Ben Yeo Opens Beer Garden After 3-Month Delay, Says Biz Affected By Kopitiam Dine-In Restrictions

The last three months have been a roller coaster ride for Ben Yeo. The actor had ambitious plans to open his three new F&B concepts, all housed within a hip 400-seat Kallang industrial canteen (it has a kopitiam license), in June, but the evolving dining restrictions threw a spanner in the works.

Out of the seven food stalls at the canteen, Ben co-owns two, plus a spacious al fresco beer garden. One of his stalls is SG Umami, which serves Japanese izakaya-style food. It soft-launched with a limited menu of fusion pizzas on May 15, but had to scramble to get on delivery platforms when Phase 2 (HA)’s dine-in ban kicked in the next day. It was almost déjà vu when he opened Korean fusion lok lok stall Geon Bae. Barely two weeks after opening, the stall was forced to close temporarily when restrictions kicked in again in July.

And now, as the number of local COVID-19 cases continue to climb, Ben, 43, is keeping his fingers and toes crossed that his speakeasy beer garden, Playground, does not suffer the same fate. A kopitiam by day, hip beer garden by night, the space finally opened its doors on Sep 1 after a three-month delay.

“We postponed the renovation ’cos we couldn’t operate during Phase 2 (Heightened Alert). We have beer dispensers and it is not good to leave them idle and not use them, so we waited until the dine-in ban was lifted before we started work. The renovation was also delayed due to the shortage of workers. There were days where only two guys came to work for two hours as they were juggling a few projects,” explains Ben.

Even though his food stalls are currently “doing okay”, sales have been affected by the two pax dine-in limit. “When groups of five were allowed to dine in, things were madness. There was a two-hour wait for our pizzas. Business dropped about 30 per cent during the second P2HA and now it is slowly returning, but it is not as good as before. A lot of my followers are families, so I can see that a lot of regulars don’t come anymore. I hope the government will increase the limit at coffeeshops to five pax soon,” he laments.

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It has always been Ben’s dream to open a speakeasy bar in an industrial area. As his mum used to work at a clothing factory at Lower Delta, Ben was always hanging around the industrial area when he was a kid. It was also where he worked his first job when he was in primary three.

“During my school holidays, I would go there to work. I did simple tasks like pasting size labels on hangers or packing things into boxes, so when I saw this space, it brought back a lot of memories,” he tells us.

The self-professed kampong boy was also attracted to the rustic charm of the little outdoor garden by the side of the canteen. He says: “It’s beside the Kallang River, and there is a little bit of greenery and nature, so this feels like a small kampong to me. This is why I decided to call the beer garden Playground.”

Ben, who has a passion for all things local, has grand plans to turn Playground into a tourist destination. He roped in tour operator WTS Travel as one of his partners, so that in future when tourists can travel to Singapore, “WTS will bring them here as one of their stops”. “This is why we want to work with local brands and offer a taste of Singapore in our fusion food, so we can promote Singapore,” he explains.

Tucked amongst industrial buildings, it is easy to miss this hidden gem. It is only after you pass the car park gantry that you see the bright lights of the buzzing bistro and Instagram-worthy “zhao cai tiger” (fortune tiger) neon sign. You will see quite a bit of Tiger Beer branding at Playground as the brand “invested” in the bar. “Tiger Beer liked our concept and how we are trying to promote local [stuff], so they lent us their support. They helped us with the décor and covered 80 per cent of the renovation costs,” shares Ben.

“We spruced up this place ourselves. We landscaped the garden, added lights and furniture, my partners and I spent a six-figure sum on our two stalls and the beer garden. It would have cost a lot more if not for the sponsorship.”

Inside the canteen is a bar counter and seven food stalls, of which only four operate at night. Besides Ben’s lok lok and izakaya stalls, are two others offering Thai cuisine like mookata and boat noodles (operated by other vendors).

Much quieter is the al fresco garden, which sits around 30 pax. Located just by the Kallang River and decked out with fairy lights, garden ornaments, and high barrel tables, it is a chill spot for those looking to unwind over drinks. It even has a feature wall in the form of a vibrant tiger mural. If you look closely, you can spot a few of Singapore’s tourist landmarks like the Singapore Flyer and Marina Bay Sands.

The decision to open lok lok stall Geon Bae, which means “cheers” in Korean, was an unplanned one. When Ben was setting up SG Umami, the unit next door became available, so he decided to take it up and sell lok lok. “It goes well with beer, plus I miss Malaysia and lok lok,” he reasons.

So much so that he decked it out to look like a lok lok food truck, complete with a lorry hood, which he bought from a scrap yard, and neon lights. Even the license plate screams his love for the Malaysian street snack. “The car plate number is 5266, [which sounds a bit like] wo ai lok lok (I love lok lok in Chinese),” shares Ben.

Geon Bae is a partnership with celebrity chef Cao Yong, who also runs 烤 Lok Lok (grilled lok lok) in Boon Lay Place Food Village. Cao Yong, who was part of Team Singapore at the 2015 World Championship Chef Competition in Shanghai, where they emerged champions, also owns two zi char hawker stores in Jurong with his father.

