Craved recently for dimsum and I thought of taking my friend Ramel to Dumpling Darlings at Telok Ayer. I was always intrigued by the name “Dumpling Darlings”. It sounds like a cute name, right?

When I learned it’s inside of a shophouse, I jumped onto an opportunity to make reservations. (Here I go again with my fetish for shophouses). It’s at Amoy Street, just steps away from the Amoy Street Food Centre and near the stairs that lead up Ann Siang Hill. Here’s how it looks like:

I couldn’t take photos inside since it was PACKED with safely-distanced patrons. But inside it was no frills. The lighting was warm and dim. The bar area caught my attention… and I was elated that our reserved seats were at the bar. The staff were impeccable.

Ramel and I ordered the Dumpling Platter of 15 (SGD 20.00) which is a platter comprising of five types of dimsum (3 pcs each). It was more like the gyoza kind, so don’t expect something like the piping hot baskets from Swee Choon or in… what I’d imagine… Hong Kong.

The five flavours according to the menu description are: Original, Veggie, Momo (named after one of the items on the owner’s wedding menu according to this video), Fried Pierogi, and Smoked Duck… I think one of them was replaced by the ‘impossible meat’ version (as you can see in the photo, with the impossible flag).

As for taste, it was filling, yes. The sauce that accompanied the dumplings were tasty. I can happily suggest that ordering a platter of 15 pieces is good enough for two people.

I also ordered some Miso Mushroom Noodles (SGD 7.50) since this was dinner.

The noodles were slightly dry but I was enjoying this whole experience of dining in again… eating dumplings… and catching up with Ramel… that I didn’t mind. I liked that the noodles had a fair mix of savoury, crunchy, and the Onsen eggs were a treat. Not bad to pair with dumplings.

But what I really liked was the Grapefruit Thyme Strawberry Green Tea (SGD 6.00). I ordered two and had to stop myself from ordering a third. With Singapore’s perpetually humid weather… this was PERFECT.

Overall it’s a quaint enough “pit stop” in the Telok Ayer area for a nice and cozy dinner. I know there are loads of other places in the vicinity that are probably cosier… but I was craving for dumplings! I liked the homemade appeal and I’m a sucker for shophouses… so this was a win. Dumpling Darlings bills itself as creating “unorthodox dumplings”.

Dumpling Darlings is located at 44 Amoy Street, Singapore 069870. There is also a branch at nearby 86 Circular Road, Singapore 049438. The branch that we went to is closest to Tanjong Pagar MRT and Downtown MRT stations. You can learn more by visiting this website.

I think Ramel loved it too. Ramel recently launched a YouTube channel called LabyanTV. Do visit and subscribe if you have a chance.

My boyfriend and I discovered this kushiyaki izakaya at The Sail when I used to work at LinkedIn. It has my kind of vibe: Japanese skewered meat, Japanese beers, a long bar table, and with minimal foot traffic. It’s like a secret! Very hole-in-the-wall and hidden if you don’t know where to look.

My friend A and I met up at Kimoto Gastro Bar to catch up over some Asahi beers. I’m glad the establishment is still open during this pandemic.

They have donburi available but I am eating less rice these days so I’m fine with the kushiyaki. The Buta Bara (2 sticks) for SGD 7.80 is SO GOOD. It’s addictive. The pork belly is juicy and freshly grilled. We couldn’t stop ordering. I think we had three plates of that!

We also ordered the Sasami (2 sticks) for SGD 7.80 which is tender chicken breast with wasabi and lime. WASABI on a kushiyaki – amazing haha! The other item on the plate is the Enoki Maki wrapped with pork belly for SGD 4.80. Sinful. The juicy pork belly wrapped around a crunchy filling of enoki mushrooms.

It’s a great place to catch up with old friends in Singapore’s CBD.

Glad to also catch up with A who is hella busy these days with his raqs sharqi which is the official or proper name of bellydancing. A shared with me his dance school’s logo. It’s great that outside of his full time role as a recruiter, he is passionately pursuing the arts. You can follow him on Facebook.

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Location: Kimoto Gastro Bar is at The Sail, 6 Marina Boulevard #01-15 Singapore 018985. Closest MRT station is: Downtown. It is accessible as well from Raffles Place MRT. Visit Kimoto’s Facebook.