Po – Signature Singapore Favourites

Po is a concept by Lo & Behold Group, known for its bold, edgy and innovative concepts. Po is the flagship restaurant of The Warehouse Hotel, which is also the inaugural boutique hotel by the group. The name Po is shortened from Popo, meaning grandmother, paying tribute to her contributions to Singaporean favourite home cuisine. You will get to know her when you open the menu in the restaurant.

The Warehouse Hotel Lobby

Entering The Warehouse Hotel, you will be welcomed by the enormous lobby, with an industrial look and high ceiling, decorated with different sizes and motifs of wheels. You won’t miss the huge bar in the lobby, complete with an extensive seating area for the patrons to chill and enjoy their drinks. On the right side after the entrance, you will find Po restaurant.

The Bar at The Lobby

The décor at Po provided a more intimate dining experience. Nicely decorated round tables with rattan chairs, a combination of a modern dining experience with a nostalgic feel. A must-order here is the popiah, hinted strongly at the setting on the tables.

Po

Part of the Dining Area at Po

The Table Setting

Dinner started with Belinjo Crackers ($9) served with belachan and kecap manis dip. Po served the sweet version of the belinjo crackers. It is crispy and crunchy, followed by a mix of sweet and bitter flavours. The belachan is spicy, fragrant and got POWER, according to the group.

Belinjo Crackers

Since everyone liked the Belinjo Crackers, we also ordered Indonesian Prawn Crackers ($9), also served with belachan, kecap manis dip. However, the prawn crackers were isappointing. There is almost no prawn flavour in the crackers and it tasted a bit dense. Stick with the Belinjo Crackers.

Prawn Crackers

Soft-Shell Crab ($22). It can easily be mistaken for har cheong gai. The batter is covered the soft-shell crab to the point you can’t see the crab shape. However, the batter delivers a super crispy texture, followed by the juicy flesh of the crab. The batter is very tasty on its own, you can eat it without the lime mayo.

Soft-Shell Crab

Otah ($18). My first impression when I bit into it was SOLID. The otah is dense, packed with mackerel, prawn paste, jumbo crab meat and homemade heritage spices. I can taste the fish, the crab meat and I am comfortable with the spiciness level. Yumz!

Otah

Charcoal-Grilled Iberico Satay ($24). Thick, plump and succulent pork skewers grilled to perfection. The meat is well seasoned and I can taste the lovely charred on the edges of the satay. The satay sauce with the pineapple is not rustic enough, I find it missing the OMPH. It will be nice to have the ketupat as well.

Charcoal-Grilled Iberico Satay

Popiah Classic ($32 for 1 – 2 persons, 4 skins). Since we have 6 people, we decided to order 2 sets of the Popiah Classic. The set is nicely presented. The popiah skin is served warm. It has the right thickness, soft yet bouncy at the same time.

Popiah Set Classic 

The key ingredient is the fillings, made with pork, shrimp, bamboo shoot, bangkuang (jicama), carrots and holland peas. Stewed over a long period, the ingredients get caramelised and create a unique umami flavour. Wrapped together with sprinkles of eggs, crushed peanuts, crispy flatfish, crispy shallots, coriander sprigs, beansprouts and sweet sauce. Housemade chilli sauce and freshly ground garlic are available, but they are not getting into my popiah.

The Fillings

The fillings and sprinkles provided are very generous, we have a lot of leftovers. Luckily, you can order extra servings of the yummy popiah skin, to finish off the ingredients. Yum Yum.

How to Make Popiah Like Popo

My Popiah

Kurobuta Char Siew ($20). The pork collar has a nice balance of meat and fats ratio. It is cooked to the point the middle part of the pork is still pink. It has a sweet, juicy, crispy exterior and melts in your mouth. Awesome.

Kurobuta Char Siew

Paper Spring Chicken ($68). It took 45 minutes of preparation time, so it arrived when we almost finish our popiah. The whole spring chicken is stuffed with glutinous rice, conpoy, dried shrimp, chinese sausage and mushroom. During the baking process, the essence of the chicken is infused into the stuffings, while the stuffings also flavoured the chicken and help the chicken to retain its moisture. The chicken is well seasoned, juicy and succulent, however, without a doubt, the start of the dish is the rice.

