Seafood International

Happy New Year Everyone! :)

As a tradition that I've started and have since so faithfully followed, I made sure that the family shared the first meal of the brand new year together. This year we had our lunch at Seafood International, a popular seafood restaurant along East Coast Parkway and at the newly-launched Playground @ Big Splash. What I appreciated about Seafood International was not just it's à la carte buffet lunch, but more so it's "no pork - no lard" menu that is pretty much a rarity in the Singapore seafood scene.

Braised Mini Whole Abalone with Oyster Sauce


We decided to go along with the à la carte buffet lunch (menu available here) because of its decent variety - forty dishes - and amazingly affordable price. The day's appetiser, the Braised Mini Whole Abalone with Oyster Sauce, got the lunch off on a good start. While small, it was sweet, fresh and succulent.

Braised Shark's Fin Soup with Crab Meat


The Braised Shark's Fin Soup with Crab Meat served at this buffet was at its most basic (well, what do you expect from a $25.80++ buffet right?) and I found it far too starchy for my liking.

Sautéed Scallop with Asparagus


Nothing spectacular on the Sautéed Scallop with Asparagus either, and at most parts it was quite bland. I'm sure it started out as a big and juicy scallop but was sliced into much smaller pieces for this light dish.

Deep Fried Rock Garoupa with Soya Sauce


I liked the Deep Fried Rock Garoupa with Soya Sauce. It was crisp from the deep fry but was still sweet and tender inside. Although limited to only one serving, this is still something worth the money for what you're paying for in the buffet.

Steamed Sea Bass with Yellow Bean Sauce


Another one that is limited to a single serving. For a buffet item, the Steamed Sea Bass with Yellow Bean Sauce was fresh, quality stuff.

Crispy Soft Shell Crab with Garlic and Seven Spices Salt


The Crispy Soft Shell Crab with Garlic and Seven Spices Salt was delicious and one of the best items on the buffet menu. Crisp and sweet with a slightly spicy marinate. Munch munch.

Beef Steak with Black Pepper Sauce


I thought the Beef Steak with Black Pepper Sauce was good, but some may find it a tad too chewy because of its thickness. Commendable black pepper sauce.

Crayfish with Sichuan Dry Pepper Sauce


The Crayfish with Sichuan Dry Pepper Sauce was tasty and came out more meaty than I had expected it to be. Lip-smacking.

Deep Fried Beancurd with Conpoy and Mushroom


From here on all the items on a free-flow basis, and they would prove more than enough to fill you up. If you've got the young ones at the table, I'm sure they would love the Deep Fried Beancurd with Conpoy and Mushroom for its sweet sauce and soft fried beancurd.

Sautéed Mixed Vegetable


Only have the Sautéed Mixed Vegetable if you really must have your one serving of greens. Else, why waste space? Haha...

Roasted Duck with Hot Sesame and Garlic Sauce


The Roasted Duck with Hot Sesame and Garlic Sauce was really good. I liked the way it was fried, crispy on the top with the meat still tender underneath, and how the spicy sesame and garlic sauce worked its way with the duck and tantalised the tastebuds.

Crispy Roasted Chicken


In contrast, the Crispy Roasted Chicken was dull, dry and terribly boring. I wouldn't recommend ordering this.

Deep Fried Chicken Mid Joint with Prawn Paste


Have the Deep Fried Chicken Mid Joint with Prawn Paste instead. In fact, have many orders of this, it's pretty awesome. Crispy and juicy chicken mid-joints to please that fried food lover in you ;)

Steamed Crystal Prawn Dumpling


We ordered all five dim sum items on the menu, but only three managed to pass the taste test. The Steamed Crystal Prawn Dumpling was one of the three, but it was also the one that narrowly scrapped through. While it didn't scrimp on the prawn filling, I thought the skin was a bit too hard and chewy.

Steamed Chicken Siew Mai


The Steamed Chicken Siew Mai tasted a tad off, and like the har gow (above), the skin was tough and dry.

