By Andrea Ng (22S06B), Chloe Pudjo (22S03G), Keiran Koh (22S06M), Mei Feifei (22A13A), Sophie Goh (22S07B)
On a sunny Tuesday morning, five Raffles Press members found themselves at the Bishan Sports Centre, ready for a workout of their… stomach muscles at Good Bites, a halal-certified cafe restaurant serving “delicious fusion western dishes at pocket-friendly prices”.
Good Bites is about a five minutes walk from Bishan MRT station. We would advise taking the sheltered route along Bishan Street 13, instead of walking along the sun-baked Bishan Road (as Andrea and Sophie learned the hard way).
This map is a bit of a scam—after reaching the stadium, just go up the stairs to the 3rd floor. Don’t bother going round the building.
We were craving air-conditioning and good food after the walk. To our delight, Good Bites provided us with both.
Go up the stairs, round the corner and you’ll see Good Bites’ eye-catching LED decorations.
WARM-UPS
Party Basket
Party Basket.
We warmed our jaws up with this basket, which was perhaps one of our favourite dishes. In this one basket, you get a plethora of fried treats ranging from sweet potato fries cooked to perfection, to golden brown chicken wings, and finally the belle of the ball—the fried calamari.
We loved the mayo-based dip which provided a nice sour and tangy contrast to the savoury fried foods.
The generous portions make this basket ideal for a quick bite with friends. The more health-conscious might want to give this a skip, though, considering that all components are deep fried.
Price: $16.99
CORE TRAINING
Fried Chicken and Waffles
Fried Chicken and Waffles.
Your traditional American diner dish. If you can’t decide between sweet and savoury, why not have the best of both worlds?
The honey glazed chicken was a buttery and sweet complement to the plain waffle, and the texture of the dish was further enhanced by the crispy chicken skin and the crunchiness of the waffle.
This is a must-have for chicken lovers with a sweet tooth. An added bonus was the hearty portion of chicken which made the dish all the more worth it.
Price: $15.99
Grilled Free-range Chicken
Grilled Free-Range Chicken.
When we saw the dish in person, we were all shocked by the sheer size of the chicken leg. Do not be fooled by the apparent diminutive nature of the dish, as it was incredibly filling—perfect for those with a larger appetite, or chicken lovers who simply cannot have enough.
A word of caution: we found the meat firmer than what we would typically expect from a chicken thigh, and it was harder to cut through as a result. For those of us less skilled with a fork and knife, this dish might turn out slightly messy.
Price: $14.99
Baked Salmon
Baked Salmon.
The salmon was baked such that it had a crispy layer of skin while the rest of the meat remained sufficiently soft. One minor gripe was that the salmon felt too dry, but that was easily resolved by dipping the salmon into the accompanying cream sauce, which added a nice, buttery flavour to the dish.
We liked how a variety of sides—mashed potato, broccoli, corn, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes—were provided for both the grilled chicken and the salmon to create a balanced diet. The broccoli was boiled rather than grilled, however, leaving it a tad bland for those who prefer their vegetables with a little more umami.
Price: $17.99
Tom Yum Seafood Pasta
Tom Yum Seafood Pasta.
The tom yum seafood pasta is probably the best embodiment of the kind of fusion western cuisine served by Good Bites.
The gentle tanginess and addictive spicy flavour of the Tom Yum sauce saw us unconsciously reaching for this dish multiple times throughout the meal. Its acidity also made for a pleasant contrast against the stronger and oilier flavours from the other dishes.
At $11.90 (as part of a lunch special), this dish was definitely value-for-money, given that it also came with generous servings of squid, mussels and prawn. (Bonus: the prawn is peeled!)
“As someone who can’t take spicy food, this is actually not that bad.”
Feifei at the first bite, before she felt the ‘chastisement of hubris’
A warning for those with low spice tolerance: Don’t let the first mouth fool you, as this dish gets spicier and spicier the more you eat. You can always order one of the iced lattes to go with it, which will definitely help bring down the flaming heat in your mouth.
