Full of Luck Club (福乐) @ Holland Village - Bringing Progressive Cantonese Cuisine To The People

The team behind the award winning Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant has opened a new restaurant in Holland Village introducing a progressive and contemporary take on authentic Cantonese cuisine. The new concept, Full of Luck Club (福乐) actually took over the premises of the former Wendy's, just next door of Crystal Jade.

Panko-crusted Portobello 3.8/5

A highlight at Full of Luck Club is the Bao Bar window concept, which offers a delectable selection of both steamed and fried baos for patrons to takeaway. It is also available for dine in. As of today, a total of six choices are available on the menu such as kung pao fried chicken, salted egg yolk prawn, portuguese pork chop.

For the steamed bao, I got to the Panko Crusted Portobello and Braised Pork Belly. The baos are going at $6 per piece and $9.80 for two. The bao concept is quite refreshing. It is like the Chinese's version of hamburger but replacing the bun with bao.

Braised Pork Belly 4/5

The Panko Crusted Portobello comes with fluffy steamed bao sandwiched with golden fried whole portobello mushroom in teriyaki mayo sauce, carrot cabbage slaw and grilled pineapples. The sweetness of the grilled pineapple play an important role in holding the different components together.

The Braised Pork Belly is like an upgraded version of kong bak pau. It comes with slow braised pork belly, lettuce, pickled lotus root, fried shallots, peanuts, coriander and bird's eye chilli. It has more textures and an extra omph from the chilli compare to the traditional kong bak pau.

Hokey-Pokey Ice Cream 3.5/5

For the sweet tooth, there is the Hokey-Pokey Ice Cream which comes with cocoa chips, toasted marshmallow and creamy honeycomb ice cream in a fried bao. Surprisingly I actually quite enjoyed it except that it is a bit messy to handle.

Raspberry Pu Er 4.2/5

From the beverage menu, I ordered the Raspberry Pu Er ($4.50) which is light and refreshing. I like the modern twist to traditional tea drinking. The other modern iced teas on the the menu are the Lychee Oolong and Sour Plum Oolong.

Stir Fried Radish Cake with XO Sauce 3.5/5

The Stir Fried Radish Cake with XO Sauce ($6.80) was chunky and has a nice caramelized crispy crust on the exterior. I thought the radish cake itself was rather bland, saving grace is the external seasoning that coated around it to make it delicious.

Golden Sand Corn with Salted Egg Yolk 3/5

To be frank, I was not too impressed with the Golden Sand Corn with Salted Egg Yolk ($4.80). Can't deny that the corn kernels are sweet with a good crispiness from the light batter coated around it. Unfortunately, I have difficulty tracing the salted egg yolk.

Chilli Glazed Fried Fermented Bean Paste Chicken Wings 4/5

The Chilli Glazed Fried Fermented Bean Paste Chicken Wings ($8) works for me. I like the spicy and tangy kick coated on the exterior of the chicken wings on top of the juicy meat.

Poached Wontons in Chilli Soy 3/5

There was mixed opinions of the Poached Wontons in Chilli Soy ($7.20). I agree with the group that the wontons were good. However I felt it lacked the chilli oil aroma and spiciness which is the soul of this dish.

Braised Spinach Beancurd 3.5/5

The Braised Spinach Beancurd ($16) with its silky texture is yummy. However isn't this a classic dish, where is the progressive take on authentic Cantonese cuisine?

Spicy Stuffed Yong Tau Foo 3/5

The Spicy Stuffed Yong Tau Foo ($16) comes with assorted vegetables and tofu stuffed with minced pork. It is then seasoned with spiced whole fermented bean paste. Once again I find the spicy dishes on the menu lacking the heat that I was expecting to make me break into a sweat.

Sweet Mint and Lime Cod 3.5/5

The buttery flavour of the cod fish is the highlight of the Sweet Mint and Lime Cod ($24). The pan seared cod is scented with mint and lime for a rounder and enhanced flavour. The cuttlefish on the other hand is rather irrelevant and not necessary for the dish.

Crispy Aromatic Duck 4/5

One of the signature dishes at Full of Luck Club is the Crispy Aromatic Duck ($35 half/ $70 whole). It is paired with hoisin sauce, cucumber, shredded spring onions and steamed Chinese pancakes. The duck is done similar like duck confit, so it can be eaten on its own or wrapped with the steamed pancakes with a bit of the hoison sauce, cucumber and spring onions.

Moonlight Truffle Beef Hor Fun 3.5/5

The Moonlight Truffle Beef Hor Fun ($20) will please the new gen with the addition of truffle and poached egg in the classic zi char dish. A couple of us prefer to leave out the truffle so we can get the scent of the wok hei instead of some artificial chemical. I think I will still go for KEK's version if I need a good plate of moonlight hor fun.