Pan Fried Carrot Cake


I like my carrot cake crisp (and even, flaky) on the outside, but the Pan Fried Carrot Cake here was just too smooth and soft. I suppose this depends on your personal preference really.

Pan Fried Prawn Meat Beancurd Sheet Roll


The tasty Pan Fried Prawn Meat Beancurd Sheet Roll was worth multiple orders. The juicy prawn filling went very well with the crisp beancurd skin, even more with the mayo dip. The third decent item (not pictured) was the Steamed BBQ Chicken Bun, which was quite pleasant really - soft pau surrounding a sweet and tender core.

Seafood Beancurd


We had to leave our initial plans to have chilli crabs for next time as we were too full, but somehow my sister insisted on ordering the Seafood Beancurd from the à la carte menu for herself. Don't ask me why. It looks good, but I suppose the only bonus is having the same fried beancurd with prawns and squids.

Stewed E-Fu Noodles with Chives


The all-typical noodles that you would normally find at seafood restaurants, the Stewed E-Fu Noodles with Chives was done satisfyingly enough, with a lightness that helped to go with the other items on the table.

Olive Fried Rice


Even better perhaps was the Olive Fried Rice, which was quite flavourful and aromatic. Have a serving or two for yourself, I liked this quite a bit as well.

Desserts


There's a Desserts buffet line at the main restaurant area with a small variety of Malay kuih, fruits and jellies.


If space permits, have some Green Bean Soup for dessert. Something warm and refreshing after all that seafood.

All-in-all, a very decent buffet lunch that's worth its price tag. You get what you pay for, and a bit more. I would choose this over similarly priced buffets at places like Sakura International Buffet, even if they may have a wider variety of items on offer. Not the greatest, but not too shabby either :)

Service
Very good. It was full-house on a public holiday weekend but the staff still tried to oblige as much as they possibly could.

Price
$25.80++ (weekend) for adults, minimum two to dine.

Place
902 East Coast Parkway
Blk A #01-01 Playground @ Big Splash.

Additional Comments
1. No pork, no lard menu.
2. Lunch buffet timing: 11.30am - 2.30pm.

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS 500D.

Seafood @ East Coast Lagoon

The weekend is here again and I know many of you working people are walking about with a wider smile on your face and with an extra bounce in your step. I guess I will know how it really feels like (sans my experience in various internships) once I start work on... 1 June!

Till then, food posts will still be coming your way, and I promise you the entries on Italy and Kuala Lumpur will be up next week! There might be a piece of good news too for this blog, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, here are just some pictures of my dinner at my favourite seafood stall (no pork, no lard) at my favourite hawker centre in Singapore - East Coast Lagoon Hawker Centre. Just to get you in the mood to have some good food this weekend! :)

Sambal Kangkong


Don't forget your greens!

Steamed Prawns


Served with sambal chilli and mayo.

Mussels in Spicy Sauce


Finding those pearls under the shells.

Chilli Crab


A personal favourite, dip it with deep-fried mantou buns!

Black Pepper Crab


For that extra spicy zest... yum!

Place
East Coast Lagoon Hawker Centre,
My recommended (no pork, no lard) stall is situated close to Stall 40, Lagoon Carrot Cake, another great stall with delicious carrot cake!

Additional Comment
For those with a larger budget, I would recommend No Signboard Seafood Restaurant :)

Pictures taken with the Canon Ixus 80 IS.

Coast @ 1 TwentySix

I love weekend brunches. Never mind if you have to get up earlier than usual on a weekend, and never mind that you normally feel lazy thereafter. Weekends are really meant to pamper yourself after a tiring week, and who would sincerely (without the slightest bit of reluctance) say no to the smell of scrambled eggs, baked sausages, french toasts and maple syrup? I know it would be a big yes for me :)


Just a couple of steps into Coast @ 1 TwentySix is enough for you to realise how quintessentially "1 Rochester" this is, and true enough it belongs to the same group of restaurants and has a sister in 1 Caramel as well. Service here, contrary to the negative reviews on the Hungrygowhere forum, is excellent - the wait staff were friendly, polite and professional throughout our brunch. I'm guessing they have worked very hard to clean up their act, which is commendable.