Price: $11.99 (Mon-Thur lunch special), $13.99 (normal price)
COOL DOWN (Desserts + Drinks)
Passionfruit Sparkling Americano (left) and Banana Choco Frappe (right).
Passionfruit Sparkling Americano
As we were scanning the menu, this drink caught our eyes due to its peculiar choice of ingredients. We were honestly not sure of what to expect from it, but thankfully, it was a pleasant surprise of unorthodox flavours nicely blended together.
The sweetness of the passionfruit foam juxtaposed the fizzy Americano, creating an interesting experience for the taste buds. A must-try in our books, it also nicely paired with the overall deep fried theme of the other dishes.
Do not leave it out for too long, though, as the melting ice will wash out the subtle intricacies of this unusual drink, and leave it tasting (and looking) something like root beer.
Price: $7.99
Banana Choco Frappe
Going for something familiar, we chose the Banana Choco Frappe for our second drink. This was a safe—but still delicious— option, with good amounts of banana and chocolate flavours mixing nicely with the coffee.
This frappe, in all its glorious creaminess, is a little on the cloying side, so we advise sharing it with others, or avoid pairing it with another jelak main dish.
Price: $8.99
Featuring Good Bites’ signature cakes, served on colourful plates for an Insta-worthy picture.
To end off our high-intensity stomach workout, we were presented with their signature desserts (in an anti-clockwise order from the bottom right): molten chocolate lava cake, chocolate fudge cake, tiramisu and ondeh-ondeh cake.
Molten Chocolate Lava Cake
The molten chocolate lava cake was unanimously our favourite. This homemade dessert took a while to be prepared as it was freshly baked upon order. But it was all worth the wait.
The decadent warm chocolate oozed out perfectly from the cake when cut. The vanilla ice cream at the side did its usual magic by offsetting the thick consistency of the chocolate that may be overpowering for some diners. Overall, we loved this simple but well-executed dish!
Price: $10.99
Chocolate Fudge Cake
Next to the chocolatey goodness of the lava cake, the chocolate fudge cake seemed somewhat forgettable. But for chocolate lovers who want your cake without the ice cream, the rich creaminess and decadent flavour of this cake would definitely be a treat.
Price: $7.99
Tiramisu
If you’re looking for a Tiramisu-flavoured cake, this does the job decently with the standard flavour profiles of Tiramisu, although it was agreed the coffee flavours could have been stronger to fully certify this as a Tiramisu dish.
However, if you are a tiramisu connoisseur who ordered this hoping for something more of a traditional, Italian-style Tiramisu, with its creamy mascarpone and espresso-soaked ladyfingers, this might not be the best choice for you.
Price: $7.99
Ondeh-Ondeh cake
The Ondeh-ondeh cake, true to its namesake, presented really substantial bites of big coconut flakes. Each component, from the buttercream right down to the gula melaka sauce, just screamed COCONUT!
The light, airy sponge cake melded well with the stronger-tasting gula melaka sauce and buttercream, which was thoughtfully made slightly salty to balance out the overall flavour profile.
We do wish the cake was a little more fluffy though, but overall, we recommend this cake to all the coconut lovers and ondeh-ondeh fans out there!
Price: $7.99
MVP of the Meal
After 5028895 hours of careful deliberation, the Tom Yum Seafood Pasta emerged as the crowd favourite (the crowd consisted of 5 people). If you’re looking for something to eat individually, this pasta is a great buy for us canteen food-weary souls.
Just ICYMI
According to the owner, Good Bites was established in 2019, and sees crowds especially during the weekends. If you haven’t checked out this place, it is certainly worth a try!
We recommend going on weekdays to avoid the crowd, especially from Mondays to Thursdays when their student set meals are available till 4 pm.
Credits:
All food provided by Good Bites.
All pictures taken and edited by Chloe Pudjo (22S03G).
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