Magical Experience at The Wizard's Brew

 We wanted to look for a place to chill with drinks and dessert and The Wizard's Brew came to my mind.

The Wizard's Brew is located at 10B Trengganu Street. It took us a while to locate the entrance to the cafe bar. Look out for a staircase with a signboard, and take the stairs up to the third level.

As we reached the third level, we could already feel the magical charm of The Wizard's Brew that resembled the Hogwarts Stairwell, with walls filled with an array of framed photographs, creating an enchanting atmosphere.

When you see this door, open it and step inside to be transported into The Wizard's Brew.

An artistic ambience surrounded the cafe bar with black wall and ceiling paired with wooden floor, tables and chairs. The atmosphere was further enriched by details of the wizarding world.

The walls were displayed with "Wanted" posters, showing witches and wizards sought by the Ministry of Magic for their crimes. 

The area looked cozy with the fireplace, a rare feature to find in a cafe or restaurant in Singapore. It added a warm touch to the magical ambience.

Hogwarts Castle against the full moon. It was fascinating how the wall was molded to create such an art piece. 

A wizard bar would not be complete without a wand, a must-have prop for photo opportunities or for casting a few spells to create a magical experience.

I had Sparkulous ($22+) with the option of alcoholic and non-alcoholic. The purple potion (butterfly pea) transformed into vibrant shades of pink when mixed with fizzing lime juice, creating enchanting bubbles that emitted sparks of magical energy. Watching the transformation was a fascinating experiment and the drink tasted like a sweetened lime juice.

Your potion master was creating a fizzy and bubbling potion for consumption. The correct way to brew a spellbinding drink was to pour the potions into a test tube and light it up with fire.

Places to Dine near Chinatown

 I have came up with a third compilation for places to dine near Chinatown (2022 edition). The last sharing focused on just places to dine in Chinatown Point (2021 edition), so I extended the scope to explore more food areas near Chinatown (including Chinatown Point).

1. Group Therapy Coffee (Cross Street Exchange)

Group Therapy Coffee is a busy and charming cafe located in between Chinatown and Telok Ayer. One good thing about this cafe is that there is no service charge involved, only GST is included in the bill.

Hashbrown already has a place in my heart so I went for Hashbrowns & Smoked Salmon with Poached Eggs and Avocadeo Lime Sauce ($17+).

The eggs were poached just right, with the egg yolk flowing out when burst and letting it seeped into the smoked salmon and hashbrown. The hashbrown was nice and resembled a little like McDonald's standard.

I had Kyoto Matcha Latte ($6+) to go with the meal. I like that the matcha latte did not taste diluted even though the ice was slowly melting.

181 South Bridge Road #01-05 & #K1-04 Singapore (058743)

Operating hours: 8am to 5pm from Sun-Tue, 8am to 9pm on Wed and Thu, 8am to 10pm on Fri and Sat

2. Tendon Kohaku

Cravings for Japanese food, we went Tendon Kohaku located at Chinatown Point for lunch, a place that serves hearty bowl topped with crispy beautiful tempura.

We topped up for the set meal which came with Chawanmushi, Miso Soup and Ice Green Tea. The Japanese steamed egg arrived piping hot and tasted delicious with the rich seafood broth in it.

I had the Signature Kohaku Tendon which came with substantial amount of ingredients, consisting of 2 Prawns, 1 Chicken, 1 Squid, 1 baby Corn, 2 French Beans, 1 Shiitake Mushroom, 1 Kabocha Pumpkin and 1 Soft Fried Egg.

Although all the ingredients were deep fried, it did not have the greasy texture. All the pieces have the crispy exterior while the meat remained succulent. The sweet sauce added to the rice complemented well to the taste of the rice bowl.

133 New Bridge Rd, Chinatown Point, #02-34, Singapore 059413

Operating hours: 11.30am to 3.30pm and 5pm to 9.30pm daily

3. Chu Huang Hong Kong Royal Chicken

Chu Huang Hong Kong Royal Chicken is a small eatery located at People's Park Centre that specialises in Gui Fei Chicken (貴妃雞). This is my first time hearing about Gui Fei Chicken, so it sparked my interest in trying this eatery.

I had Soy Sauce Chicken ($5) instead of Gui Fei Chicken because I prefer to have the roasted chicken drizzled with soy sauce which was juicy and helped to enhance the flavour. I don't like that the chicken came with many bones, I prefer it to be boneless.

101 Upper Cross St, #01-05L, People's Park Centre, Singapore 058357

Operating hours: 11am to 8pm daily

4. Saizeriya

Saizeriya is known for their affordable and quality Italian cuisine with most of the dishes under $10 with no additional tax and no services charge. It has been awhile since I last had it.

