Gochu Korean Dining & BBQ @ Orchid Country Club Driving Range in Yishun [Singapore]

I live in the infamous Yishun town and since young, have been well acquainted with Orchid Country Club. Not that well acquainted obviously since I had never once stepped into the vicinity of the driving range until late last year.

 Not a golf enthusiast and never have the opportunity to hold on to a golf club, my objective that day was located to the right after descending down to the base of the driving range, which ironically doesn't allow golfers to drive on.

Destination: Gochu Korean Dining. Standing out with its cave-like facade that would be better suited in a nature park, Gochu was featured on many social media postings a few months ago for the below view.

Mimicking a cave exploration that lasted about five meters. 

Before we were brought to the dining area on either sides. Do note that the restaurant doesn't allow reservations at the moment and the wait can be more than 30 minutes.

Loving the feel and look of the cutleries; felt like they were made from a traditional alloy of silver and metal with a textured feel for better grip. 

Side dishes with three honorable mentions on being addictively delicious; the caramel butter crispy fried fish, braised eggs with green chilli and the chinese leeks with sakura shrimps.

Draft Cass Beer - I realize beer is now my preferred beverage, over soft drinks. However, plain water is still the beverage to go, especially if they are free. Draft beers are so expensive, even though they cool me down on a hot day, and warm me up in chilly weather. 

Our meal for two persons! 

Beef Cheongguk Doenjang Stew Bansang - let's start with this, which had a thumbs-up icon next to its name on the menu, and said to be "savory beef simmered in traditional bean broth".

While a tad spicy, the broth had a heavy and rich flavor of beans and ingredients included tofu and mushrooms aside from the tender beef that made every scoopful into my mouth so appetising! The kind of dish I would sacrifice my carbo-restricted diet for! 

Sweet and Savory Ppyeo Jjim - the half slab pork ribs said to be "prepared with the sous-vide steaming method where they are slow cooked at a low temperature" and "then grilled". 

You can eat them on their own but what would be the fun of that right? 

Visual spectacle came in the form of the yellowish stuff in the middle of the grill.

Let the professionals do their job so that we don't embarrass ourselves. 

Amateurs like me would have dipped the pork ribs in the cheese pot.

Did they taste good or it was just for the show? Frankly, they were one of the best pork ribs I had; by themselves, there was this subtle sweetness and savoriness that didn't overwhelm the palate and the succulent meat easily slipped off the bone with hardly any resistance. The cheese provided a light layer of cheesy saltiness that further enhanced the flavor!  

Given the visual "training" and that there were limited staff members around, let us now attempt to do the same, before the cheese coagulated. A decent attempt I must say. 

=====

A photograph of the kitchen where the pork ribs were grilled. To be honest, I would love to be back at Gochu but it didn't escape my eyes that it wasn't easy on the wallet as the bill came up to be more than S$60 a person. Well, for special occasions then.

More photographs of the restaurant from the outside.

Address

1 Orchid Club Road, 

Golf Driving Range, 

Singapore 769162

Map

As above. 

Menu

As above.

Website

https://www.gochu.sg/

Pricing

Draft Cass Beer - S$14

Beef Cheongguk Doenjang Stew Bansang - S$62

Sweet and Savory Ppyeo Jjim - S$24

(Subject to Service Charge and Tax)

Ba Na Brew House @ Sun World Ba Na Hills in Danang [Vietnam]

Now, I am generally not very bothered by deals but when it comes to a free glass of beer (250 ml) offered by Sun World Bana Hills when we collected the cable car coupons as part of our stay; I am definitely all in! 

Redemption at this Ba Na Brew House, which wasn't hard to find as it had that unmistakable "brewery" look. Honestly, I was prepared to just go in, get my drink, finish it, and then go off.

What I didn't realize was that there's an "experience the bana brew house journey"! Oh well, nothing's ever truly free, and since time was on our side, why not.

Look at those numerous, huge fermentation tanks! The brewery opened in August 2024, and said to be Vietnam's highest at 1,400 meters.

We were made to descend all the way to the bottom-most floor, although there wasn't anyone to give a tour. Well, if it's just a "process", we would just go with the flow before going up to the floor where we can get our beer.

Finally saw the counter for free beer! 