Paper Spring Chicken

Paper Spring Chicken - Unwrapped

Paper Spring Chicken - My 2nd Portion

We conclude our meal with Giant River Prawns Konbu Mee ($38). Po version of Hokkien Mee. The noodle is cooked with fresh river prawns, prawn stock, pork belly, pork lard and Sakura ebi. When you slurp the noodle, it was just exploding with flavours. The river prawns are sweet and fresh; however, the pork lard is too crispy for my liking.

Giant River Prawns Konbu Mee

The drink menu at Po is very extensive as it combines with the bar menu as well. It has 12 signature cocktails on the Po menu and it will be rotated regularly. I ordered mocktails Spritzerlati ($17) Melati Distilled Botanicals, citrus syrup, soda. It is refreshing, yet I can taste the depth of flavours in it.

Mocktail - Spritzerlati

The service is professional, attentive and helpful. The service staff knows the majority of the cocktails & mocktails plus they also help us to get extra services of belachan.

Cocktail - B.B King

Overall, it was a great experience dining at Po. While the food might seem familiar, the team at Po elevated those using better ingredients and modern cooking techniques. The menu might be slim; however, they try to produce the best version of each dish. I recommend Po’s Otah, Softshell Crab, Popiah Classic, Char Siew and Paper Spring Chicken. Cheers!!

Food & Drink: 8.25/10

Value: 6/10

Service: 8.5/10

Ambiance: 8.5/10

Budget per Person: $51 - $80; $81 and Above

Po

320 Havelock Road

The Warehouse Hotel

Singapore 169628

T: +65 6828 0007

W: https://www.po.com.sg/

F: https://www.facebook.com/PoRestaurant/

IG: @Porestaurant

OH: Daily 12.00 – 14.30; 18.00 – 22.30

The Peranakan – DIY Nyonya Popiah Buffet [MEDIA INVITE]

The Peranakan recently launched their Nyonya Popiah Buffet. It is available every weekend for $28++.

Free Flow of Nyonya Popiah? Yes. The fun part is that you get to do it yourself, or you can get some nice folks in your group to do it for you but you will be missing all the fun. If you ever had a Popiah party before, this should be a breeze for you.

The Setup:

 

The Popiah Table

The Condiments

The Fillings - Bangkuang (Turnip), Pork Belly and Prawns

Check out my creation:

 

First Try

First Try

Second Try

Second Try

The Bangkuang (turnip) is fried with pork belly and chopped prawns, giving it a sweet, tasty and crunchy filling to the popiah. The skin has a perfect thickness to hold all the ingredients without breaking and feeling light as well. Definitely one of the nicer popiah I ever tried.

On top of that, you get bonus free flow of Nyonya Mee Siam & Hot Lemongrass Pandan Tea.

 

Nyonya Mee Siam

Nyonya Mee Siam - My Creation

For Seniors, free Chendol Melaka (worth $6.50), just by showing Senior Card for this Nyonya Popiah Buffet.

Chendol Melaka

Nyonya Popiah Buffet

When: Every Saturday & Sunday

Time: 14.30 – 17.30

Price: $28++ per person.

During this tasting, we had the pleasure to sample Dry Laksa, Buah Keluak Fried Rice with Sambal Acar, and Apom Bok Kwa with Pengat Pisang ($12).

For the dry laksa, the rice noodle is springy. The laksa paste, dried prawns, coconut milk is well infused in the rice noodle. While the generous sprinkle of the chopped laksa leaves, waken up the familiar laksa aroma in this dish. Definitely not missing the gravy. The Peranakan will alternate this dry laksa with mee siam from time to time.

Dry Laksa

Buah Keluak Fried Rice with Sambal Achar is a surprise dish for the new menu. Not to spoil the surprise, it is definitely a dish worth to wait. Expect generous amount of buak keluak with the fried rice.

Buah Keluak Fried Rice with Sambal Achar

Apom Bok Kwa with Pengat Pisang ($12). First time trying this dessert and definitely like it. The Apom is springy, with a light touch of blue pea flower. The Pengat pisang is thick, solid and creamy, ready for Apom to scoop it into your mouth. A taste from the past.

Apom Bok Kwa with Pengat Pisang

Apom Bok Kwa with Pengat Pisang
Hand Model: Jelly Loves Food

Overall, it was indeed a pleasant tasting experience at The Peranakan. Thank you very much to Chef Raymond Khoo and The Peranakan Team for the tasting invitation.

The full review of The Peranakan Regular Menu is available here.

