Ever wondered what it’s like to taste a MasterChef winner’s cooking? Whenever I catch an episode or two of the competitive cooking show, I always find myself suppressing the urge to reach into the screen and taste what is so good about the food that makes compliments pour out of the judges like honey.
Unfortunately, the most common route MasterChef champions tend to go on is to establish high-end restaurants that are entirely out of the reach of wallet-weary students like myself. But it’s a different story when it comes to the winner of MasterChef Singapore Season 2, Derek Cheong. He embraced the hawker culture with his Indian-inspired pizzas in collaboration with GOPIZZA, but now he has something new for us to experience.
Nestled in Singapore Polytechnic’s Food Court 4 lies Derek Cheong’s latest business venture — Tamagood! As you would expect from the name, the store specialises in eggs. Tamagood is Derek’s brainchild, which serves modern Japanese-style rice bowls and baked rice at wallet-friendly prices for students and other hungry patrons.
Tamagood is a clever play on words, combining the Japanese word for egg, tamago, with good. And if you’re wondering where the tamago comes into significance, the answer lies in how each rice bowl set comes with an onsen egg sauce!
I’ve heard rave reviews from students and curious visitors, but seeing (or rather, eating) is believing, so I set out to try Tamagood’s offerings directly from the source. Is it as tamagood as its name suggests? Read on to see me don my food critic hat and give my honest opinion of this Masterchef gem of an eatery.
Tamagood and its Menu
The most direct way to Tamagood is via Dover MRT station. Once you’ve entered the school, take the nearest elevator down to the first floor, and you’ll know you’re in the right place when Koufu’s iconic red signage stares back at you.
The first thing about Tamagood’s stall that grabbed my focus was its egg yolk yellow signs and already snaking queues. I don’t often pay heed to store aesthetics, but Tamagood knows its audience. A cute, pixelated egg wearing a tiny black bowtie acts as the stall’s mascot, and this pixelated design is etched into every piece of signage.
Looking at the menu, it’s about as uncomplicated as it gets in what they serve. You have two main categories, namely the Tamagood Onsen Egg Rice Bowl and the Tamagood Baked Rice, to choose from. And as you can already guess, the Tamagood Onsen Egg Rice Bowls come with one of the four Tamagood Onsen Eggs you can have on the side or order them a la carte.
And if you’re still game to try more, there are also some delicious-looking sides to try! While I didn’t manage to sample them, just from hearing from students and patrons, I could tell that the sides are just as much of a bang for your buck as the mains. A highlight mentioned by one student is the Snow Crab Cream Croquette (S$1.50), so give it a go should you seek a light bite!
My ultimate mission was to give Tamagood’s main draws a shot; hence from here on out, you’ll be getting the scoop on what I ordered.
Black Truffle Carbonara Baked Rice
So many options mean an impossible decision for indecisive people like me. That meant asking the staff operating the store counter, and to my surprise, I had been talking to Derek’s parents! When asked which items were their best sellers, we were ultimately led by Derek’s father to order the Grilled Chicken Rice Bowl Set, the BBQ Mala Squid Rice Bowl Set, the Black Truffle Carbonara Baked Rice, and a generous offering of all four types of onsen eggs that Tamagood serves.
After the items were ready to be collected and laid out on our table, the first dish I immediately dove into was the Black Truffle Carbonara Baked Rice (S$6). This was the one dish of the three I had personally chosen as I had chanced upon it via a Straits Times article that had gone into the “best bites” around various polytechnic campuses.
When it comes to baked rice, it’s non-negotiable that one must almost instantaneously dig into it as it just never tastes the same when it goes cold. Plus, who wants to miss out on a fun little cheese pull moment while the melted cheese layer is still piping hot?
Cheese pull was the first thing I did, and I can happily report it was a major success that saw me standing up to lift my spoon. Now for the taste test.
The cheese has been pretty unremarkable for most baked rice dishes I’ve tried, so I initially thought I wouldn’t have much to say in this, but boy, Tamagood nailed theirs. Tamagood’s cheese is about as cheesy as it gets, each bite so rich that it felt like the ultimate indulgence.
As for the other main component, the rice, it was fluffy, but I found that the rice had a texture akin to when you leave it in the rice cooker a little longer than perfect, so the grains are all clumped together. This wasn’t a significant issue for me, but my colleague wasn’t a big fan of such texture.
The two flavours infused into the dish, carbonara and truffle, were more subtle than expected, but I still enjoyed the creaminess and earthiness they provided, which enhanced the overall flavour.
Grilled Chicken Rice Bowl
The Black Truffle Carbonara Baked Rice was the only baked rice I tried as I saved room for the rice bowls and onsen eggs. Derek’s father had kindly added less rice so we could try two rice bowls he enthusiastically vouched for, so this was how we landed on the BBQ Mala Squid Rice and the Grilled Chicken Rice Bowl.
The first rice bowl to step up to the plate was the Grilled Chicken Rice Bowl (S$5.50), the cheapest of all the rice bowls. This was said to be a best seller of Tamagood; hence, we had to get it.
The displayed menu doesn’t exactly show this, but we learned upon the dish’s arrival that each rice bowl comes with a giant egg that practically blankets everything else in the bowl! Remember the “tornado” egg TikTok trend from a couple of years ago? This whirlwind of a scrambled egg was exactly what we got.
I tried each component separately, so starting from the top, I had the egg first and tastewise; it did its job. Fluffy and creamy, the eggs were right up my alley! The grilled chicken was hidden under the eggs, and it might sound like I’m exaggerating, but I can’t lie when I say that this might be one of the best-grilled chickens I’ve had in a while.
