Popiah Live Station Wrap (2 pcs) Those whom have been paying attention to the local F&B scene for quite a while would likely have heard of an establishment named Good Chance Popiah Eating House. An establishment that is best known for their Popiah, Good Chance Popiah Eating House has at one point of time expanded their operations with an outlet located at Jalan Besar; that being said, the location has since become now-defunct and they have been operating out of their original shop space at the foot of Blk 149 Silat Avenue. It has been a while since we last heard about these folks — turns out, they had recently opened a new concept that is situated in the city. Opened fairly recently, Good Chance Cafe is a fresh concept by the same folks behind Good Chance Popiah Eating House located in the space that used to house the now-defunct location of Gloria Jean’s Coffee at Marina Square — their space at Level 2 of the mall is also right across from La Coffee. The space sports a white and red interior colour scheme that also sees the interior sporting a number of nostalgic posters and images of their offerings with a light sepia filter which gives it a slightly aged look — quite on point with its theme of Good Chance Popiah Eating House being a time-honoured brand operating in Singapore since 1977. Unlike Good Chance Popiah Eating House itself which is run more like a traditional Chinese restaurant that works well for communal dining, Good Chance Cafe can be described as a more casual and accessible dining establishment for smaller groups and even individual diners — a concept more in-tuned as a quick-service diner with a touch of modernity. This is particularly strong in its menu where it is split into sections such as Set Meal, Mains, Popiah Live Station Wrap, Sides and Dessert. Beverages available at Good Chance Cafe includes a variety of home-made drinks as well as hot coffee, hot tea and canned drinks.
Having heard quite a fair bit about the Popiah from Good Chance Popiah Eating House back in its heydays, we were very much looking forward to give their Popiah Wrap from their Popiah Live Station Wrap section of the menu here. This is Good Chance Cafe’s attempt to making their Popiah a little more convenient and more accessible for individual diners to enjoy — while patrons are served with the ingredients of the Popiah all separated at Good Chance Popiah Eating House to assemble themselves, Good Chance Cafe’s rendition comes all wrapped upon order, with patrons getting to view the entire process if they stand around the counter or the area of the windows where the popiah is being wrapped. Popiah Wraps are available per piece or in portion sizes of two (2) pieces ala-carte at Good Chance Cafe, though patrons can also choose to opt for a set under the Set Meal section of the menu — the “Good Chance Set” seeing two (2) pieces of Popiah Wrap coming with a choice of Honey Lime / Red Dates Tea. The Popiah Wraps at Good Chance Cafe comes with elements such as Chinese Leek, French Beans, Turnip, Prawn, Cabbage, Peanut and a sweet, malt-like syrup — just to name a few, while it also comes plated rather peculiarly in halves sliced diagonally rather than into several sections straight down. Whilst we do feel that we would prefer to have our Popiah in more slices to better savour the flavours slowly piece-by-piece, we do have to admit that the Popiah does seem to hold its fillings better when served in the manner that they do at Good Chance Cafe. With that being said, we felt that the Popiah here didn’t particularly impress — all the elements came with a single uniformed texture; whilst the consistency of the elements were soft and didn’t require much effort to chew, there was a lack of crunch from the turnip strips and other elements in general.
The Popiah skin also felt like it was on the slightly thicker side of things. The sweetness from the malt-like syrup wasn’t particularly overpowering, though we did wish that they could ante up the savouriness of the filings such as the Chinese Turnip to balance things out a little. During our visit, we had also given the Zhe Char Gong Bao Chicken Dice with Rice under the Main Set Meal section of the menu a go; this would see the patron’s choice of a rice dish coming with two (2) pieces of their Crispy Golden Pie Tee and Honey Lime or Red Dates Tea. Patrons can get a go with assembling the Crispy Golden Pie Tee themselves; the components such as the crispy shells, fillings, chili, crushed peanuts, crispy crumbs etc. having been all portioned into their individual containers for the patron’s convenience. Considering the similarities between the components that comes with the Crispy Golden Pie Tee and their Popiah Wrap, our sentiments of the Crispy Golden Pie Tee was largely similar with the exception of a bit more contrast since the Kueh Pie Tee shells were still light and crisp, whilst it also comes with small, fried bits with a crisp texture that further enhances that. Our choice of the Zhe Char Gong Bao Chicken Dice with Rice was particularly disappointing — something that we probably should have known better after observing that there doesn’t seem to be a fully-equipped kitchen at Good Chance Cafe. Despite its references to a 煮炒 (i.e. zichar) in its Chinese namesake just lacks the character and soul in general — a dish that was barely inspiring to say the least.
The Home Made Yam Paste with Gingko Nut was thankfully a dish that was able to put a better end to the meal though — though there are definitely better variations of the dish made from scratch at other establishments, the one here comes sufficiently smooth especially after mixing the coconut milk; carried a slightly grainy texture as one would expect out of a paste made from root vegetables. The earthy notes of the yam is pretty evident and goes well with the fragrance of the coconut milk; all that while the Gingko Nuts helped to add a bitter contrast with a soft bite. Overall, Good Chance Cafe felt pretty much like a missed opportunity by the folks behind Good Chance Popiah Eating House to create a dining concept to ride on the nostalgia — the name itself has a pretty strong branding where the concept could easily become one that is themed like the Nanyang Kopitiam-style eateries opening all around the island of the late. The concept does seem to feel like it exists in a space that didn’t really suit them — the execution of the Zhe Char Gong Bao Chicken Dice with Rice was pretty telling on this. It is difficult to think of a reason to actually drop by Good Chance Cafe for their Mains especially considering how one can probably find their fare served at other locations for much more affordable prices. Perhaps the folks behind Good Chance Cafe could further look into how to refine the concept to better suit the market in the longer run especially with the strong branding of Good Chance Popiah Eating House during its heydays not too long ago.