while United States of America has theirs on the fourth Sunday of July. Nevertheless, Goldleaf Restaurant has a Parent's Day menu to cater to your celebration needs, for the immediate upcoming celebration of Parent's Day and Mother's Day (14 May 2023).

For a family meal, the Parent's Day menu caters to 4 to 5 pax and priced at $268++, with a dishes that comprises of prawns, fish, and poultry. Hehe, my ah ma always said that for a special occasions, must have those chicken, pork, fish and prawns.

Emperor Chicken with Herbs 皇帝鸡

ready for the reveal

Emperor Chicken with Herbs

tender and flavourful

I suppose the "Emperor Chicken" was named as such due to it, being one of the many dishes that the Emperor of China had partake upon? This dish is said to boost immunity, aiding digestion, combating fatigue, repairing worn-out tissue, strengthening liver function, and alleviating bodily weakness. Sounds like the energy booster that most of us needs as well!

Am a noob in Chinese herbs, but typically this dish usually would have dang gui (当归), dang shen (党参) and obviously, I can see there's wolfberries (枸杞子) in there as well. Broth was lightly seasoned but packed with lovely herbal flavours. Chicken was tasty and most parts were fork tender, except for some bits. Loved the soft chicken skin that almost dissolves in your mouth upon contact.

Handmade Jade Steamed Egg 翡翠碧绿蛋

Handmade Jade Steamed Egg

This dish got us talking. Is it steamed egg, or is it egg tofu? It looked very much like beancurd to majority of us but when you taste it, it tasted rather eggy and of a firm texture. Hmmm, interesting!

Steamed Seabass with Chye Poh and Garlic 双宝金目鲈

Steamed Seabass with Chye Poh and Garlic

The steamed fish that night was exceptionally good. Texture and seasoning, just right. This was the favourite dish amongst the majority of us. Only thing missing, was a bowl of white rice.

thank you Alvin for helping us to portion out the fish

Wok-Fried Tiger Prawns with Premium Tea Leave 茶香老虎虾

Wok-fried Tiger Prawns in Premium Tea Leaves

The prawn dish appeared to be without any sauce, and hence that got me thinking about how this would taste like. Most of the prawns dishes unless it was a cold dish in a buffet, usually come with plenty of sauce for its taste. 

The fragrance of the tea leaves were rather mild, but I enjoyed the bouncy texture of the prawn that was cooked to the perfect texture. Cooked through but not overly.

Flower Clams with Seasonal Vegetables in Superior Broth 上汤时蔬花啦啦

Flower Clams with Seasonal Vegetables in Superior Broth

For a balanced diet, this dish has soup, seafood and vegetables! Simple combinations and my dining companion commented that, for him, the allure of this dish was the right consistency of the broth. 

Classic Noodles with Minced Braised Pork 中式扣肉碎面

what's in the pot?

The noodles dish was nicely presented in a lovely claypot, accompanied with a tokkuri (徳利) and a side dish of mei cai  梅菜 (preserved vegetables).

Classic Noodles with Minced Braised Pork

The braised pork certainly didn't look minced to me but after the sauce and the mei cai was mixed in, the meat had broken down further into smaller meats. Aha... that was what it meant!

after mixing

knive cut noodles

The knive cut noodles (刀削面) was QQ and springy, so it was pretty nice to chew on. Noodles itself had a clean taste, and it had never occurred to me that preserved vegetables can be a topping for noodles. First experience at Goldleaf!

Aloe Vera with Wheatgrass Juice 芦荟小麦草

dessert

I still remembered once upon a time, when wheatgrass became hugely popular. That was way way many years back. Am not a fan, because it smells like freshly cut grass. Hahaa!

But of course, I tried the Aloe Vera with Wheatgrass Juice dessert. The aloe vera was rather juicy and the wheatgrass juice was more like a syrup. A refreshing dessert for the hot and humid weather.

juicy aloe

menu

Overall, the set menu offers good value and has something for everyone. The dishes are familiar tasting, and that's comforting in a way. 

Thank you Kris for the invite and Karen, Goldleaf Singapore for hosting the tasting.