You can complete your meal by opting for the set which incudes free flow of drinks and a bowl of salad. The salad was quite a refreshing one with the sauce added.

I had Creamy Garlic Chicken ($7.90) with chicken and mushroom bits. The spaghettis was on a dry side as I didn't feel there was much of creamy garlic sauce.

We also had Mushroom and Bacon Pizza ($7.90) for sharing. The pizza has a really thin crust texture and the edge was crunchy like biscuit, yet it was able to hold the ingredients on it. The pizza was better than their spaghettis. 

133 New Bridge Rd, #02-10 Chinatown Point, Singapore 059413

Operating hours: 11am to 10pm daily

5. Danji Korean BBQ Buffet

Craving for Korean food, we headed straight to Danji Korean BBQ Buffet without looking at the menu. I ordered Soy Chicken lunch set ($14++) and was surprised that it turned out to be a BBQ buffet (free flow of vegetables, hotdog, kimchi soup and rice). I was just expecting it was a hot plate for weekday lunch. It was still filling lunch for the price paid, just that it was troublesome that I have to spend most of the time flipping the meat.

133 New Bridge Rd, #02-35 Chinatown point

Operating hours: 12pm to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 10pm from Mon to Fri, 12pm to 10pm on Sat and Sun

**

A Day

We eventually settled for Monster Curry because we spotted some empty seats in the restaurant unlike the other restaurants which has queue forming. Surprisingly, Chinatown Point is quite crowded today. I tried not to repeat the things that I have tried before, so I had Matcha Latte with Azuki ($4.50++). The difference between this and matcha latte is the addition of azuki and whipped cream.

I had Teriyaki Chicken Curry ($15.80++) which consists of boneless chicken thigh and omelette. It has been awhile since I last had Japanese curry rice. The spiciness of the curry added flavour to the plain rice and crispy teriyaki chicken.

High Tea at Sweetea Caffe

Living in an urban city with all the high rise buildings and flats, it always made me feel nostalgic to visit Chinatown with the sight of old shophouses that brought us back to 1960s, reliving the colonial history of Singapore.

We visited Sweetea Caffe located at Chinatown for a new year high tea session. Sweetea Caffe seems like a charming place filled with history and culture, waiting to be discovered. Checkout their balcony area, it truly made one feel like we were being transported back to a different era (龙门客栈: Dragon Inn) with their wooden door and the view of the old shophouses. We even saw ladies dressing up in ancient costumes and had their meal here.

The vibrant and colourful shophouses of Chinatown reflects the cultural sight of Singapore, with modern shopping scene on the ground. We were used to the sight of tall skyscrapers when we gazed out from balcony, the scenery at Chinatown and experience at Sweetea Caffe is definitely something different.

New year meet up with GF and Tracy, a nice chill out venue picked by Tracy.

With all of us busy with work and other commitments, the number of times we are meeting up are not as frequent as before. Hence, I always the cherished the time we have together.

Spending the time with close friends brought away the stress I had been experiencing. 

After we had our fill of group photos at the balcony, we headed back to indoor to enjoy our high tea session.

The high tea set came with 2 complimentary drinks and we chose mocktail. It looked great for photo taking, but you can literally finish the drink in just a few sip and the mocktail was so sweet that will make you feel sugar rush.

The  Asian style three tier High Tea Set ($38.80++) where the top tier was assorted mini cakes, second tier was pudding and avocado kueh pie tee, bottom tier was luncheon meat, nugget and criss cross potato. We also ordered another plate of Criss Cross Potato ($11.80++) for sharing.

My favourite was the top tier of assorted mini cakes and the one that stood out was Ondeh Ondeh Cake at the right. The cake was fluffy and airy, with sweetness from the grated coconut and the gula melaka taste. 

While the food and drinks were very normal, the ambience of the cafe and companionship definitely make up for it. It was a great catch up sessions with the girls, looking forward to our next meet up.

Places to Dine at Chinatown Point Part 2

Chinatown Point is a shopping mall that I regularly visited for the past few months, especially after I started going back to my workplace, I began to notice some restaurants have exited the mall and new restaurants being opened. Hence, I decided to do a part 2 food sharing to update the list of food choices available at Chinatown Point (My last sharing was back in 2016 - only left with Toast Box and Nanbantei).

With Covid-19 still on-going, we don't have the opportunity to dine out as often as before since some of us are working from home on certain or most days. So now when we have the chance to dine out, I find that we are more willing to spend more on food and drinks, in a way to also help our F&B industry.