Six types of beer available in the brewery but as it's complimentary or part of a package; the ones I wanted were all sold out. :(

I had to make do with my least favorite.

The dark lager, which I thought was stout! 

How to drink beer without snacks?! The brewery was well aware and had staff members going around with a trolley full of chargeable snacks.

Went with a horrid tasting pretzel (cost 50,000 Vietnamese dong) that was cold, and dotted with large salt crystals. Is that supposed to the usual case in Germany? 

Happy with our dark lager. Not amazing for me as it was a bit richer in flavour whereas I always prefer something light like Tiger Crystal.

My mom seldom drinks but on this trip, given the abundance of cheap beer, she almost had a glass every day! Thank god she didn't too intoxicated.

 

=====

Location

Sun World Bana Hills

Map

As above. 

Loong Kee Chinese Restaurant @ Gohtong Jaya in Genting Highlands [Malaysia]

Windmill Upon Hills is located at the mid-hill of Genting Highlands but for frequent travellers, the mid-hill they remember was a stretch of eateries nearer to the Genting SkyWay cable car station.

Out of the many eateries, the most famous had to be Loong Kee restaurant. Commanding a review score of 4.2 on Google Maps from over 2,400 reviewers; I had been wanting to check it out and finally got to doing so in my last visit to Genting Highlands. 

Taking three shops, you can bet that there were plenty of tables and chairs, although I had to admit that arriving at 5.00 pm would give us much higher hope of securing seatings. I did realize, however, that even Genting Highlands weren't as crowded this time. 

After a few deliberations, here's what we had; three of which were their signature dishes! Would have loved to order more but there's only so much tummy space, and I actually didn't research beforehand on what else would be a die die must eat! 

Lala Clams in Superior Broth - given the cool highlands climate, I would think a pot of hot soup will always be soothing and stomach warming for most! 

Come to think about it; I bet Dai Tao Lala Pot will make extremely good business at the highlands, especially with their charcoal pot. The above, as seen, was powered using a gas canister; not exactly a preferred fuel for food connoisseurs.

Tasty broth with an intense alcohol and complemented by chilli and ginger; every mouthful was shiok and especially tempting with the big lalas. Granted, the broth from Dai Tao Lala Pot was even more appetising but I am not complaining given that it is Genting Highlands.

Aside from lalas, there were even tiny crabs in the soup! 

A bit sad though as they could have grown much better. 

Loong Kee Signature Pork Belly - have you had those caramelized baby squids before? This would be the pork version and still as addictive with its crisp texture and caramelized taste! I would say this is unique! 

Stir-fried Eggplant - my friends loved them but not me; the texture was like soggy potato wedges and I don't even like potato wedges! Taste was more like hae bee (dried shrimps) and my verdict would have been better if the texture was crispier. 

Homemade Tofu with Cai Po - at RM 20.00, I would have thought this should be vegetarian with just preserved radish (cai po). Turned out the topping also included a generous amount of minced pork! 

The homemade tofu was smooth and overall, pretty good.

Eat it with white rice for a better dining experience! 

Wat Tan Hor - literally horfun that was a lot wetter than the ones we see in Singapore. A cantonese version, this had the essence of wok hei yet lacked the flavor to impress us. One word: bland. 

Hokkien Mee - as a frequent visitor to Malaysia, I am aware of the hokkien mee available in Malaysia and there were in fact two types; the black one (typical in most states except Penang) and the soupy one (common in Penang and more like our prawn mee soup in Singapore). 

Frankly, I had better Malaysian black style hokkien mee. The one at Loong Kee was acceptable with a nice saucy, slurpy texture that wasn't as sweet. Compared to Wat Tan Hor, the hokkien mee was better.

=====

Before and after! Some hits and misses but for the prices we paid for, for six dishes plus a pot of tea and that it's a popular restaurant; I would think it's value for money! 

Address

35, Jalan Jati 1, Gohtong Jaya, 

Genting Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia

Map

As above.

Pricing

Lala Clams in Superior Broth (S) - RM 30.00

Loong Kee Signature Pork Belly (S) - 32.00

Stir-fried Eggplant (S) - RM 18.00

Homemade Tofu with Cai Po (S) - RM 20.00

Wat Tan Hor (S) - RM 15.80

Hokkien Mee (S) - RM 15.80

(Subject to Service Tax)