Goldleaf Restaurant 金葉餐廳

Address: 83/85 Geylang Rd, Singapore 389200

Website: https://goldleaf.com.sg/

Contact: 6346 1088

Business Hours:

Daily: 12–10pm

Guiga Korean BBQ Restaurant @ Tanjong Pagar

Heard about this place from Hence and Tracy initially. Then, Ivan had supper with them there at one point in time and I've heard good things, so been wanting to try as well. The rest of the foodie gang was activated for a meet-up and thanks to Ivan for helping to make a reservation by phone.

exterior of the restaurant

interior

our private corner

The restaurant has been around for some time and the condition of the hardcopy menu seemed to have seen better days. That aside, the staff are friendly and helpful.

menu

BBQ section

As usual, the group ordered up a feast! BBQs of both beef and pork sets, and staff kindly offered to do  the cooking at another table, as ours were too full with other things.

cold water

banchans (one set per table, refillable)

My favourite side dishes (반찬) are the kimchi and seaweed. The special one here would be the candied sliced sweet potato.

Candied sweet potato slice (고구마 맛탕)

kimchi (김치)

Kimchi was bright and not too fermented. Tangy and appetising. I liked the seaweed because it is nutritious and tasty. Texture was lovely too. 

miyeok julgi (미역줄기)

fishcake (어묵볶음)

And, then there's macaroni salad which was loaded with good 'ol mayonnaise. What's the deal with mayo that seemed to make food tastier?

macaroni salad

Hite Beer @$13

Let's have a look at the BBQ sets ordered. 

Beef Set A has prime ribs, prime short-ribs, marinated prime short-ribs and briskets. The Black Pig Set D has belly, jowl and collar.

Beef Set A @97

Black Pig Set D @$75

briskets

beef briskets

My favourite cuts of the meats would be prime short-ribs anything for the beef (means, I didn't like the brisket as much as the rest), and for the black pig, loved the pork collar the most!

Marinated versus unmarinated? Still preferred the marinated!

beef short-ribs

pork jowl

pork collar

rice 밥 @$2

For something soupy, there's the odeng tang (fish cake soup). I'll only have this when eating in a group but it is not something that I'd order on my own.

odeng tang 오뎅탕 @$30

Have you tried Ganjang Gejang or marinated soy crabs in Singapore? Guiga has it and we ordered one to try. Unfortunately, the version here was a tad tiny, and not as flavourful. Perhaps, it is the crabs used, hence the texture/flavour here was not comparable to the ones I had engraved in my memory. Read more about it here.

Ganjang Gejang 간장게장 @$45

Nevertheless, I would recommend the seafood pancake here. Delicious and the batter was soft and fluffy on its inside. Plus, loaded adequately with seafood such as prawns and squids. It was almost like eating a seafood omelette. Yums!

Seafood Pancake 해물파전 @$24

Ah, and there's yukhoe. While many will not think twice about having sashimi (raw fish), probably most will shy away from consuming raw meat. Yukhoe is made of raw sliced beef, and commonly served with sliced pear and topped with a raw egg yolk. Here's a link to Wiki on yukhoe.

Have tried yukhoe in Busan and Singapore, and I think it was the novelty of eating such food that was the main motivating factor. The meat itself would be void of any beefy taste, texture was interesting as it had a good chew to it and some sweetness from the pear slices.

Yukhoe 육회 @$36

The makchang order arrived last. Only people who likes internal organs would probably order. Hmm, the intestine itself was only slightly crisp on the outer side (because Tracy put in a request for extra crispiness) and texture was kind of chewy. Not the hard chewy but it'll still give the jaw some work-out. The accompanying julienned leek and onions provided all the flavours.

Makchang 막창 @$30

All in all, it was a flurry of dishes, a continuous stream of hands and camera taking photos, of us scooping up copious amounts of food and some attempts at conversation with the person next to you. 

We spent about $62 per pax and all the foods fed the 8 of us. For me, the aftermath was the same effect as after a buffet.

My top picks here would be the Beef BBQ of all the boneless prime beef short-ribs and the seafood pancake.

