Saver Menu for 4 Persons @ Orchid Live Seafood HomeTeamNS Khatib Branch in Singapore #lobsterporridge

A That friend came over to Singapore for a vacation last week and being a good host; we had been bringing him to a number of dining establishments in Singapore like hawker centres and being Koma.

He loved the food but as with every human, there's always a ranking and for him; the best was the meal we had on his last night in the little red dot. Dinner at Orchid Live Seafood! 

Guess the sight, that greeted him when we stepped into the restaurant, must have been disturbing. We were the only group of customers and his experience over the past few days told him there were long queues everywhere. To be fair, it was 5pm and the restaurant had just opened for the dinner operations.

I am not going to talk about the Lobster Porridge, Topshell Crispy Tofu (with Thai chilli sauce), Steven Chicken and Baby Kai Lan; they had been mentioned quite a number of times in this post and this post, and taste had been consistently good. 

Difference was that we opted for the saver meal (set menu) which would be good for four persons, although for families on starch-restricted diets; five or six persons might be okay too. Another change is that we upgraded the baby lobster to a big southern Australian lobster at S$34.00. Meat was definitely chunkier and sweeter. 

The saver meal differed from the buddy meal (for two persons) by providing an extra dish; the H.K. steamed live seabass! I am not much of a fish lover although the rest seemed to enjoy the fish a lot. 

What I was most interested in was the yam paste! Udder ice cream was part of the saver meal but we were given the option to change to yam paste at no additional cost. Even though I didn't know the cost differentials between the two, I was so craving for yam paste and after securing agreement with the rest; we went ahead with the change. 

Although not as good as the epic yam paste from the now defunct Mong Hing restaurant, it was the better ones I have had in recent time. Not overly oily with a creamy texture; the sweetness was just right and the only thing lacking was maybe more sweet potatoes! I relished every single spoonful put into my mouth! 

A 101% satisfied group. 

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Address

2 Yishun Walk, #03-01,

HomeTeamNS Khatib, 

Singapore 767944

Map

As above. 

Website

https://www.orchidliveseafood.com/

Pricing

Saver Meal - S$198.00

Upgrade to Australian Lobster - S$34.00

Tea - S$2.50 per person

(Subject to GST and Service Charge)

Yang Ming Seafood ( 扬名海鲜馆) @ Block 150 Bishan Street 11 [Singapore]

Despite the diminutive size of Singapore, there are plenty of hidden gems that are not known to many except for those who live in the area or have heard of them through word of mouth. 

It was the latter that brought me to Yang Ming Seafood! Even though it's located in Bishan, getting there requires taking a bus as a walk might take you about 20 minutes; hardly comforting in our hot and humid weather.

Guess the eatery had already made a name for itself since it was the winner of Singapore Food Masters 2020 fort the north zone. Organized by SPH, I actually knew about the competition given the publicity but didn't follow it diligently. 

So tempted to get the crabs as they were live and of big sizes! Shall leave them for another day as we were focused on the seafood we intended to try that day. 

Unique, interesting setup of the eatery which was housed in a coffee shop; flanked on both sides by HDB blocks, it's literally a courtyard filled with tables reserved for customers of Yang Ming Seafood.

Four signature dishes! As we were not much into fishes (unlike my mom) and Alex and I don't take pig's stomach, there were only two signatures suitable for us. Salt baked crab is rare but can still be found in some seafood restaurants. 

Let's have the Andrew Lobster then.

Plus other dishes to complete the meal! 

Love it when seafood eateries provide us with a box of tissue! In the past, it's the norm to pass us a bowl of tea (I think) with lime but the pandemic has rendered that as potential risk of cross contamination. Whatever the case, tissues are already better than not having anything to wipe your hands with.

Four dishes, and let's kick start with the review!

Furong Egg - at S$8.00, this small serving appeared a lot more than our expectation! It was fluffy with the necessary crisp edges and dotted with amazing bits of lup cheong (Chinese waxed sausages). Many places actually replaced lup cheong with char siew, which unfortunately usually reduces the palatability of this Malaysia / Singapore style omelette. 

Yang Ming Special Chicken - the one thing that sticks out from this dish, and in my opinion, makes it special, would be the use of roughly cut dried chilli. I was afraid it might be too spicy as Alex doesn't take well to spiciness.

Thankfully, the spiciness was light and absolutely manageable. Meat was juicy and it was boneless! Taste wise, it reminded me of the Steven Chicken from Orchid Live Seafood and Kon rightfully pointed out that the chicken was on the bland side. 

