Good Bites Café Restaurant - A Hidden Gem @ Bishan Sports Centre [Singapore] #hiddengem

Bishan is a town in Singapore that I would visit every working day as it has an essential train interchange for me to get from home to my workplace in Clementi. The train would ride past Bishan Sports Centre yet it's a place I have never walked in to; until three weeks ago.

Nestled at a corner not facing the main entrance, here's the star for our topic today; Good Bites Café Restaurant! With neon lighted logos and old school rubber string chairs, the one thing that came to my mind was that this is a happy place! 

There's even a traditional fire truck for the little kid buried deep at the back of your brain. p.s. note that we didn't attempt to squeeze in to relive our childhood memory.

While the outside screams of retro, fun charm, the interior of the café exudes a classic, colonial era feel. It's like going into a different world but I was okay; I needed my dinner and food matters a lot more than anything else! 

It was a coincidence that we decided to check out the place. The initial plan was actually to have dinner in another eatery at midview city but its last order was at 8.30pm which was a tad early. Hence, my friend suggested Good Bites as he was curious about it when he was captivated by the hanging light bulbs while jogging along the stadium track. 

As usual, I ran a check on Google and it had a startling score of 4.9 with over 1,500 reviewers! That's so impressive; we half expected a large crowd on a Friday evening and decided to make reservation, just in case. Turned out it wasn't that bad; you may need to wait if there's no reservation but the queue wasn't snaking long. Heard that Saturdays and Sundays are a different story though.

How we know? Thanks to Mindy, the Maître D of Good Bites (nope, she isn't in the photo)! I seldom talked about the human aspect when it comes to food reviews; however, Mindy was an obvious people-person and so persuasive that we were tempted to order whatever she recommended! Grateful that our rationality returned to our brains as we only had that much of a stomach space.

For such a popular restaurant, I was surprised to find their all day set lunch that starts from S$9.99 and includes salad and hot tea / coffee! Unlike places which are quite unrelenting in not allowing options, you are free to exercise top-ups to a mushroom soup, or even an A&W float! 

Best of all, complimentary plain water! 

  

Iced Peach Tea - Didn't regret having this thirst quenching beverage that wasn't overly sweet. On second thought, maybe I should have opted for A&W float for a top-up of just S$1.99! 

Mushroom Soup - again, another S$1.49 top-up from a salad. First thing that came to mind, it was a kid's portion! Other than the serving size, the soup was creamy, thick and flavourful with chunky bits of mushroom; totally the kind I enjoy.

Tom Yum Seafood Pasta - even though I love thai food, I am not big on tom yum and decided not to go for this in spite of Mindy's strong endorsement! My friend did and kindly passed a mouthful for me to at least try.

I regretted; it was literally like 'eating' tom yum soup and yummy would be how I described the feeling. The thick sauce that gave us the flavour was so slurpy; I almost wanted to forcefully change my order with my friend. Seafood was fresh and extra credit for the soft sotong! 

Teriyaki Chicken Tomato Pasta - mine was this visually unexciting plate of linguine; ordered as I wanted to play safe. I think that's a serious problem with me; I would like to try but more often than not, the fact that I am paying means I prefer to play safe rather than try something novel that has a relatively higher chance of 'failure'.

Taste wise; it was pretty good; a nice, tomato flavour suitable for kids and super aromatic with a lot of well-cooked minced garlic. Argh, I still prefer the Tom Yum Seafood Pasta in front of my friend! 

Chicken was nice; not the best teriyaki chicken I had but definitely above average. If you are keen to try exotic flavours, you can also choose to have pad thai pasta, sambal goreng pasta or even chilli crab pasta.

Truffle Fries - a meetup with tons of talking would never be sufficient with just mains. The truffle fries had parmesan cheese sprinkled on them which was really a flavour booster. I would love them crispier though.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake - another endorsement by Mindy, said to be a huge favourite among customers! Well, guess dessert is a must to complete the meal.

