Jumbo Seafood (珍宝海鲜楼) -The Big Name in Seafood [Esp Chilli Crabs] @ East Coast Park [Singapore]

Despite having a hot and spicy love affair with chilli crabs for the past few years, i have never really thought of trying out two food establishments in Singapore that are well known for serving this famous local dish.

Maybe it was the perception that the crabs would be priced horrendously high and as far as i could recall, i have more foreigners than locals telling me how good they were!

Nevertheless, my elder sister specifically named Jumbo Seafood for her birthday treat and i was pressured to go along with her decision since she was the birthday girl! Frankly, i was actually excited since it would give me a chance to compare across seafood restaurants in Singapore serving the same dish.

Located within the Seafood Centre in Singapore's biggest park known as East Coast Park, Jumbo Seafood has a great view of the busy Singapore Straits with many diners opting for the alfresco seating in the evening.

My loving family always favours the more comfortable, air-conditioned area. We figured we could have all the hot air we want at home and therefore don't see the point to waste a cooler option to have our dinner!

This meal was held during the period when i was still recovering from my wrist surgery and as the Chinese believes, there should not be any ingestion of seafood that is considered as "poisonous". 

I really did try my best and although i failed to abstain from seafood, i am still proud to declare i ate a lot lesser!

Baby Squid

A perfect snack while watching drama serials on Channel 8 - they were crunchy and sweet like those from Uncle Leong; minus the chilli padi. I am generally not a huge fan of these deep fried baby squids though, unlike the birthday girl.

Beancurd Hotplate

For a hotplate tofu dish, the addition of scallops was clever as it set the dish apart from many competitors with its heightened infusion of seafood. The only complaint i had was the thin layer of egg that barely provided any bite.

Yam Scallop

These were pleasing to the eyes and i guarantee you would love the chomp of two extremes; that of the crispy yam casing and the juicy yummy scallop in the middle.

Sadly, it did not take us long to realise that the strong yet delicious taste of yam would eventually cover up the scallop's very own seafood flavour. To put it bluntly, i would gladly pay lesser for a plate of deep fried yam.

Mee Goreng

Rich and generous in ingredients (fish, squid, prawns), this was thick with gravy and could have been given the thumbs-up if not for the lack of wok-hei.

Chilli Crab

Now coming to the highly acclaimed chilli crab!

Here goes - I absolutely love Jumbo's chilli crab and will go as far as placing it as one of the best i ever have in my 32 years of life.

The initial sweeter tomato sensation (which did not sit well with chilli lovers like my mom) was just a prelude to the chilli-hot spiciness that lingered on my lips and the crab's long immersion in the pot of chilli gravy had resulted in full body absorption of scrumptious flavour that could only be described as amazing!

Definitely something i would go back for!

Buns

With the look of golden rocks, these were surprisingly not as oily as i expected even though i didn't find them to be exceptionally tasty. As i mentioned before in a few crab reviews, it would be perfect to couple Jumbo's chilli crab with the buns from Forture Seafood!

Oh, i almost forgot to mention that the buns must be eaten as soon as possible. They were almost inedible after 40 minutes in the open

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Location

Block 126, East Coast Parkway,

#01-08, Seafood Centre

Map

As above (box with red border).

Price

Baby Squid - S$10.00

Beancurd Hotplate - S$28.00

Yam Scallop - S$21.00

Mee Goreng - S$15.00

Chilli Crab - S$52.00 per kilo

Buns - S$0.50 each

[Subject to Service Charge and GST]