It was good to gather with Elle, Kris, Alvin, Hence, Tracy, Ivan and Tiara.

Short video:

Guiga Korean BBQ Restaurant

Address: 134 Tg Pagar Rd, Singapore 088538

Website: https://www.facebook.com/guigakoreanbbq/

Contact: +65 6221 3001

Business Hours:

Daily:  11 AM–3 PM, 5 PM–1 AM

Frieda Beer Garden & German Restaurant @ Capitol Singapore

Place was suggested by Jingwen, and it was picked as none of our group has tried this before. Plus, our colleague whom was leaving, do enjoy beer thus, Frieda seemed about right.

One thing about the clusters of restaurants at this place, is that it still felt pretty warm in here especially the 'outdoor' seats. Maybe it is just me? Hahaa!

Funny thing was that I had mistakenly stood at the La Scala entrance and the staff was looking bored (as though this probably happened often enough) and asked, are you visiting Frieda? Next door.

Happy Hour

Was too late for Happy Hour though, but nevertheless, still ordered our pints. Place seemed understaffed so, we had to wait for 15 more minutes after we had informed that we were ready to order.

for the thirsties

Mine was the Geisshugel Weiss. Refreshing with a bitter aftertaste. Colleagues ordered Signature Frieda Lager and Geisshugel IPA. Teetotalers went for the fermented drink; 1994 Bionade Lemon-Bergamot and San Pellegrino Limonata.

complimentary bread

The butter was already placed part of the table setting. Bread was nice but we also ordered their house baked pretzel to try.

Rinderragout Mit Wurzelgemuse (Beef Stew with root vegetables and Spatzle) @$29

KäseSpätzle Mit Lachs Creme Sauce Und Gouda Käse Uberbacken (Cheese Spatzle with Salmon) @$29

Coincidentally, two of my colleagues ordered dishes with Spatzle in them. Read more about spatzle here.

Is veal from cow or pork? As per my understanding as well as what is written in Wikipedia , veal is the meat of calves or young cows. We also asked the staff, and according to the staff, the veal sausage here is made of pork. Hmmm.

Anyway, to play safe as one of my colleague doesn't take beef, we ordered non-veal dishes. I suggested to her to get the Chicken Cordon Bleu and it was a good choice.

Cordon Bleu, Kartoffel-Gurkensalat Und Preiselbeeren (Chicken Cordon Bleu)  @$32

with cheese layer rolled within the chicken breast

Cranberry sauce that came with the dish was yummy as well. We used it as the dip for other things such as pretzel. Hahaa!

Hausgebackene Pretzel (freshly baked Pretzel) @$5

The pretzel was lovely with the coarse salt on it. Pair it with cranberry sauce or butter for extra oomph.

Gegrillte Wurst Platte, Hausgemachtes Sauerkraut, Kartoffelbrei, Bretzel Knodel, Dijon Senf @$49

The sharing platter (for 2 pax) consists of grilled sausages (4 types), a piece of ham, served with sauerkraut, mashed potato, pretzel dumplings and dijon mustard.

The mashed potato was a crowd favourite for it was buttery and flavourful on its own. The prerzel dumplings was unique as it tasted like bread but looked like a meatloaf. Hahaha! It was a mild flavourful bready savoury kind of taste, and no, it didn't taste like pretzel.

Pretzel Dumplings

The version of sauerkraut here tasted like the fillings of popiah (the cooked turnip fillings) with a slight tangy-ness, hence it was a rather familiar taste.

Enjoyed all of the sausages but can't remember which one was which but there was pork and chicken somewhere in there, and one that was spicy.

The above orders fed the five of us and everyone was stuffed.

Thank you to the staff who came by to top up our water. Payment at the counter.

Frieda Beer Garden & German Restaurant

Address: 13 Stamford Rd, Singapore 178905

Website: https://www.kempinski.com/en/the-capitol-singapore/restaurants-bars/frieda-beer-garden-german-restaurant

Contact: +65 6715 6873

Business Hours:

Sun-Wed: 11:30 am–10 pm

Thu-Sat: 11:30 am–12 am