NOODS

After hearing friends rave about this place and reading 5-star reviews of it on Google, Dumpling Darlings had a lot to live up to for me.

Sad to say but the food there wasn’t quite as darling as I thought it’d be. I got the lunch set ($16) which included noodles (I got miso mushroom), 4 pieces of dumplings (went with the smoked duck) and a drink (had the longan osmathus pu er).

🍜: firm but not quite chewy like Eng’s. I appreciated the generous helping of mushroom and the hanjuku egg that came along with it, but it was basically atas bak chor mee. At least the portion size was just right.

🥟: nothing quite special about how the dumpling was prepared — it tasted like smoked duck rolled up in wanton skin. That they were dripping laying in a pool of grease didn’t quite help.

🍹: possibly the saving grace of the set, it was handcrafted upon order and tasted lovely.

Was it worth $18.80 (with GST and service charge)? Not quite. Food was alright and service was patchy, with staff complaining right in front of customers sat at the bar.

It’s worth a try if you’re in the area, but I wouldn’t make a special trek here for it — wanton or bak chor mee from the hawker/food court can easily hit the spot without the steep price. 💸

Do Qoo is Mr Bean’s new dessert venture tucked away at a quiet corridor in PLQ Mall. They offer 5 combinations of dessert or you can build your own bowl (both cost $4.20), which is what I did!

I got:
🌾grass jelly + soybean curd (both delicious)

and topped it with ...
🍵matcha jelly (decent but could do with a creamier jelly mixture)

🍡abacus balls (warm, soft and chewy 🤤) and

☕️ earl grey jelly (the showstopper! The earl grey flavour was strong and fragrant, but not bitter 😀)

Definitely a dessert that can be split between 2-3 people and very worth giving a try!