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/

Best Pizza in Town?

I have often bemoaned the fact that you can’t get a good pizza in Singapore. In fact the situation had become so drastic that I had even resorted to home-cooking pizza in place of picking up the phone and ordering it in (thanks Jamie Oliver!).

All this has changed however, with the discovery of Bella Pizza on Robertson Quay. This homely little place is always packed, no matter what day of the week (except Monday when it’s closed) – and predominantly with Italians… surely a good sign of the authenticity of the cuisine. The staff are super-friendly – from the waiters who wave to me when I walk past (although that’s perhaps a sign that I need to eat less pizza…), to the chef, Antonio, who will sit down at your table to ask you how your day was, and force feed you Limoncello after your meal.

And then there is the pizza – thin crusted, generously topped and perfectly baked… for me this is simply the best pizza in Singapore. The enormous calzone are always a hit with the greedy guys in the group too.



Not that you need them, but if you’re super-greedy like us, their starters are pretty good too – we checked out the Mozzarella di Buffala wrapped in Parma Ham,



and the Melanzane alla Parmigiana which was just outstanding (although don’t expect to eat this as a starter on your own AND manage a pizza).



I’m kind of reluctant to keep singing Bella Pizza’s praises as it’s always a push to get a table at the weekend as it is – but here are another couple of reasons to go there: they do a decent house wine at just $40 a bottle, and a 3-course set lunch menu for just $18.

There… now everyone’s going to want to go and I’ll never get a table again...

Bella Pizza, Robertson Quay - http://www.bellapizza.com.sg/

Chocolate Heaven

I had just enjoyed a decidedly good Thai feast at Café Supunsa and decided that a coffee would finish of the meal perfectly. Crossing the courtyard at Robertson Quay, I just couldn’t resist the comfy lounge chairs and sofas outside Laurent’s Café and Chocolate Bar.

Now I might just have stuffed my face full of Pad Thai and Beef Penang, but I challenge anyone to walk inside Laurent’s Café and Chocolate Bar and return having ordered only a coffee. This place is a utopia for every chocoholic out there… even an apathetic chocolate eater such as myself could not resist the goodies on offer – cookies, cakes, chocolates, ice creams… my goodness, it’s like a visit to Candy Heaven, there’s even a walk-in fridge, full of… CHOCOLATES!

I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I do confess to a weakness for a slice of cake with my coffee and so, after much deliberation, I finally decided on a slice of the very aptly named ‘Pleasure’. Oh and pleasurable it was indeed – a chocolate, hazelnut biscuit base, topped with layers of chocolate hazelnut mousse and wafer thin chocolate slices, I’m swooning all over again just writing this.



It was amazing, fantastic, orgasmic even… but exceedingly rich, and for someone who can normally only stomach two squares of a chocolate bar in one go, it was quite a challenge to eat the whole slice. I can proudly announce however, that I rose to the challenge admirably… and despite my protestations of feeling sick, I was even to be seen wiping that plate clean with my finger…

Laurent’s Café and Chocolate Bar - http://www.thechocolatefactoryonline.com/

A Hidden Gem

I was down at Robertson Quay with a couple of friends, looking for a place to stop off for lunch. None of the options were immediately grabbing any of us, so one of the girls suggested a little Thai place, tucked around the back of the main drag – so Café Supunsa it was…

This is a tiny, basic restaurant with only a handful of indoor and outdoor tables, and as we were quite late for lunch, we were the only clientele. Nevertheless the staff welcomed us in and we ordered ourselves up a feast:

Starting with some Spring Rolls:


And moving on to Beef Panang:



Pad Nam Mun Hoi Goong (stir fried prawns with oyster sauce and fresh vegetables)



Pad Kra Pao (Stir Fried Chicken with fresh vegetables, chilli and basil)



And a Pad Thai:



Now this may not be the most glamourous or comfortable restaurant in Roberston Quay, but I tell you what… if good, cheap Thai food is your thing… this little bad boy is well worth seeking out…

Café Supunsa, 30 Robertson Quay, #01-04 Riverside View

Japanese for a Hen Night

Yet another night out with the girls, but this time in honour of a friend’s hen night. So we donned our Little Black Dresses and some rather fetching feather boas and, after a day of pampering at Spa Botanica and quaffing champagne at the Marina at Keppel Bay, we made our way to Shochu-tastic Satsuma at the Gallery Hotel.

This funky little Japanese restaurant specializes in grilled meats and Shochu, a sake-like liquor made from sweet potato. Thankfully we had a few Japanese friends with us, so we left the ordering to them – kicking off, of course, with a bottle of Shochu from their 80+ strong list.