Succulent and juicy, the meat was a velvety delight that I couldn’t stop at just one piece. Combined with the fluffy white rice and eggs, this was true comfort in a bowl. I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to play it safe when trying Tamagood for the first time! I doubt anyone would take offence to this, especially since Tamagood elevated such a simple dish to great heights.
BBQ Mala Squid Rice Bowl
Next, we have the BBQ Mala Squid Rice Bowl (S$7.50). As the most expensive rice bowl on the list, naturally, I had lofty expectations. Now, I’m no mala expert as I don’t often enjoy eating spicy food, but I took the plunge to give you a review of it as best as I can. Unfortunately, the spice was a bit too much for me, but my colleague was utterly unfazed, cleaning the bowl like it was no big deal.
As someone who doesn’t just endure but thrives on tackling spicy dishes, my colleague mentioned that the spice and taste were perfect for mala enthusiasts, so you’ve got someone to vouch for this dish! But for me, I’m good with just trying it once. What I will commend on though is that the squid was executed flawlessly. Not too tough or chewy, it retained its tenderness, which made it a delight to sink my teeth into despite the searing heat!
Onsen Egg Sauce
Original
As aforementioned, you have four onsen eggs for your choosing. We got to try all four at once so once you know what each onsen egg is like, you can choose your fighter the next time you patronise Tamagood!
For the uninitiated, an onsen egg is a traditional Japanese low-temperature boiled egg normally slow-cooked in a Japanese onsen (hot spring) hot waters. Meant to have a unique texture where the egg white is like a custard while the yolk is firm and creamy like an uncooked yolk, I found myself wondering if it was possible to recreate this exact consistency without Japan’s trusty hot springs.
I’ll start with the Tamagood Original Onsen Egg (S$1). After all, you’ve got to get the basics down before you can even touch on the more unusual. This was my first time eating an onsen egg, but from first impressions, I was reminded of something a little closer to home. I can’t be the only one who thought it looked like soft-boiled eggs you’d get from your local Ya Kun, right?
And from the taste, it was also quite similar to this Singaporean breakfast staple. The white was soft like custard, as promised, and the yolk was runny the way I like it. Bathed in a house-made tare sauce, the sauce added a nice umami and saltiness to the egg! You can also choose to spread this over your rice bowls, which I gladly followed through with to get satisfying results.
Smoked Chilli
The next onsen egg is where I move to a territory I am reluctant to frequent — chilli. In Tamagood’s case, the chilli is found in their Smoked Chilli Onsen Egg (S$1.50). Again, my low-spice tolerance was practically yelling at me, but alas, it wouldn’t be fair to you, dear reader, if I didn’t try everything I was given.
Biting into the smoked chilli as I predicted set my tongue on fire, but I’m sure that for those with a knack for chilli, this would only be a gentle kick to their taste buds. This was personally my least favourite of the four as I don’t have strong feelings towards chilli.
My colleague also found the smoked chilli overpowering when mixed in with the rice bowls we had paired the onsen eggs with, but this onsen egg would probably be a hit among those who truly enjoy the heat.
Mala
Mala isn’t only found in Tamagood’s rice bowls. It’s in their onsen eggs as well. The Mala Onsen Egg (S$1.50) stands out like a sore thumb when placed next to the other onsen eggs owing to its deep red hue and what appeared to be millions of chilli seeds floating in the sauce.
In terms of taste, it’s just as spicy as the Smoked Chilli Onsen Egg. At this point, I was at my limit as I had to chug an iced lemon tea to douse the flames, but once again, my mala enthusiast colleague came out unscathed. However, compared to the BBQ Mala Squid Rice Bowl, the Mala Onsen Egg was significantly spicier owing to the chilli oil.
In a nutshell, the Mala Onsen Egg and the Smoked Chilli Onsen Egg are two options for you to savour if you want to make any of the dishes have a fiery kick!
Truffle
Finally, to round the list, is the Truffle Onsen Egg (S$1.50). Again, this is another onsen egg flavour that will seamlessly match the Black Truffle Carbonara Baked Rice. It might be a little hard to tell which is which when you put the Truffle Onsen Egg next to the Original Onsen Egg, but little clues like the “bubble”-like surface of the tare sauce hint to you that this is indeed the Truffle Onsen Egg.
Diving into its flavours, I noticed that it had less “truffle” flavour than I had hoped for, but that was just a minor gripe I had. It still tasted delicious, albeit how subtle the earthy notes were, so the Truffle Onsen Egg fulfilled its purpose.
Tamagood Details
If you’re a student of Singapore Polytechnic or just a curious passerby looking for a reason to go to school, I don’t know about you. Still, without hesitation, I would faithfully attend school every day just for Tamagood!
When it comes to school food, it tends to be a game of finding whatever tastes decent and sticking to it just to get by each school day. However, Tamagood has set the bar for good food in your humble school canteens!
To Singapore Polytechnic students or anyone living nearby, consider yourself lucky you have a new, high-quality food option to add to your daily meal rotation! This certainly won’t be the last time you’ll see me dining at Tamagood, so if you haven’t tried Tamagood, there’s no better time than the present!
📍Location: 500 Dover Rd, Koufu (Singapore Polytechnic Food Court 4) Stall #4, Singapore 139651
⏰Opening Hours:
- Monday to Friday, 11am to 5.30pm
- Closed Saturday and Sunday
For more information on Tamagood, check out Tamagood’s socials on Instagram. If you wish to order Tamagood online, you can do so on their BlockChef site!
Photos by Pauline Caoile of the DANAMIC Team.
