Malaysia
Singapore
Thailand
Whenever I’m feeling down, there’s nothing that cheers me up more than a good home-cooked meal.
Along East Coast Road, Good Time Eat Drink is a casual restaurant with retro vibes and serves up affordable traditional local dishes with an innovative twist, making it the perfect chill-out spot.
Past the al fresco dining area, the bright blue doors open into a space with brightly-coloured furniture. The ‘80s music and old movie posters on the walls also add to the retro vibes. With the comfy couches, marble-top tables and friendly servers, I immediately felt at home.
Owners Nicholas and Vanessa both are Peranakan. The husband-and-wife team used to own the Ah Hua Kelong stall in Simpang Bedok after leaving the banking industry. They then decided to move out and open their own restaurant to pursue their passion of making homely comfort food accessible to the public.
We started off with two cold drinks, which were refreshing after walking in the scorching weather outside.
I preferred the Refreshing Lemongrass Mocktail (S$5.90), which consists of home-made and hand-squeezed lemongrass and pandan extract, muddled with mint and seltzer water. I mostly tasted the sweet and fragrant pandan, with hints of aromatic lemongrass and refreshing mint.
I liked that the lemongrass taste wasn’t that strong, because I usually don’t go for drinks or food with lemongrass. This drink actually helped to undercut the rich flavours from the dishes too.
We also tried the Aromatic Pandan Gula Melaka Mocktail (S$5.90), which had gula melaka and home-made pandan extract with Hong Kong red tea and reduced milk. There was a good balance of sweetness and astringency from the tea, keeping it quite light on the palate.
Refreshed after the drinks, we decided to sample a few of their popular dishes. The Hurry! Hurry! Chicken Curry (S$12.90) is one of their most popular dishes, perhaps because of the generous portion.
Served in home-made curry lemak, there was also a whole chicken leg, creamy potato chunks and charcoal youtiao.
What caught my attention was the charcoal youtiao, because we don’t really see chicken curry served with youtiao. Although it didn’t taste too different from regular youtiao, Nicholas explained that the charcoal represented their previous stall, which used charcoal for cooking.
I absolutely loved the curry lemak, and I suggest you enjoy it with a bowl of Thai Jasmine Rice (S$1). Super rich and creamy with a distinct coconut fragrance, the heat from the curry lingered in my mouth.
The chicken meat was smooth and tender, though pulling off pieces can get a little messy. I really liked the dense potato chunks too, which had a lingering creamy texture.
Another popular dish at Good Time Eat Drink is the Chilli Full Of Crab Tofu (S$19.90), which I enjoyed with another bowl of Thai Jasmine Rice. This dish consists of home-made chilli crab gravy with crabmeat chunks, crispy beancurd and softshell crab.
Nicholas mentioned that they wanted to give diners an easier way to eat chilli crab without getting their hands dirty, which is the inspiration for this dish.
The thick and sweet gravy had an aromatic aftertaste, and I would’ve preferred it a little spicier. Nicholas explained that the gravy used to pack quite a punch, but they toned it down so that kids can enjoy it too.
Beneath the crispy skin, the beancurd was soft and silky, breaking apart easily in my mouth. The crispy softshell crabs added briny flavour and some crunch to the mostly sweet and mushy dish. I would’ve loved some golden fried mantou to go with this.
Both the Hurry! Hurry! Chicken Curry and Chilli Full Of Crab are meant for sharing, because of the huge portions. If you’re just here for a quick lunch by yourself, Good Time Eat Drink also has smaller individual dishes.
The Good Time Carbonara (S$13.90) may look ordinary, but it’s actually al dente mee pok tossed in home-made alfredo sauce. Bits of bacon and shiitake mushroom top the “pasta” dish which turned out to be my favourite.
I liked how the mee pok absorbed the sauce, so that each mouthful was full of soft, chewy mee pok and rich cheesy alfredo sauce.
The bacon and mushroom bits added some savoury flavour and crunch to this surprisingly light dish.
If you want actual pasta, the Salted Fish Vongole Aglio (S$15.90) might be right up your alley. Tossed with olive oil, garlic and chilli padi, the al dente spaghetti is served with white clams and salted fish chunks.
Seafood lovers will be happy to note that the pasta came with a generous portion of clams, though I would’ve liked them to be plumper.
I also wasn’t a huge fan of the strong briny taste of salted fish, but my dining companion absolutely loved it. Salted fish is an acquired taste, so this dish may not be for everyone.
After all those rich flavours, we needed desserts to finish off the meal. The Mata Kuching Pandan (S$4.90) is Good Time Eat Drink’s version of cheng tng. Double-boiled Thai dried longans filled a big mug full of a pandan and gula melaka “sweet soup”.
This is Nicholas’ favourite dessert, and I can see why. Refreshing and not too sweet, the dessert had a fragrant aftertaste with a hint of bittersweet flavour.
I prefer sweeter desserts, so the Organic Bubur Pulut Hitam (S$4.90) was perfect for me. Made with organic black glutinous rice with gula melaka and longan, the pulut hitam was drizzled with fresh coconut milk.
This was super addictive, and I almost finished the whole bowl on my own! All the flavours balanced really well in the dessert, from the sweet and musky longans to the chewy glutinous rice and the fragrant coconut milk. I usually don’t enjoy pulut hitam because it gets too jelak, but this version was light and smooth.
If you’re in the area, you should definitely head over to Good Time Eat Drink for a meal. I really enjoyed the food and ambience here, and my only gripe is that it’s a long way to travel for a Westie like me.
Psst, to bring us some festive cheer, they’ll be having a happy hour promotion! From 5pm – 10pm daily, Sapporo pints, house pour wines and spirits will be S$6 each.
Expected Damage: S$10 – S$20 per pax