San Lou Burn Bee Hoon - it's been quite a while since we last had the authentic san lou bee hoon from San Low Seafood Restaurant and we sure hoped to be brought down the memory lane with the one from Yang Ming Seafood.

Featuring the lightly burnt edges signature of san lou bee hoon, this was nice although didn't reach the standard from the original restaurant in JB, Malaysia; wok hei was weaker and texture was also drier. 

Andrew Lobster - please don't ask me why this is called Andrew Lobster but I am guessing the chef was either looking for an easy-to-remember name or it was invented by a guy named Andrew.

Why did we opt for Andrew Lobster among the four signature dishes? According to the menu, this is said to be one of a kind in Singapore and a must-order in Yang Ming Seafood! Personally, I have never seen it before; the combination of chee cheong fun with lobster! 

The vermicelli rolls were indeed smooth and the flavorful broth did complement them perfectly. However, I don't think it would have tasted any worse without the lobster and I would have been equally happy to order just the chee cheong fun, at a way, way cheaper pricing.

You can have your preferred variety of lobster but being poor individuals, we had just two small lobsters, which cost us S$98 for the dish. 

The freshness of the lobsters were there and the meat was juicily plump! Despite my reservations on combining chee cheong fun with lobsters, I do think Andrew Lobster would be a good topic starter  should one ever pays Yang Ming Seafood a visit for the first time.

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End of our meal; I honestly didn't think we can clean up everything, not when Alex was in his usual I-am-too-full state halfway through our meal. Both Kon and I were stuffed since the portions were surprisingly quite generous and I think we could easily feed 4-5 persons with what we ordered. 

View of the courtyard when we left!

And it was filled with customers! 

Address

Block 150 Bishan Street 11, 

Singapore 570150

Map 

As above.

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/yangmingseafood.sg

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Andrew Lobster - S$98.00

Furong Egg (S) - S$8.00

Yang Ming Special Chicken (S) - S$12.00

San Lou Burn Bee Hoon (M) - S$15.00

(Inclusive of GST)

Geometry Gelato near ABC Brickworks Hawker Centre along Jalan Bukit Merah @ Singapore

Geometry Gelato Cafe is not new and I was aware of its existence even before the pandemic. However, there are just too many food around that area and for desserts; it's hard resisting the power chendol from Jin Jin!

No idea why it's called geometry though; the interior concept was simple, wood based with maybe only the light covers featuring some sort of geometrical angles. I think we can get the answers from its logo. 

18 flavors in total; which means I fell into the indecisive mode and had to ask for recommendations. Sadly, the recommendations with coffee, tea, chocolate don't really appeal to me.

Settled - waffle with two scoops of ice cream! 

Drenching the waffle with the essential sweet syrup! To me, it's a necessary ingredient for waffle, and takes higher priority over ice cream, especially if the flavor of the ice cream fails to impress. 

Cutleries made of sustainable ingredients although it kind of defeated the "green" effort when the sweet syrup was still served in a small, plastic container. With the pandemic, I do feel that sustainability has taken a backseat and will continue to be so until the situation improves further.

Chocolate Mint - this is such a common flavor that I wouldn't normally order but my friend didn't know what to have and went for the flavor less likely to be a "risk". Well, it's minty, not exactly a surprise and for a premium flavor (additional charge of S$0.80), I am glad they didn't use cheap chocolate rice. 

Watermelon Cucumber Lime - refreshing with the taste of cucumber, plus sweetness from the watermelon and a touch of sour from the lime; this reminded me of an ice blended drink although I can't remember from where. 

Belgian Waffle -  while the batter tasted nice with a relatively fluffy batter, my only issue was with the texture which was could have been crispier! Soft waffle is always a disappointment.

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Wouldn't mind for a revisit but would inform the staff I prefer a crispier waffle! 

Address

2 Jalan Bukit Merah, 

#01-5142, Singapore 150002

Map

As above.

Website

https://www.geometry.sg/

Operating Hours

Wednesdays - Closed

Sundays to Thursdays - 12.00 pm to 9.30 pm

Fridays to Saturdays - 12.00 pm to 11.00 pm

Public Holidays - 12.00 pm to 11.00 pm

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Waffle with One Scoop of Ice cream - S$8.90

Add Premium Flavor - S$0.80

Add One Scoop of Premium Ice Cream - S$3.60

(Nett)