Saturday, January 21, 2012

Lobster Porridge & Chilli Crabs @ Orchid Live Seafood Beer Garden, Yishun (off Sembawang Road)

There lies, hidden along a quiet road, a seafood restaurant in Yishun that many people are not aware of despite the placement of a neon signboard at the main Sembawang road.

To be honest, i was in the vicinity five years ago but didn't even give the old fashioned, run-down restaurant a second look.

The ambience was reminiscent of seafood restaurants in Singapore before the 80s when air-conditioning was an expensive luxury, lighting came from fluorescent tubes, chairs were of plastic material and the roof was merely pieces of cheap aluminum.

But reviewers on HungryGoWhere were raving on the lobster porridge from Orchid Live Seafood! Nights in Singapore during this period can be pretty chilly, especially after thunderstorms and a bowl of steaming hot porridge sounded really tempting when i was searching for seafood restaurants in Yishun!

Lobster Porridge
(龙虾粥)
Before i start, please note that only fresh lobsters are used in the preparation of this dish. And from memory, there are at least five tanks of live lobsters in the restaurant.

This is a 'verbatim" style of serving; one look and you know what you are having without any need for beautification in terms of garnishing or serving bowl.

The order for two pax had two lobsters swimming in the broth and cost S$9 per 100 grams. The truth is - I have no idea how heavy a lobster weighs.

What's more important is that the broth was so god damn delicious; it was refreshing (no doubt the help of spicy ginger) yet managed to maximise the appetising seafood essence from the lobsters.

That, unfortunately, also meant that the real lobster meat had lost much of its original flavour. Well, you can't have the best of both worlds sometimes.

It didn't take us long to clean out the whole bowl! I should have ordered for three persons!

Chilli Crab
(辣椒螃蟹)
There is a funny regulation here - even if you are eating alone, you must order a minimum of two crabs. The only exception is when you want your crabs to be steamed.

When i slurped the first spoonful, alarm bells were ringing in my head; rich tomato base with a lack of spiciness. Ten seconds later, i had to order another bottle of drink to quench the hotness!

Alex, self proclaimed to be the Chilli Crab guru who counts no signboard chilli crabs as his favourite, said these chilli crabs from Orchid Live Seafood were only a small notch below his favourite. For me, i especially liked the generous serving of eggs that went into the frying wok for the wet chilli paste.

Buns are a must when it comes to butter and chilli crabs - as i have always insisted in my blog.

For such dark colour (usually due to over frying), i really wonder how the chef managed to keep it so soft and fluffy! By the way, they were really small.... Give me the buns from Forture any time!

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Location
No 1, Bah Soon Pah Road
(Located within Green Valley Farms)
(Next to Khatib Camp)

Price
Lobster Porridge (0.6 kg) - S$54
Chilli Crabs (1.6 kg)- S$64
Buns (6s) - S$4

No GST, No Service Charge

Additional Information
For my Muslim friends who are not very particular with Halal certification, no pork and lard is served in this restaurant. Since less salt, less oil and no msg are crossed out, am i right to assume that the food here have more salt, more oil and msg?

Weird.

Driving is preferred although there is a bus stop [B57069] nearby with bus services 167, 169, 171 and 980. There is a private carpark for diners and it is free!

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