Besides the bao dishes on the menu, I am not quite impress with the rest of the items consider the team of Li Bai is behind it. I can't find much progression in the creation. It is more of tweaking authentic Cantonese cuisine to suit the taste and wallet of the new gen. Saying that I find the pricing quite steep for the quality of food it is serving. i think I will just stick to the steamed baos when I visit the restaurant again.


Full Of Luck Club
243 Holland Ave
Singapore 278977
Tel: +65 62086845
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Website
Nearest MRT: Holland Village (CC Line)

Opening Hours:
Sun-Thu: 11am - 11pm
Fri-Sat: 11am - 1am

Direction:
1) Alight at Holland Village MRT station. Take Exit B. Turn left and walk to destination. Journey time about 2 minutes. [Map]

Moosehead Kitchen-Bar @ Telok Ayer Street - New Head Chef Seumas SmithTakes The Helm

One of my favourite restaurants, Mooseead Kitchen-Bar is into its third year and at the same time welcomes its new head chef, Chef Seumas Smith who is only 24 years old. He maybe young but under his belt, he has worked at 1-Michelin star Lords of the Manor and 2-Michelin star Dinner by Heston and Esquina in Singapore.

Beetroot 4.2/5

Some people may no t like the earthly flavour of the Beetroot ($14) but you would not get it here. The clever use of spicy ponzu, feta and sumac yoghurt help to balance and mask off the earthly taste. The addition of pomegranate and crushed almonds provided the extra crunch to the dish.

Fried Artichokes 3.5/5

The Fried Artichokes ($15) comes with house made ricotta, garlic aioli, almonds, radishio salad, water cress and pickled lemons. It is a good dish and I like the play of flavours coming together but I was just slightly confused which is the star, the artichokes or ricotta? Cause I remembered I was wiping clean the ricotta with the pickled lemons, enjoying how the chemistry of the two ingredients come together.

Cauliflower 4.2/5

The Grilled Cauliflower ($14) or what we called the vegetarian steak is charcoal grilled via Inka oven to a robust smokey flavour. What mae the dish even more enjoyable is the garlic miso dressing that elevated the whole dimension rounded of with some sesame seeds and spring onions.

Roasted Asparagus 4/5

Topped with shaved parmesan, the Roasted Asparagus ($20) is once again grilled in the Inka oven for a delectable crunchiness with the toasted buckwheat providing the extra texture, finished with a light mushroom dashi puree.

Chargrilled Broccolini 3.8/5

Another vegetable dish on the menu is the Chargrilled Broccolini ($9). What stole my heart on this dish is the delicious hoisin mayo. I could not really describe it but it is one of those thing that you know it will work well with almost any ingredients. I was secretly hoping that our Chinese cuisine could learnt a thing or two in the sauce and use it in our dishes. It will bring a new taste to the dining table.

Bone Marrow, Anchovy, Sourdough 4/5

Some people may find Bone Marrow a bit fatty and dislike the creamy texture. The version at Moosehead is spread over a piece of sourdough together with the savoury anchovy mixed with chopped capers, baby gherkins, diced shallot, pickled lemon and parsley. The combination worked beautifully together, customers will not be able to tell that they are having bone marrow.

Pork Belly 3.5/5

The slow cooked Pork Belly ($31) is brushed with spiced caramel (szechuan pepper, star anise, cinnamon) and chargrilled before being served with baby turnips and kale. While I don't have complain with the slab of pork belly, I felt the dish lack the multi senses experience as compared to the other dishes I have tried.

Beef Cheek 4.2/5

While the pork belly did not quite satisfy me, the Beef Cheek ($32) was the opposite. I was blown away by how flavourful and tender the braised beef cheek was, it literally melted in the mouth. The wild mushrooms and the mash, played the role of supporting actors excellently too.

Bone Marrow Mash Potato 4.5/5

You know you should not eat too much of it but I was not able to control myself to go back for more of it. The Bone Marrow Mash Potato ($9) was very addictive. Besides butter, bone marrow was added into the recipe for the unami result.

Almond Cake 4/5

The Almond Cake ($10) comes with yuzu creme fraiche. What I like about the cake is the nutty crunchy bits that comes with each bite of the moist cake.

Roasted White Pear 4.5/5

The Roasted White Pear ($12) is one of my favourite dessert in the new menu. The roasted nashi pears was poached in syrup, cinnamon, star anise and vanilla. The sweetness of the poached pear paired with the tangy citrus yoghurt harmoniously for a perfect ending to a lovely night.


Moosehead Kitchen - Bar
110 Telok Ayer Street
Singapore 068579
Tel: +65 66368055
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Nearest MRT: Telok Ayer (DT Line)

Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri: 12pm - 230pm, 6pm - 1030pm
Sat: 6pm - 1030pm
(Closed on Sun)

Direction:
1) Aligh at Telok Ayer MRT station. Take Exit A. Walk to Telok Ayer Street. Journey time about 1 minutes. [Map]