Food & Drink: 8/10

Value: 8/10

Service: N/A (Tasting Invitation)

Ambiance: 9/10

Budget per Person: $26 - $50; $51 - $80

The Peranakan

57 Lengkok Bahru

#01-477

Singapore 151057

T: +65 8023 4345 (+WhatsApp)

W: http://www.theperanakan.com/

F: https://www.facebook.com/ThePeranakanSG/

IG: @theperanakansg

OH: Daily 11.30 – 21.00

442 Orchard Road

#02-01 Claymore Connect @Orchard Hotel

Singapore 238879

Quality Cafe – Presenting Quality Authentic Asian Buffet

Popiah Station

Quality Cafe at Quality Hotel Marlow are renowned by supper lovers in Singapore as a place to go for Taiwan Porridge Buffet. However, don't be misled by the name of Taiwan Porridge Buffet, expect to see buffet dishes to fill your stomach.

Helmed by Chef Donald Sai, with more than 27 years experience in F&B industry, Quality Cafe launched Authentic Asian Buffet for lunch. This buffet consist of many popular local dishes such as laksa, popiah, chicken rice, roast duck, cereal prawn, steamed sea bass with olive, otah and lots more from soup to desserts.

To start, I recommend you start with popiah. Popiah is a Hokkien style type of spring roll, where the skin are made thinly from sticky soft dough. The skin here is very moist and soft, with the right thickness. The vegetables, sweet sauce and chilli is well balance. The fillings is not wet and the crush peanuts gave the crunchy texture. The best part, there is chef stationed there to make sure you get the best popiah every time.

Popiah

Next is the bowl of Laksa. The ingredients here is very simple. Rice noodle, bean sprout, fish cake, boiled eggs, the laksa gravy, laksa leaf and chilli. The gravy has is quite thick and full of coconut flavour. In Peranakan terms, the lemak is quite shiok. Simple but delicious.

Laksa Station

Laksa

For main meal, the chicken rice here is a must try. The rice if fragrant and flavourful. The rice cooked to al-dente with a good chicken stock. The chicken is quite tender especially the thigh part, however the breast can be a bit though. The plus side, they also Thai Chicken Feet. Rather than chicken feet, it is more like the skin from the chicken feet. It is crunchy and springy in texture. The marination is just right for my palate, not overly spicy. They also provide the full condiments such as chilli, ginger juice, dark soy sauce and acar (spicy pickled cucumber)

Thai Chicken Feet & Steam Chicken

The Condiments

Chicken Rice ++

Some dishes to accompany the chicken rice is their Otah and Roast Duck. The Otah is the Chef Special Dish and made in house in Quality Cafe's kitchen. It has a nice texture, smooth and resilient at the same time. It can be slightly salty, which Chef Donald mention is due to the Thai Chilli Paste. The roast duck has a nice crispy skin and the meat is very tender.

Otah & Roast Duck

For fish lover, they serve a huge steam sea bass with dried turnip (cai bo). The sea bass is quite huge, about 50 cm long. The cooking method and olive really bring out the taste of sea bass. However, as it is left in the bain marie, the steam fish slowly become over cook and harden. The frog leg that are fried with spring onion and ginger here is also quite huge. It is one of the biggest size frog leg I ever see. I heard that the more frog legs you eat, the stronger your leg become in swimming.

Steam Sea Bass with Turnip

Frog Leg

Like many buffet places, there are some dishes that not up to standard. In this case, I would not suggest the Char Kway Teow, or any of their deep fried stuff.

If you have enough of your fill, time to move on to desserts. Build your won Cendol or Ice Kacang is available. You can choose your own ingredients to create your Singapore cold desserts just the way you like it. Or you can choose from range of peranakan desserts or goreng pisang with your coffee or tea.

Little Devil's Chendol

Peranakan Desserts

The service staff here is very attentive and efficient to clear the dirty plates from your table. During our weekday lunch here, the cafe is pretty packed.

Overall, if you are looking for quality buffet of Singapore local food, you can give Quality Cafe a try. The price is very reasonable and you can get the authentic Singaporean food. See the brochure below for more details. Cheers!!

Thank you Faith and Quality Cafe team for the food tasting invitation.

Food & Drink: 7/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 7/10

Ambiance: 6.5/10

Quality Cafe

201 Balestier Road

Quality Hotel Marlow

Level 1.

Singapore 329926

Tel: 6233 6363

Website: http://qualityhotelmarlow.com.sg/dining/quality-cafe

Op Hours:

Lunch 11.30 – 14.30 Daily

Dinner 18.00 – 20.00 Daily

Supper 20.30 – 00.30 Daily