Goldleaf Restaurant Tasting Session 2021
185 Orchard Road
103 Amoy Street #01-01
86 East Coast Road #01-02
88 East Coast Road
#01-05 Katong Square
Opening Hours:
Daily: 11:30am - 3pm, 6pm - 10:30pm
https://goldleaf.com.sg/
This was an invited media review. I did not pay for the meal during the free hosted tasting session.
Attended with representatives from Her Pen And Fork, msginginly, Chubby Botak Koala, Epicurious Caniggia, and Purple Taste.
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| Superior Chicken Broth With Fish Maw (SGD $48.90) |
Homely Communal Taiwanese Meals
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 6
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 7
Value for Money: 8
Budget about SGD $78 per person.
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Established since 1971, Goldleaf Restaurant is amongst the most famed Taiwanese porridge restaurants in Singapore, serving up their homely comfort food for over 4 decades. Time almost seems to stand still here, and regulars still flock to Goldleaf Restaurant for their classic, nostalgic dishes. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, they've ceased their all-you-can-eat Taiwanese porridge buffet, and also shifted locations, choosing to focus more on deliveries.
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| Goldleaf Restaurant Exterior |
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| Goldleaf Restaurant Interior |
Ambience at Goldleaf Restaurant is modern and functional. The dimly lit place is sparsely decorated, with sturdy dark wooden furniture lined neatly within the spacious seating area, flanked by yellow cushioned booths. Safe distancing and hygiene measures means the place is usually quiet.
Service at Goldleaf Restaurant is efficient and professional. Staff are quick to greet and seat guests, and they happily interact with diners, but there's now only 1 or 2 staff manning the place, leading to longer wait times. Staff display decent product knowledge, and offer to clear finished dishes throughout the meal.
Food at Goldleaf Restaurant is focused on Chinese Taiwanese cuisine. Dishes are homely and simple, comforting and suitable for everyday dining. With traditional, authentic flavours, meals here offer a variety of choices. Portions are sized for communal group dining. Prices are expected for the premium ingredients, budget about SGD $78 per person for the festive set menu.
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| Bar |
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| Table Setting |
The folks at Goldleaf Restaurant have created a delicious spread to welcome in the Chinese New Year of the Ox for 2021. These dishes feature on their set menus, with prices ranging from SGD $298+ for a 4-person set, to SGD $1,088+ for a 8-person set. This visit, we tried the Happiness Set Menu (SGD $628+ for 8-person).
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| Goldleaf Restaurant Menu 2021 Chinese New Year Sets |
A mild Tea Pu-Erh (SGD $2), with light earthy flavour, smooth and calming.
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| Tea Pu-Erh (SGD $2) |
The Reunion Abalone Yu Sheng (SGD $68.80) features luxurious rounds of bouncy tender abalone, scattered amongst the salad. With a bright fresh juicy crunch from the vegetables, this has lovely vegetal sweet savoury flavours. Nicely enticing, and the replacement of fish with abalone makes this stand out among other versions of yu sheng. Tip; don't pour in all the sour plum sweet sauce if you don't want it overly sweet.
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| Reunion Abalone Yu Sheng (SGD $68.80) |
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| Reunion Abalone Yu Sheng |
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| Reunion Abalone Yu Sheng |
The Assorted Mushrooms With Bok Choy (SGD $16.90) features fresh crisp crunchy bok choy / Chinese cabbage with vegetal sweet flavour, surrounding a medley of sauteed vegetables. There's a duo of bouncy mushrooms (shiitake, straw), tender carrots, crunchy baby corn, and crisp bell peppers / capsicum, all with vegetal earthy sweet flavour. Feels so clean and healthy. Highly recommended!
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| Assorted Mushrooms With Bok Choy (SGD $16.90) |
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| Assorted Mushrooms With Bok Choy |
The Braised Sea Cucumber With Tofu Beancurd (SGD $58.90) didn't quite appeal to me, because the braised sea cucumber is the small version, meaning it's more firm crunchy than soft gelatinous in texture. The tofu beancurd is soft and silky, but the gravy only held mild savoury earthy flavour, rather weak in taste. Could be improved.
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| Braised Sea Cucumber With Tofu Beancurd (SGD $58.90) |
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| Braised Sea Cucumber With Tofu Beancurd |
We all loved the Superior Chicken Broth With Fish Maw (SGD $48.90), easily our favourite dish of this visit, and something we'll return for. The star is the rich thick gravy, deep with savoury salty earthy herbal flavour, so yummy and drinkable. The spongy fish maw picks it up beautifully, and the marinated then double boiled chicken is super tender, with the moist chicken meat having light savoury sweet flavour. Completed with bouncy whole shiitake mushrooms with vegetal earthy flavour. So good, comforting and soulful. Highly recommended!
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| Superior Chicken Broth With Fish Maw (SGD $48.90) |
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| Superior Chicken Broth With Fish Maw |
The Steamed Red Snapper Fish Hong Kong Style (SGD $53.90) is done classic style, with a whole fresh red snapper fish steamed with spring onions and shiitake mushrooms, in a light soy sauce and dark soy sauce gravy. The fish is tender flaky with clean sweet savoury flavour, complemented by the rich deep salty savoury notes of the gravy, while the tender shiitake mushrooms lend a vegetal earthy note. Good!
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| Steamed Red Snapper Fish Hong Kong Style (SGD $53.90) |
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| Steamed Red Snapper Fish Hong Kong Style |
The Sauteed Prawns With Black Pepper Sauce (SGD $36.90) is messy but tasty, with the large juicy fresh tiger prawns coated in a sticky house special black pepper sauce. This imparts deep savoury salty peppery spice flavour, complementing the natural sweet savoury notes of the sauteed tiger prawns. It bites the palate and lingers pleasantly, making you crave more. Good!
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| Sauteed Prawns With Black Pepper Sauce (SGD $36.90) |
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| Sauteed Prawns With Black Pepper Sauce |
The Taiwanese Rice Noodles With Scallops In XO Sauce (SGD $39.90) has beautiful wok hei / breath of the wok, and robust salty savoury shrimpy sweet flavour, making it rather addictive. The wide flat Taiwanese rice noodles have a chewy texture with a lovely smoky aroma, and the bouncy scallops lend a succulent sweet note with a luxurious feel. Completed with crunchy chye sim / choy sum / Chinese flowering cabbage with vegetal sweet salty flavour. Good!
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| Taiwanese Rice Noodles With Scallops In XO Sauce (SGD $39.90) |
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| Taiwanese Rice Noodles With Scallops In XO Sauce |
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| Taiwanese Rice Noodles With Scallops In XO Sauce |
The Yam Taro Paste With Gingko Nuts & Goji Berries (SGD $39.20) has improved from our last visit. It's now thick and gloopy smooth, with delicate earthy sweet flavour from the yam taro paste. The soft ginkgo nuts and juicy goji berries / wolfberries lend herbal nutty sweet flavours. Good!
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| Yam Taro Paste With Gingko Nuts & Goji Berries (SGD $39.20) |
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| Yam Taro Paste With Gingko Nuts & Goji Berries |
Promising a homely, comforting meal, it's no wonder Goldleaf Restaurant is a draw for many. Will return to Goldleaf Restaurant for more home style Chinese Taiwanese dishes!
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CONVERSATION