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Donburi is one of my favourite hawker centre finds— these rice bowls are topped with your choice of protein, an onsen egg and an assortment of mixed vegetables, ensuring that your meal is wholesome, balanced and delicious. Hence, after receiving a recommendation from a reader to visit Craft’B within Amoy Street Food Centre, I eagerly headed down.
Craft’B sells healthy DIY bowls from S$7. The ordering process is relatively straight-forward— first, pick your choice of protein, then select either rice, soba or salad as your base. The final step is to pick a sauce, including options like mentaiko and black pepper.
Take note that Craft’B sees pretty long queues during lunch time, so either head down a bit earlier or be prepared to wait.
What I tried at Craft’B
Having heard good things about the steak at Craft’B, I opted for the Flank (S$8) as my protein in my first bowl. I got rice as my base and chose for spicy sauce to be drizzled over my food. The bowl came with a pretty substantial amount of flank steak, and was served with an onsen egg, kimchi, corn and broccoli.
The flank steak was perfect— it was tender and juicy with a meaty flavour, and the spicy sauce enhanced its taste, giving it a mild spicy kick. The portion of steak was also pretty reasonable in relation to the price.
The onsen egg was perfectly cooked, with a jiggly and runny texture that complemented the fluffy rice nicely. When mixed together, it gave the rice and the other ingredients a creamier texture.
The broccoli was soft while the corn was sweet and crunchy, complementing the other elements of the dish well. I especially loved the inclusion of kimchi in the bowl, as it provided the dish with a salty and piquant taste.
All in all, each bite of this rice bowl was very satisfying, and the steak was fantastic too. I would totally get this again!
Yugo Yakiniku: Muslim-owned flame-torched donburis with premium meats
For my next bowl at Craft’B, I decided to try out Chicken (S$7) with soba noodles and mentaiko sauce. The bowl came with the same sides as the previous one, enhancing the entire dish with a beautiful pop of colour.
I was surprised at how flavourful the chicken was. The skin was slightly charred, giving each chicken slice a strong aroma and a distinctive grilled flavour. The meat was succulent and juicy, and the portion was quite commendable too.
I found that the mentaiko sauce was not very distinct, especially given how strong the flavours of the chicken were. I’d suggest choosing another sauce to pair if you’re thinking of getting chicken as your protein too.
The soba was soft and tasty, and came served with a tub of savoury and salty soba sauce on the side. However, compared to the rice, the soba wasn’t as filling. It also did not pair as well with the onsen egg— I found that the rice absorbed the creamy egg a lot better than the soba. However, I appreciated how Craft’B offered different base options too, making them stand out from other donburi stalls.
Final thoughts
Craft’B whips up some pretty delicious rice and soba bowls. They certainly did not disappoint when it came to their proteins, as both the flank steak and the grilled chicken were absolutely outstanding. I can understand why this stall is so popular among CBD workers, given how wholesome and tasty each bowl is.
I would love to try their other proteins, like their ribeye, gyudon and tako karaage. Do drop by if you are in the area!
Expected damage:S$7 – S$12 per pax
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