Middle was molten chocolate lava, as promised! Health conscious individuals would be pleased that it wasn't sweet which means it's a perfect companion for the sweet, vanilla ice cream. The only thing that nagged me at the back of my head was the texture of the cake; it had a thin crisp on the outside but inside was strangely, mushy.

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Nonetheless, my friend and I had a great time at Good Bites and I couldn't wait to be back once again! I would definitely have the tom yum seafood pasta the next time and maybe consider another popular dessert; their signature waffle!  

Address

5 Bishan Street 14, #03-01, 

Bishan Sports Centre,

Singapore 579783

Map

As above.

Opening Hours

Mondays to Fridays - 11.00 am to 9.30 pm

Saturdays and Sundays - 11.00 am to 10.30 pm

Public Holidays - 11.00 am to 10.30 pm

Website

https://www.goodbites.com.sg/

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Teriyaki Chicken Tomato Pasta Set - S$9.99

Top up to Mushroom Soup - S$1.49 each

Ice Peach Tea - Complimentary as Part of Set

Tom Yum Seafood Pasta Set - S$12.98

Truffle Fries - S$7.00

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake - S$10.90

(Subject to GST and Service Charge)

Additional Information

Get a free scoop of ice cream when you upload a photo with location check in to your social media account (which I presume to be Facebook / Instagram)

You Xiang Teochew Noodles (友香潮州面) - Mushroom Bak Chor Mee @ Bukit Panjang Hawker Centre [Singapore] #bukitpanjanghawkercentre

The signboard lights were off; presumably because the stall had yet to open for business. However, this didn't deter customers from continuing to queue and my curiousity was piqued. Was it so worth the wait? 

Lights were switched on shortly after I joined the queue and I got to order after waiting for about 20 minutes. It's only when I am closer to the stall that I finally caught sight of the name of the stall; You Xiang Teochew Noodles and it appeared to have been in the same business for 35 years! Okay, still a bit younger than me. 

Love it when stall operators put up the condiments for you to self service. Did you notice the one item that I was eyeing? It's one of the world's top ten most nutritious food. 

Crispy pork lard; I was secretly smiling in my heart. Since it's my first time, I am going to be a bit more conservative and shall help myself to just one heaped spoonful. 

Basic mushroom minced pork noodle with two top-ups; taiwan meatball and crispy beancurd skin. Looks like a lot but I would be sharing with the rest of my family members. That's the advantage when we eat out in a group. Note; we kept to the government regulation (for COVID) of no more than 5 in a group.

Taiwan Meatball - when compared to fishball, I personally prefer meatball and hence, I couldn't help not ordering this! At S$1 for two, they tasted not bad and you can get more minced meat hidden within the meatball.

Crispy Beancurd Skin - I initially thought would just be the skin but no, there's meat within and it kind of reminded of the hugely popular Ding Tai Fung Prawn Pancake; not as amazing of course although I can't complain when it cost only S$1 apiece here at You Xiang Teochew Noodles. 

Mushroom Minced Pork Noodle - coming to the main star of the stall, this bowl of noodle was filled with so much ingredients; I was surprised to fork out only S$2.70! 

The price is a rarity as bak chor mee costs generally above S$3.00 and even then, you might just get paltry amount of ingredients. Not You Xiang Teochew Noodles; the stall-owner gave me so much liver! It's a pity I don't know how to enjoy it and had to pass all of them to my sister. 

Well cooked noodles coated with vinegar and chilli; it was delicious but I guess some bak chor mee lovers would complain that the vinegar taste might be a bit too light for them. Well, one man's meat is another man's poison; I actually don't enjoy vinegar that much and if possible, prefer to go with ketchup or a mix of ketchup and chilli sauce. 

For S$2.70 (excluding S$2 for the crispy beancurd skin and Taiwan meatballs), the meal was definitely not expensive and I can understand why it can command the longest queue at Bukit Panjang Hawker Centre.

