Robertson Quay Chilli Crab

To me, Chilli Crab has always been synonymous with the East Coast Seafood Centre – the chilled out vibe, and breezy atmosphere is perfect for tucking into the juicy, spicy sauce-smothered crustaceans. Last week, however, circumstances led us to visit Red House on Robertson Quay with friends who were in town for the evening.

Bearing in mind that I have walked past this restaurant several times a week for the past 6 months, it really was way overdue a visit, especially as it is not only packed out on most nights, but it always smells incredibly inviting as you walk past.

Well, it was worth the wait I can tell you – and I would even go so far as to say that this is the best chilli crab I have had so far in over two years in Singapore. Unfortunately the service wasn’t quite as great, meaning the crab arrived a full 20 minutes after we had finished everything else… but again it was worth the wait – the crab meat was fleshy and juicy with two of the biggest claws I’ve ever seen, whilst the chilli sauce was lusciously spicy and silky for dipping our buns into.



We also checked out another of their signature dishes – the Creamy Custard Prawns. The story behind this dish goes that in the past customers had complained that the Butter Prawns served up at Red House were both too dry and greasy. So the chefs worked on remedying this by creating this non-deep fried dish that is still butter-based but has the juicy Tiger Prawns smothered in a slightly sweet, creamy sauce. The result is outstanding and is definitely recommended.



Alongside these two signature dishes, we also checked out the Sautéed Beef Fillet with Ginger and Spring Onion, which was beautifully tender and tasty:



And a fragrant and succulent whole steamed Star Garoupa, Hong Kong Style.



Throw in some rice, some vegetables and a chilled bottle of Chablis, and we were some very happy customers – my only regret is that it has taken me six months to get around to trying it… I can assure you it won’t be another six months before I go back.

Red House Seafood, Robertson Quay - http://www.redhouseseafood.com/

Chilli Crab

Like most people who live in Singapore, I have a particular love for Chilli Crab, and it is always on our ‘to do’ list when people visit from overseas. Our usual restaurant of choice for taking people is Long Beach at the East Coast Seafood Centre. This time when we had guests, however for one reason or another we decided it would be easier to grab our seafood feast in town, so we headed to Jumbo at Riverside Point.



You might find this amazing, but this was my first time going to any of the Jumbo restaurants. I can’t say I’m sorry about that – it really wasn’t anything to get too excited about. Don’t get me wrong, the dishes were perfectly adequate and I would probably return for a mid-week casual meal if I was in the area. But when we were trying to show case the best of Singapore to our out-of-town guests, this left us a little disappointed.

The Chilli Crab itself was actually pretty good (but still not as good as Long Beach)



it was the accompanying dishes that weren’t great – the Black Pepper Beef was a little bland



as was the Roast Chicken



and the Sweet & Sour Prawns, despite how stickily succulent they looked.



Most disappointing of all though was the Steamed Sea Bass, Hong Kong Style – this actually went back half-eaten which is just unheard of in our household.



This place is always mobbed, I guess because of its location… and if you’re in the area with a chilli crab craving, I’d say by all means, sit down and tuck in… if you’re looking for quality seafood to impress though, I’d keep on walking…

Jumbo, Riverside Point - http://www.jumboseafood.com.sg/

A Seafood Feast with Friends

Friday night, and in an attempt to actually eat alongside Friday night after-work drinks, a group of us booked a table at No Signboard Seafood down at the East Coast Seafood Centre. We ordered up all the usual favourites – Chilli Crab (but, of course!)

with extra dumplings (naturally!),

Steamed Garoupa Hong Kong Style,

Drunken Prawns,

Honey Sauce Pork Ribs,

Beancurd on Hot Plate

and various veggies, rice and noodles.

Nobody at the table had tried the White Pepper Crab before, so we gave it a go…

it got the general approval for its delicious intensity, but for me, it was just a bit too… well, peppery! I’m obviously not as much of a pepper lover as I thought. Nobody at the table had tried Battered Bullfrog either, but we decided to save that little delicacy for another time!

It was an enjoyable meal, but really mainly for the company and the general East Coast vibe. I was a bit disappointed in the general quality and it certainly didn’t live up to our previous East Coast meal at Long Beach. Everyone agreed that the Chilli Crab sauce was too thin, and lacking in crab meat (although it certainly had a good chilli kick), and the Pork Ribs didn’t come close to the beauties we enjoyed at Long Beach.

Everyone has their favourite place to go for Chilli Crab in Singapore… So far I would have to say Long Beach is mine…although I by no means qualify as experienced… so onwards I go in the quest for the best...

No Signboard Seafood, East Coast - http://nosignboardseafood.com/

A Seafood Extravaganza

Having our friends, the Greedyguts, in town gave us the perfect reason to head East to the East Coast Seafood Centre, something we've been promising ourselves we would do for the last couple of times we've been in Singapore on holiday, and since we moved here to live. Everyone you ask has their own personal favourite from the bustling outdoor restaurants that line the seafront, with their views of the mass of off-shore ships, but this time we settled on Long Beach, having had three separate recommendations.

I have to say we had a great evening - the atmosphere was fun and relaxed, the service friendly and efficient and the food really did not disappoint (except, ironically, for the Black Pepper Crab, but more on that later).

We ordered up a feast (as we always do when the Greedy Gluttons and the Greedyguts get together!) Despite being in a seafood restaurant, we actually started our meal with BBQ pork ribs in a Honey Glaze, which were just awesome – you just need to look at the picture to see how sticky and sweet they were, although you obviously can’t taste the melt-in-the-mouth goodness we got from them.

From there on in, it was a seafood extravaganza – Fresh Live Prawns with Ginger and Spring Onion, Fresh Live Seabass in Hong Kong Style (not on the menu, but they were happy to oblige), and of course, Crabs.

We had not yet tried Chilli Crab (a travesty, I know!) so that was the first crab dish and it really was fantastic – the thick chilli sauce was just delicious, particularly when smothered over the accompanying dumplings once all the crab had been devoured.

The second crab dish was the Black Pepper Crab. We have had this a couple of times before now and always hugely enjoyed it, and as it’s the Signature dish of Long Beach, it would have been rude not to sample their version. I’m obviously no Black Pepper Crab expert and I’m sure everyone has their own ideas as to what makes the perfect dish, but I really found the black pepper here overwhelming (and this was unanimously agreed on our table) so that you couldn’t taste the crab flesh – or anything else after you’d eaten it for that matter.

I would certainly be up for a return to Long Beach, we enjoyed everything about it except for the Black Pepper Crab… which unfortunately was mostly left uneaten… a tragic waste of a Sri Lankan crab’s life…

Long Beach Seafood Restaurant – http://www.longbeachseafood.com.sg/