Once we were all comfortably seated on the floor around our sunken table, sipping our shochu, the dishes began to arrive – and what a selection we had!

From the ‘Drinking Food’ section:
Edamame (Green Soy Beans)

Hourensou Goma Ae (Spinach with Sesame Sauce)

Momotaro Mozarera Chiizu (Japanese Tomato with Mozzarella Cheese)

Kinoko Itame (Assorted Stir Fry Mushroom)

From the ‘Charcoal Grill’ section:
Hamachi Kama (Yellowtail Cheek)

Tsukune (Chicken Meat Balls)

Mochi Buta Maki (Rice Cake rolled with Pork)

Monohoshi Kare Nikuzume (Curried Minced Chicken)

Gyuu Tan (Ox Tongue)

Foie Gras

And from the Deep Fried Section:
Miso Katsu Chiizu (Pork Cutlet with Bean Paste and Cheese)

Phew! And I think I’ve only accounted for approximately half the dishes we actually ordered… All in all it was a fantastic spread of food and despite the vast quantities ordered, I seem to remember very little being left.

Satsuma is also famous for its after-dinner waitress-led raucous shochu drinking games, but unfortunately nobody offered us this opportunity.... hmmm... perhaps they thought we were being raucous enough already.... (they should've seen us later on in the privacy of our karaoke lounge!)...

Satsuma - http://www.satsuma.com.sg/english/index.html

A Hen Night

Thurday night, and it’s Girls Only as we say farewell to the single life of one of our friends. We started the night of fun and frolics with a meal at Sage, at Robertson Walk.

Sage is a small (30 covers only) and intimate, tranquil restaurant, so I’m not sure they knew what had hit them when 12 cowgirls joined them for the evening, Stetsons, water pistols, ‘Yee-has’ and all. But they certainly coped with us admirably – especially Rowan the waiter, who was subjected to a kiss from yours truly as part of the hen night challenges.

We were offered a set menu of three courses, with choices at each course, all of which were inventive and interesting. I kicked off with the Escargot & Prawns – A risotto of burgundy escargot and tiger prawns flambéed with pastis, parmesan crusted poached egg and Italian parsley foam.

This was really pretty good, although I confess the flavour of the Escargot became a little much for me by the end, as it was rather a large portion, and I’m used to those slippery little suckers being doused in garlic butter when I’ve ever had them before.

For the main course, I opted for the Beef Cheek – Caramelized Black Angus beef cheek topped with duxelle mushrooms and melted foie gras mousse, puree of butternut squash and reduction of its own braising jus.

The beef here was gorgeous, really melt in your mouth and the accompaniments were also extremely tasty, especially the butternut squash. My only complaint? The size of the accompaniments! There was approximately a teaspoon of the squash and four teaspoons of vegetables…

I finished off with the Crème Brulée – a Lavender crème brulée with blood orange sorbet on redcurrant jelly and Navel orange meringue. A fine end to a fine meal.

So from there it was on to Karaoke… where thankfully we had a room to ourselves… with no innocent bystanders to get caught in the water pistol crossfire…


Sage - http://www.sagerestaurants.com.sg/index.php

Brunch with friends

Saturday morning and we met up with a group of friends to chew the fat and chow some brunch at Epicurious at Robertson Quay. I'd not been here before but it has a great location by the river and has a nice laid-back vibe going on.


We had a table indoors - there are only three and as we were quite a large group we took over most of the room. This, coupled with the familiar little touches like the box of cutlery in the middle of the table to help yourself to, made it feel like we had all met up at a friends place for breakfast. I liked all the quirky little touches too - the elegant china that the tea is served in, a fine contrast to the beer mugs in which they serve the lattes, and the miniature jugs that the (freshly squeezed and delicious) fruit juices come in.


They had several different menus - a lunch menu, breakfast menu, snacks (?) menu and blackboard specials, but we mostly settled on the breakfast menu, with me opting for the Eggs Benedict


and Mr Greedy Glutton being true to his name and ordering up the Full Monty, a full fry-up with no less than 3 fried eggs!



Unfortunately I think we rather threw the chefs, putting in such a large order at once, as it took a long time for the food to come (not that this is so much of a problem when you're in good company) and then once it did, it sat on the serving station for so long that half of it was cold (and I have to say I wasn't really sure about the greasy little fried potatoes that came with the Eggs Benedict either). They did offer to replace any cold dishes, but we were too hungry by this stage to be waiting any longer!


I'd go back to Epicurious for brunch for sure... it just has that nice homely feeling to it... but perhaps next time we'll stagger our order... or go in a smaller group....


Epicurious - http://www.epicurious.com.sg/