You can say I was pretty enthralled by the ambience of 1 TwentySix, where you can choose to sit at the patio facing the sea or else take sanctuary in their tastefully designed private garden. For the pampered city children, there's indoor, air-conditioned seating too, not to mention air-conditioned washrooms. The latter is a much welcomed space if you want to take a cool respite from the warm and humid weather.

Buttermilk Pancakes
With grilled bananas, strawberries and maple syrup


Like Spruce, Riders Cafe and Epicurious, 1 TwentySix serves a signature burger as well and I would definitely have ordered it if not for the fact that it was not available for the morning! I settled with the pancakes, which were good because they were fluffy and buttery and had the sweet company of banana slices and strawberries. The only problem is that the serving is not filling enough, and for $5.50 less you could get the same portion from Riders Cafe.

Breakfast Platter


My delightful company for the day had the breakfast platter, which consists of an array of "eggs with sausage, honey baked ham, bacon, hash browns, baked beans, baked tomato and toast". Lest you would think that is a lot, do note the singular tense for most of the items. We both felt it just wasn't hearty enough, and somehow or another I'm left daydreaming about my favourite brunch at Spruce.


Still, the ambience here is great and I hear it's also a good place for drinks, snacks and live music at night. Thus, while 1 TwentySix may not score impressively well for the food served at brunch, I'm still positive that it's main courses for lunch and dinner are worth a try, beginning with that signature burger. That will be another story for next time, so stay tuned! :)

Service
Excellent.

Price
$15.50 for the buttermilk pancakes
$17.50 for the breakfast platter

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

Place
902 East Coast Parkway, Playground @ Big Splash #01-26.

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS 500D.

East Coast Lagoon Food Village

As I was saying before, I was looking for a very good carrot cake - without the pork and without the lard - and Heng's at Newton Food Centre is definitely one of those places that does a really good job at it. You must be wondering just where would the next place be for good, lardless carrot cake. I'm quite sure the title of this post is a great hint on where it is!

Lagoon Carrot Cake


"Black" Carrot Cake: 4.25/5


A pretty even contender to its counterpart from Newton. The black carrot cake here is a little more moist, but I really like the addition of a few prawns to add the extra crunch to the dish. Quite generous amount of eggs for a $4 serving too. Eat when served hot, really good. See, carrot cake can taste good even without lard.

Haron BBQ Chicken Wing


BBQ Chicken Wing: 4.25/5


In case you are here and you're on the lookout for the best chicken wings, I would suggest you head right to this stall. The chicken wings here are fresher, not as dry as the rest of the stalls, and juicy too. There are times when I actually get envious stares from others when they compare their sad-looking chicken wings to my delicious-looking ones.

Sate Selamat


Tahu Kicap: 4.25/5


Since I'm on a roll here, I might as well introduce you to this little hidden gem in East Coast. I've not seen this dish being sold anywhere else in Singapore (if you do, please share) but it has been around for at least ten years and I will always order this whenever I'm eating here. Everyone that I have introduced this dish to loves it, much because it's something simple but tastes really good - deep-fried tofu in egg-like batter, dashed with some dark, sweet sauce. As the name suggests, "Tahu Kicap" just means tofu in dark sauce. Try it, I'm sure you'll love it :)

Overall
Service
Pretty brisk. Be forewarned of the touting by satay vendors, just walk past pretending you're looking for a friend.

Place
East Coast Lagoon Food Village. It's much further up from MacDonald's and Burger King.

Additional Comments
1. First picture source here.
2. Very crowded on weekends, especially evenings. Either come earlier like 6pm or later like 8.30pm. Be prepared to wait for seats.
3. No free parking all day long, thus put out your coupons on Sunday too. $0.50 half-hourly. You wouldn't want your dinner to be more expensive, would you? So be good =)