Good Vibes

Found out all about Good Vibes at Selegie Road whilst scrolling through social media on day; Good Vibes is a new addition to the neighbourhood, taking over the former premises of a now-defunct Korean eatery that is located near the ibis budget Singapore Selegie there. This shophouse unit has been known to see a switch up of tenants occupying it over the years; that being said, it seems like the folks at Good Vibes had placed a lot of attention in the design of the space here. Being a Muslim-run establishment that serves up what seems to be largely Indonesian fare based on what is listed on their menu, Good Vibes had adopted a biker-themed approach for the establishment — the establishment carrying a homely look with its walls painted orange and white that accompanied tiled flooring bearing an orange shade as well; these are all accompanied with furnishings of a wooden accent from its dining chairs to its table, as well as a pair of lounge chairs with a coffee table to give a “living room” style look as one walks in from the entrance. The food menu at Good Vibes is split into sections dedicated to Sides, Special Mains (i.e. dishes that are only available on a certain day of the week), Signature Mains, Rice Mains, Egg Noodle Mains and Desserts. Of course, beverages are available at Good Vibes as well — these would be split into Hot Beverages, Cold Beverages and Mocktails; the Hot Beverages and Cold Beverages comprising of the usual suspects such as Kopi, Teh, and Milo just to name a few, alongside with Milo Ice King Kong and Bandung Ice that are on the Cold Beverages menu. Patrons can also go for the handmade Kuehs that they have on display at the counter; there are also a number of cakes and eclairs stocked in the display fridge, though those are supplied from vendors instead. It is also noted that Good Vibes also serves up a complimentary serving of nostalgic biscuits (think a mix of gem biscuits and biscuits similar to Want-Want brand Mini Biscuits (Mini Mantou)) once the order has been made at the counter.

Since we were looking to give multiple menu items a try during our visit to Good Vibes, we found ourselves opting for the Chicken Chop Sambal Noodles from the “Egg Noodles Mains” section of the menu; whilst they had named this section of the menu “Egg Noodles Mains”, it can also be said that this is the section of the menu to look at if one is looking for Indomie-inspired items — this is considering how the various dishes comes with the patron’s choice of meat and comes accompanied with vegetables and fried egg. The Chicken Chop Sambal Noodles would come with grilled chicken chop based on the description of the item on the menu; also comes accompanied with a small saucer of sambal on the side which is said to provide a “spicy kick”. Not mentioned in the menu would be the inclusion of a small bowl of Bakso Soup (i.e. Indonesian Meatball Soup), which features one Bakso (i.e. Indonesian Meatball) cut into half. First impression of the dish when it arrived the table was how the egg noodles comes plain; turns out, the sauce that turns these egg noodles (or instant noodles to us, rather) into the Indomie-inspired creation is hidden somewhere underneath the grilled chicken chop; give everything a good toss and the noodles would come with that familiar savoury note that one would usually associate with Indomie-style Mee Goreng. The grilled chicken chop turns out to be more elaborate than it sounds on paper; it comes topped with a relish featuring what seems to be a black pepper sauce that is mostly sweet and savoury, but also with a really mild spicy kick — the relish comprising of chopped onions, bittergourd and carrots for a bit of crunch and some contrast of flavours.

The menu indicates three (3) chilies beside the namesake of the dish — they really weren’t kidding about this given how the accompanying sambal provided an extremely piquant kick that definitely tantalised our tastebuds; the notes of freshly chopped chili padi kicking in right as we went for it. We would say that those whom have a lower tolerance to spiciness overall probably should just go for the Chicken Chop Black Pepper Noodle instead. The sunny side-up here comes with a molten egg yolk; the egg yolk eagerly flowing as one pokes their fork into it. For the Bakso Soup, the soup itself was incredibly savoury — carried a light hint of gaminess though this didn’t feel particularly heavy or jelak to us; the Bakso also providing a bouncy but firm bite that was easy to chew through whilst also did not feel particularly gamey. During our visit to Good Vibes made on a weekend evening, we had also given their Sago Gula Melaka a go; this sees sago pearls of different colours served in a bowl of coconut milk and also with Gula Melaka. Giving everything a good mix, the dessert wasn’t too sweet; we did actually prefer that it could come with a little more Gula Melaka for the earth sweetness to shine a little more — we also found that there were also clusters of sago pearls that were stuck together though the general texture was still pretty soft and chewy nonetheless.

We had also tried the Kopi from the Hot Beverages section of the menu; the Kopi being more on the milkier and sweeter side here. Overall, Good Vibes indeed feels like an establishment that delivers on the namesake; comfort food in a well-decorated environment with quite a decent level of service from the staff at the counter — definitely bringing the good vibes to their patrons. The prices of the mains are also rather reasonable; the lowest priced items from their Special Mains, Signature Mains, Rice Mains and Egg Noodle Mains sections of the menu is priced at $12, while the highest-priced item in the above-mentioned categories of the menu is priced at $14.80 — this being the Signature XL Prawn Noodle. It is a little bit of a pity we could not give their housemade Kuehs and Jeput Jeput a try though since these were served in portion sizes best to be shared across the table — definitely challenging for an individual diner to have; perhaps making these a little more accessible to the individual diner is something that these folks can take a look into. With all that being said, we do wish that Good Vibes would be the tenant that would stay in this shop unit for a little longer than the ones that came before it; they are definitely getting a good head-start here from what we had tried!