1. Tamago-EN (#01-44) (Closed)

Tamago-EN is a casual egg specialty restaurant and they used eggs imported directly from Okinawa. You can find egg in every dish.

I had Lychee Drink while waiting for our food. The drink contained a sweet and sour blend of lychee and lemon, allowing every sip to taste the fruity flavour. Totally refreshing!

Chicken Stew Omu Rice ($13.90++) caught my eyes. The omelette rice was surrounded by chicken stew, broccoli and mushrooms. A very comforting plate on a rainy day and the thick gravy made the ingredients tasted fragrant too.

Be sure to mix the rice with the gravy so that the rice tasted even delicious, feeling so satisfied after finishing it.

Tamago-EN is having the seasonal dessert for sakura season, we were tempted to try Sakura Soufflé Pancake with Vanilla Ice Cream before it's gone, so we ordered it for sharing. 

The Soufflé Pancake was freshly prepared from scratch and would need 20 minutes preparation time. The Soufflé Pancake was very fluffy, soft and light, it literally melt in the mouth. Pair it with vanilla ice cream for a sweet finish.

2. Hoshino Coffee (#02-47/48)

This marked my second visit to Hoshino Coffee within two week, the restaurant is very cosy and the food is great. However, do note that they have a restriction of 1 hour dining. The timing was just nice for our lunch so we don't mind. For those who prefer to prefer a longer dining time, this place will not be suitable for you.

I was here for their pasta last week, so I decided to try their brunch menu this time round. I had Pancake & Omu Souffle with Smoked Salmon. This was one of the hearty brunch I had, the smoked salmon was very tender, the omu souffle was flavourful when paired with the tomato sauce and ended with a sweet note we had the pancake drizzled with the maple syrup.

Although Hoshino Coffee is famous for their hand dripped coffee but I am not a fan of coffee so I opt for Ice Royal Milk Tea, you can choose between with sugar or straight. I opt for straight where the milk tea contained zero sweetness with a bitter aftertaste. I need to choose with sugar next time.

3. Paulinni (#01-05) (Closed)

Everything I walked past Paulinni, I was always being attracted by their wide selection of low fat gelato but there are just too many other selection of food that captured our attention. Hence, I only tried it after so long. Well, it is better to be late than never.

Paulinni offers casual dining ranging from healthy salad, baked pizzas, sandwiches, wraps, baked pastas and wide selection of low fat gelato. The seats are limited with less than 10 tables, be prepared to eat and go during peak hours.

Thick toast with 2 scoops of gelato - chocolate mint and cookie & cream.

The cookie & cream is my favourite flavour because I look the combination of the two ingredient. The perfect sweet note to end off a meal.

4. Kiwami: Teppan . Ramen . Gyoza (#02-38)

Nothing beats a bowl of ramen on a rainy afternoon.

Kiwami is a Japanese restaurant known for their signature Kiwami Tonkotsu Ramen, featuring top-notch ingredients imported directly from Okinawa.

Kiwami has a cozy vibe with wooden brick decor and an extensive menu for us to choose from, there are so many things we want to try.

The restaurant does not served plain water, so you might want to order a drink. I ordered Cold Genmai Tea ($1.80++).

I had Premium Kiwami Tonkotsu Ramen with egg ($14.80++). The tonkotsu broth was simmered over 10 hours using 100% Japanese pork bones. Each strand of noodle was soaked up with the broth and each spoonful was mouthwatering.

We decided to add on some side dishes for sharing, first was Chicken Karaage ($5.80++).

Last but not least was Tomato Cheese Gyoza ($7.80++). The gyoza selection at Kiwami is very unique and different from the traditional gyoza dipped with soy vinegar sauce. The tomato and cheese gravy enhanced the flavour of the gyoza, they complemented well together.

5. Monster Curry (#02-45/46)

Monster Curry is not a stranger to us as they have many outlets available in Singapore. They are known for their monstrous bowls of curry rice and noodles with different levels of spiciness that can cater from spice friendly to daredevil.

I had Ice Matcha Latte ($3.50++), I like that the milk boasted a good balance of sweetness and smooth out the bitterness of matcha. 

I had Tori Karaage Curry with Omelette. It has been a long while since I last had Japanese curry rice, the curry and rice combination is so good that keep me revisiting again. As I opt for level 1 spice level, the spiciness was just perfect without having the need to gulp down a drink. The fried chicken was crispy on the outsider and juicy on the inside, mix it with the curry rice to enjoy the full flavour.

Stay tuned for more dining places at Chinatown Point.