Heart of Darkness

Pictured: wings of darkness (recommended) and croquettes (not bad but nothing very unique)

Also ordered:
Char siew beef short ribs - soft and had a very nice char siew flavour👍👍
Fish Taco - guacamole tasted fresh, fish was well fried 👍
Nachos - good for sharing and dips were nice 👍
Miso hummus with puffed rice paper - dont usually like hummus but this was delicious 👍
Shoestring fries - average

Had cumcumber pilsner which was quite refreshing

Hailing from Saigon, head to this craft beer taproom on Tras Street for a night of beers on tap and Vietnamese-inspired bar bites. If you're feeling peckish, get their Cha Gio ($12) for Vietnamese pork and seafood deep fried spring rolls and Wings of Darkness ($14) for crispy chicken wings tossed with the hot & spicy original Heart of Darkness sauce, served with a side of blue cheese dip. Withover 20 selections of craft beer, Burppler Jason Wong recommends the hoppy and potent Kurtz Insane IPA ($17 per pint) as well as the light and refreshing Futile Purpose Cucumber Pilsner ($15 per pint).

Heart Of Darkness is of course an excellent brewery, but don't overlook their underrated cocktail programme, which sees highly unique creations mixed seamlessly with their beers.

Bordering on saccharine sweet, the base of this cocktail is made from a marriage of strawberries and cherries cooked sous vide with Oregon Pinot Noir, resulting in potent yet smooth elixir buoyed by a deep, fruity flavour. Thankfully, said sweetness is reigned in by the effervescence of cola, and tempered by the subtle chocolatey-ness of a dash of their superb Director’s Cacao Nib Porter.
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Pro-tip: Alongside a selection of beers and one main dish, this was one of two cocktails available on Heart Of Darkness’s $88++ 2-hour brunch free flow. Magnificent value if you ask me.

Taste: 3.5/5

Resistance is futile - a splendidly refreshing mix of quinine-infused Hendricks Orbium(essentially making this a gin tonic sans the tonic), fresh lemon juice, home-made mint syrup and Heart Of Darkness's very own Futile Purpose Pilsner - a surprisingly sour and unique cucumber beer, makes for a bright and summer-y easy drinking cocktail you could quaff all brunch long. Of course, any Hendricks gin would be remiss without a slice of cucumber, and here the garnish of sesame and salt crusted cucumber lends an additional dimension of flavour and crunch to go with your tipple.

Taste: 3/5

Miso butter toasted muffins with lemongrass chicken sounded wonderful, but I couldn’t taste this potentially exciting flavour combination as everything was drowned under a thick blanket of cloying IPA base hollandaise. Even the crunch and acidity of a few stray pickled jalapenos couldn’t save this dish from being overly heavy-handed with the sauce. Fortunately the beers here are still stellar.

Taste: 2.5/5

Heart of Darkness V2.0, now at Keong Saik Road, brings the same good vibes and hospitality regulars have come to expect, in a bigger and better space! Enjoy 25+ craft beers on tap along with a wide variety of wines, creative beer cocktails from, and a full kitchen cooking up delicious western fusion dishes. Burppler Evan Mua's choice of poison is Brutal Instinct Brut IPA ($15.50 for standard size) was an intriguing brew — first greeted by bright fruity notes, which elegantly faded into an endearing dryness, before sliding down my gullet with a long and dry finish."

Photo by Burppler Evan Mua