One of the most hyped restaurants this year is Good Good Culture Club coming from the team behind one of my favorite restaurants in the city, Liholiho Yacht Club.
Reservations are hard to come by but Tommaso’s boss was able to help us out so we were excited to finally try the restaurant. We arrived right when they opened and were surprised by how many people were waiting in line (a large amount were trying to get a table via walk in). The restaurant is decently large with even an outdoor patio upstairs. Within 30 minutes, the restaurant was almost completely full.
Inside Good Good Culture Club.
The menu is heavily influenced by Southeast Asian flavors but with a Californian touch.
Chips & Dip (8-8.5/10).
This was one of the highlights of the meal. Their homemade sinigang spiced kennebec potato chips were served with creamy smoked cashew dip with pickled red bell pepper.
Poppyseed Steam Buns with Beef Belly (6.5-7/10).
Their sister restaurant is known for their signature beef tongue buns which are out of this world. However, their beef belly buns were not as strong. The beef belly was slightly chewy and too fatty. I could barely taste the watermelon radish pickles or the Thai basil aioli so it all tasted a little one note.
Good Good Stuffed Chicken Wings (6.5-7/10).
I wanted to love this so bad but these stuffed chicken wings lacked flavor. I barely tasted the garlic rice stuffing and the glaze didn’t remind of me adobo.
Asparagus Green Mango Salad (6.5-7/10).
While I really liked the crunchiness of the fried tripe pieces, the overall salad lacked flavor. I didn’t get that punch from the hot mustard dressing.
Beef Carpaccio (7.5/10).
This dish was a little better than the previous dishes where thin slices of beef were topped with crispy pig ear and sweet shinko pear.
Gift: Hodo Yuba (8/10).
The kitchen was nice enough to gift us this yuba (tofu skin) salad which was vibrant with bean sprouts, crispy shallots, and a black bean sesame miso dressing. I love the texture of the yuba.
Crispy Rice Ball (7.5/10).
These crispy rice balls were pretty tasty topped with caramelized plantains and a spicy aioli.
Pandan Bibingka (7/10) and Strawberry Crunch Cake (5/10).
Both desserts were kind of a miss for me but the pandan bibingka was stronger. Bibingka is a baked rice cake (similar texture to mochi) and this was flavored with pandan (a leaf that has a vanilla coconut flavor). I did not care for the strawberry crunch cake with lemon cake and pink peppercorn crumble. It didn’t have a strong strawberry flavor which is what I was looking for.
I’ve heard people rave about this restaurant but unfortunately Good Good Culture Club did not live up to my expectations. I liked the concept of the dishes but most of them lacked flavor. Southeast Asian cuisine is packed with so many flavors and a lot of their dishes just seemed dull. Since the restaurant was fully packed, I’m wondering if quality control went down in order to pump out food quicker? Regardless, I felt that the restaurant missed the mark so my overall rating is a 6.5-7/10.