To make Geon Bae stand out from the burgeoning lok lok scene, they have given their skewers a K-twist with gochujang (chilli paste) sauce. There are also Korean offerings like tteokbokki (rice cakes), gimmari (fried seaweed noodle rolls), and fish cake.

Geon Bae offers over 30 varieties of skewers, including your usual suspects like sliced pork belly, broccoli and cocktail sausages. Everything here goes for $1.50, except atas items like abalone (two small pieces) and Boston lobster, which are priced at $8.80 each. All the housemade sauces and seasonings are concocted by Cao Yong.

After operating for four months, SG Umami’s star dish, fusion prawn noodles, finally makes its debut. Unlike its pizzas, Ben was adamant about not offering the noodles on their delivery menu as the soupy dish is not as delivery-friendly.

Along with the prawn noodles (from $6.80), a cross between tonkotsu ramen and hae mee, the stall, which is designed to look like an izakaya, will also offer a limited menu of small sharing plates such as Sake La La, Sardine Tatami, and Pencil Fries with Tom Yum Mayo. More will be introduced in the coming weeks.

Hae mee will only be available for lunch, while the small plates, priced from $2.90, only at dinner. SG Umami’s popular thin-crust pizzas are sold throughout the day.

Everything about the fusion hae mee is divine. Cooked fresh daily onsite, the orange-hued prawn broth, made with fried prawn heads and pork bone, is full bodied and bursting with umami. The ramen is perfectly al dente and the char siu, lightly torched and bathed in Ben’s self-concocted SG Umami sauce, flavourful with a slight smoky flavour.

For $6.80, you get one big prawn, a slice of char siu, and three slices of Japanese fish cakes. Add $1 for each additional piece of prawn. Ben had initially planned to serve his hae mee with a side of Thai sweet prawns, which are deep-fried and meant to be eaten shell and all. However, he changed his mind after feedback from friends. “Not a lot of people can eat prawns with the shell on. Even I have choked on the shell before, so I changed the prawns,” says Ben.

The prawn noodles are only available for lunch and for a start, only 100 bowls will be sold each day, so head down early if you don’t want to be disappointed.

This tapas was inspired by the Chinese triple steamed eggs. Torched sweet tamagoyaki is counterpointed by umami mentaiko mayo and topped with tobiko (flying fish roe) for briny pops of flavour. Order extra servings ’cos it’s so yum, it will be gobbled up in no time.

Rather than the usual shoestring or thick-cut fries, crispy pencil-thin fries are slathered with tangy tom yum mayo. The mayo has a nice kick to it without being too spicy. Quite interesting.

A generously portioned appetiser of sake-steamed clams in an aromatic, briny broth. Butter is added for richness and while we love how peppery the broth is, it might be a bit too overpowering for some.

SG Umami offers 10 varieties of pizzas. They only come in one size, 10-inch, and are all made from scratch, “hand tossed and stretched with love”. The signature SG Umami pizza features a tomato base, topped with Ben’s bold secret recipe umami sauce and sweet onions. The addition of sakura ebi (dried Japanese shrimp) and bonito flakes sakura ebi impart a good hint of umami and smokiness. The thin crust, which is light and crispy around the edges, is a win.

Inspired by the banana chocolate crepes Ben had in Tokyo’s Harajuku, this is the only sweet pizza on the menu. It comes slathered with creamy hazelnut sauce, sweet banana slices and mozzarella cheese, and half the pie is drizzled with Japanese mayonnaise. Initially skeptical about having mayo with our dessert, we were surprised by how well they paired together. The mayo also added a touch of savouriness to the pizza, which played off nicely against the sweetness.

According to Ben, the bestsellers here are Iberico pork belly, abalone, lobster, and sweet potato tteokbokki. After the skewers are deep-fried, they are brushed with your choice of a sweet sauce or savoury gochujang glaze, and sprinkled with salt & pepper seaweed seasoning or Sichuan-inspired spicy version.

Our favourites are the tteokbokki and abalone. Instead of brined abalone, Geon Bae uses the braised version, which are tender and flavourful. If you want to spice things up, dip it in the shiok Thai green chilli sauce, which is served on the side.​​​​​​​

Don’t let the odd purple hue fool you, these bite-sized morsels which hide a mashed sweet potato filling are surprisingly yum. They are light and crispy on the outside, slightly chewy and sweet on the inside.

We also enjoy the fried pork chop, which we asked to be served sans sauce and dusted with spicy seasoning. Juicy and crusty, it reminds us of the Taiwanese chicken cutlets.

Tiger beer is sold here by the bottle ($6), pint ($9) or in a tower ($48). There’s also Guinness Draught ($14 for pint), Erdinger ($14 for pint) and Heineken ($11 for pint, $58 for tower) on tap.

There are plans to offer other drinks like sake and highball to pair with their izakaya nosh.

Playground is at 5 Kallang Place, S339152. Open daily, 11am to 10.30pm. https://www.instagram.com/theplayground_official/

SG Umami and Geon Bae open daily from 11am to 9.30pm. Order pizzas via GrabFood (search Playground ) or Whatsapp 80238234.

Watch # JustSwipeLah for more on Ben Yeo's 'Playground'.

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Photos: Kelvin Chia