Jumbo Seafood Gallery

Happy Birthday Daddy!

It was the Daddy's birthday and the family got together for dinner at Jumbo Seafood Gallery at The Riverwalk, which if you're somehow wondering, is along Boat Quay. I hear this is one of the "better" branches of Jumbo, at least as far as my research online and in forums like Hungrygowhere would take me. Here, like the Dempsey branch, is pretty much tourist/expat land, with more than half of the customers that night being foreigners. It's amusing watching them eat with their little Jumbo aprons (or as we could call them, bibs!) while most of us Singaporeans seemed at ease without them. Remember not to wear light colours then, because trust me, chilli crabs are almost a staple dish here, if you get what I mean :)

Fried Scallops with Yam Ring: 2.75/5


Our appetiser, but oh boy how I miss those deliciously pan-fried Hokkaido scallops from Cafe Oliv! In contrast, the scallops here were pretty boring, and the yam paste used for wasn't exactly tasty.

Garlic Fried Chicken: 3.5/5


They don't have the typical roast chicken on the menu, but the "garlic" fried chicken looks pretty much the same to me. For half a chicken, it still got the whole family quip almost in unison: "this is a very small bird". I like the way it was done though, not too dry and with the thin and crispy chicken skin. And oh, I couldn't taste the garlic flavouring at all, if there's any to begin with.

Fish Fillet in Ginger Sauce: 3/5


The fish was fresh but I felt this was an uninspiring dish. Something even I could do better. We ordered this for "the little one" (the younger sister) actually, but yeap, pretty lacking in taste.

Claypot Beancurd with Mixed Seafood: 2.5/5


I think we might have made a wrong order, but still, this is something very basic and ordinary. You could get this at a third of the price at a lower end restaurant, and they would probably taste the same haha.

Cereal Prawns: 4.25/5


As you can tell, I'm building up to my favourites! The prawns were big, juicy and fresh, but what I loved most was the tasty cereal - sweet with a touch of spice (hot chilli padis lurking around) and lovely to eat on its own.

Mantou Buns: 3.25/5


Mantou buns have shrunk a lot over the years. They come in "mini" sizes now but I prefer them larger. We ordered multiple portions of these little buns of course, though I think they should have been warmer with a crispier outer touch. And well, no surprises why these buns are here... :)

Chilli Crab: 4.5/5


Ah, yummy. The sweet chilli crab gravy is still as good after all these years. Great with rice, buns, crabs or even just on its own. The crabs were fresh and had a lot of meat. This dish is on virtually every table.

Black Pepper Crab: 4.75/5


This turned out better than I expected it to be. I like the taste of the black pepper gravy, though I realised we didn't get as much of it as those who ordered the large portion. Perhaps it's by request. Very tasty crab, though I wonder if all the parts belong to a single whole crab because I've got one pincer close to twice the size of the other. Unless this crab has been a (very) strong right-"pincer" (I wanted to say, "right-hander"), it might be from another crab! Still, a delicious dish, and I enjoyed it very much.

Service
Excellent, attentive and helpful staff. New/additional orders might take a while though, I think they follow a very systematic queue in the kitchen, so be patient ya.

Price
$14.00 for the fried scallops with yam ring
$15.00 for the garlic fried chicken (half portion)
$16.00 for the fish fillet with ginger sauce
$14.00 for the claypot beancurd with mixed seafood
$18.00 for the cereal prawns
$40.00 for the chilli crab
$40.00 for the black pepper crab
$0.50 for each mini mantou bun
$0.60 for each bowl of steamed white rice
$1.20 for each serving of (refillable) chinese tea
$1.20 for each serving of roasted peanuts

* Prices subject to the usual 7% GST and 10% service charge.

Place
20 Upper Circular Road,
#B1-44/-48 The Riverwalk, Boat Quay.

Additional Comment
Citibank card holders get 10% discount.