Peh Gao Coffeeshop / Orh Gao Taproom

Orh Gao Taproom is one of those establishments that should be fairly familiar to those whom frequent around the Botanic Gardens neighbourhood for the past couple of years. Serene Centre has recently went through a revamp — Orh Gao Taproom which used to share a space with Killiney Kopitiam situated around the perimeters of the building had also seen it move to another shop unit situated within the building behind Twofold, while the concept has also been refreshed as Orh Gao Peh Gao. Orh Gao Peh Gao operates as a dual-concept establishment — it identifies itself as a coffeeshop in the day being Peh Gao Coffeeshop, while it still maintains being a taproom serving up craft beer on tap in the evenings as Orh Gao Taproom. With the daytime concept being no longer tied to that of Killiney Kopitiam, Peh Gao Coffeeshop now offers a menu that is segmented into sections dedicated to Traditional Toast, Open Top Sandwich, Noodle Soup, Noodle Dry, Rice and Sides — beverages available would include that of Nanyang-style Kopi and Teh, as well as Homemade Barley and Milo; just to name a few.

One of the dishes that had caught our eye early on when we were skimming through the menu at Peh Gao Coffeeshop was the Mapo Tofu Udon that is listed under the Noodle Dry section of the menu; the menu describes the dish to be one that come with elements such as PG Mapo Tofu, minced pork, Onsen Egg, fried beancurd skin and spring onions. Giving everything a good toss before digging in, one thing that we have noticed about the Mapo Tofu Udon at Peh Gao Coffeeshop was how the Mapo Tofu Udon does seem to come with more minced pork than tofu. It does also seem that the much of the flavours does come from the gravy that came along with the minced pork; whilst the minced pork provided a meaty bite, the gravy does carry a savoury note with a hint of fragrance from the inclusion of Sichuan peppers and seemingly also came with a spicy kick as well that should tickle the tastebuds for those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness. The cubes of tofu does come soft, smooth and silken, while the inclusion of the fried beancurd skin adds an element of light crispness against the soft and chewy consistency of Udon. Mixing the runny Onsen Egg into the dish also provided a silkier touch for everything else within the bowl.