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Address

2 Bukit Panjang Ring Rd, #01-13, 

Bukit Panjang Hawker Centre 

Singapore 679947

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Taiwan Meatball - S$1.00

Crispy Beancurd Skin - S$1.00

Mushroom Minced Pork Noodle - S$2.70

Torched - Meat Platter for 2 @ Sunset Way [Clementi, Singapore] #torchedsg

Meat platters were the rage right before COVID-19 struck us early this year and I always wonder if it's really worth the deal; i.e. would it be cheaper if I were to buy them separately and then combine them onto a large plate?

Well, I would be finding out at Torched; located within the chillax sunset way enclave along Clementi road, my colleagues was excited about the good online reviews pertaining to their meat platters. Since I am known to be a ravenous meat eater; she figured I would be a great assistance in helping to clean up everything! 

Usual process nowadays; order, pay, collect the pager and wait for it to ring. 

Our meat platter for two! To be honest, it didn't appear to be a large portion but you have to mindful that all the meat, namely, the New Zealand grass fed ribeye, the honey soy chicken, smoked bratwurst, were all clustered together in a relatively tight manner. Nonetheless, plating could have been improved.  

Let's talk about the things I didn't enjoy; the coleslaw which lacked a nice, sweet flavour and was a bit warm and the corn that could have benefited with more butter and salt. I dislike baked beans, in general, but the ones here were served BBQ style with a spicy, peppery twist to them; kind of enjoyed them although I only indulged a bit. Absolutely no complaints about the shoe-string fries! 

The grass fed ribeye was a bomb; I have not had such nicely seared and flavoured steak in a long time and the chef had clearly mastered the medium doneness that gave us such a juicy and tender texture!  Honey soy chicken was pretty good even though it's not unique enough for me to feel that it's better than my favourite chicken chop from old airport road. Thumbs-up to the perfectly grilled German sausage; so delicious! 

Coming to my question; was the S$49 platter worth it? I did a rough check and if I were to buy the ribeye, the chicken and the bratwurst separately, I would only fork out S$47 without the torched corn. Since I am way more in love with the ribeye, it would make better sense for me to just order it on its own in the future, and maybe request to change the BBQ beans to corn instead. 

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Address

107 Clementi Street 12, 

Within FoodPark Food Court,

Singapore 120107

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Meat Platter for 2 - S$49

Toilet Bowl @ Yishun Ten [Singapore]

It was my routine jog but the feeling was different. There was a nagging pain in my tummy and despite trying to hold it in, something was about to explode and I didn't know where the hell I could find at a decent washroom at almost 11.00 pm! 

Yishun Ten; known as such as it was the first complex that housed 10 cinema halls! I remember there was a washroom on the ground floor and it should still be open as the last show usually ends at about midnight. Chiong ah!!

Stepped into the first cubicle and the first thing I checked was whether there would be toilet paper! Phew, there was a fresh roll and the toilet was at its cleanest stage. Maybe because of a reduced cinema crowd due to the pandemic. Nonetheless, I was happy I would get some relief soon.

After checking if toilet paper was available; what would be your usual next step? For me, it's definitely to put down the toilet seat, wipe it clean and lay it with toilet paper as you can never be too sure how dirty it would be. So I proceeded with the "put down the toilet seat" and strangely, I couldn't bring it down!

I did notice that the seat looked different; it was wrapped with a ton of masking tape and there were two strings tied to the metal rail preventing the seat from being put down! I can't imagine what has happened to have resulted in this almost ridiculous measure.

Did someone steal the toilet seat?! Or there were just too many inconsiderate assholes who would squat on the toilet seat?! Having said that, wouldn't it be easier to just remove the seat altogether instead of making a desperate human being think about the 1,001 reasons why the seat can't be put down?! 

Humans improvise; I do too as my ass absolutely can't hold 'them' in anymore! I quickly wiped the top of the porcelain 'throne', laid it with toilet paper and did my business. A satisfying heave of relief. *content censored to prevent disgust*