Singapore - Jumbo Seafood

Jumbo was the busiest joint along the quay so we figured it had to be good. The earliest reservation we manged to get on a Saturday evening was 9:30pm. Good thing I had some snacks in the afternoon or I would have died staving.

We ordered a number of dishes and the first thing to arrive was the stir-fried broccoli. You know you're in a Chinese restaurant when you get your dishes in random orders. The broccoli was very crispy and fresh we decided to order a second portion.


This pile of meat, sorry black pepper steak, was one of the signature dishes. It came sizzling hot and tasted better than it looked. I wouldn't be calling it a signature dish though.

Now the reason to come to this place: Singapore chili crab. It was my first time to try the dish and being a crab lover I enjoyed every bite of it. I wished we had ordered a larger crab cos the claws were not as big as I had hoped for. The sauce was spicy but sweet at the same time and it was so thick it coated the crab nicely. It had quite a uniquely nice taste but I have to say I prefer the Under Bridge version better (see here).

The waitress suggested some bread rolls to scoop up the chili crab sauce. They were miniature Chinese buns and while my husband liked the plain ones the deep fried ones did it for me.

Last but not least was the seafood fried rice. It was fried with egg white, prawns, and chunks of scallops. It was delicious! The rice was firm and dry and not overly greasy - it's easily as good as the one in Yung Kee.

On the side there was a dip made with what I believe to be chili, garlic and vinegar. I should have asked about it because it would have been a very nice addition to have in the kitchen. Similar to the chicken rice dip (which I love) this sauce had a lot more kick to it. Two thumbs up!
Dinner for two came to S$110 and we thought it was pretty good value...especial when our curry cost about S$100 the other night.

Jumbo Seafood

Riverside Point, 30 Merchant Rd., Singapore. Tel: 6532-3435

Singapore - Bengawan Solo

Famous for its cookies, Bengawan Solo has also got cakes and desserts. I have been told the cookies (especially the almond ones) are very good but I decided to give but I decided to give these cakes a try instead. They are called kueh something rather and a packet of 12 costs S$1.5.
They were very sweet, spongy and not very substantial at all. It was like eating air.

Singapore - fish balls

Fish balls with noodles is a typical snack you find in every food centre in Singapore. On top of the Cantonese soupy version a dry and spicy version is also available and it seems to be more popular as well.
The noodles came with fish balls, a couple slices of pork and a spoonful of minced pork, all infused in a mild curry based sauce. On the side is a bowl of clear broth although I'm not entirely sure what you are supposed to do with it -I sipped mine like water as I ate..not bad. As for the noodles they had a nice bite and they were not sticky at all. The fish balls looked like the mass-produced machine made variety but they tasted OK and not too fishy at all. For S$3 a bowl it was not bad for what you get.

Singapore - Billy Bombers

It's a nightmare trying to find a place to eat at Clarke Quay on a Friday night around 9:30pm. I swear every single person in town was out and eating all at the same time. Reluctantly we settled into Billy Bombers...I have to say the name put us off and the decor (really in-your-face 50s diner stuff completed with Elvis memorabilia) didn't help. The menu wasn't that bad though and it had all the comfort food items.

We started with some beef nachos. I didn't like the flimsy corn chips and the fake cheese but we weren't too picky.

My husband's southern fried chicken looked pretty good I wanted to swap him.

My BBQ ribs were not bad but then again we were truly desperate.
I also got myself an Oreo milkshake and it was probably the best thing for the evening. It was thick like a blizzard and I got plenty of it my husband had to help me out at the end.

Overall it wasn't bad but it could be better. Dinner for 2 came to around S$70.

Billy Bombers
#02-78 The Central, Clarke Quay, Singapore.

Singapore - Maxwell Food Centre

They say you can find the best food in Singapore's food markets. On this early weekday afternoon I decided to check out Maxwell and as soon as I got there I was immediately blown away by the the number of stalls and the variety there.

I knew what I wanted and I went straight for it: chicken rice. There are numerous stalls selling chicken rice but Tian Tian was recommended to me. The line up (it wasn't even 12 in the afternoon) was a good sign.

For S$4 I got my chicken rice set. Bargain! You may have your chicken sans bones and skin - perfect for me.

Now the taste. Everything tasted right but nothing was exceptional. The chicken was kind of plain but the dips made up for it. The rice was fragrant but it didn't really jump out on me. And I didn't think much of the cucumbers and the soup. For S$4 it was very good and I will defintely go back for some more. Let's say it was better than the version at the HK Mandarin.

We went back on a Sunday afternoon for some more and this is the fish congee (S$3) I got which I had to line up for 45 mins! While I was lining up my mood changed from being annoyed to frustrated to extremely irritated then to curious. Curiosity prevailed at the end and I got to see what the deal was. Well I have to say it was very good but no congee is worth 45-min wait if you ask me.

Maxwell Food Centre

Maxwell Road near China Town, Singapore.

Singapore - Sitara Indian Restaurant

We decided to start our Singapore food hunt with Sitara based on our friend's recommendation. Across from the busy 24-hour mall Mustafa right in the middle of Little India we knew we were onto something good.

We were very pleased that a stack of poppadoms were served immediately right after we ordered. These days restaurants never give you poppadoms unless you order them. It's a major put off cos they are cheap as chips anyway so why upset your customers?

Our must-have starter chicken tikka. Although it didn't come in on a hot sizzling plate the chicken was still very nicely seasoned and cooked to perfection.

We tried something new as well this time: our aloo chaat had got a real kick to it. Good thing the dish was refreshingly cooled (chilled) otherwise we would have been on fire.

Our usual curry spread (clockwise from top right): nan bread, dal makhani (lentils curry), lamb biriyani, bhindi (okra) curry. All were pretty good especially the nan and the okra.

We had to sample the lamb vindoloo. The cuts of meat were nice and the curry was fierce! I think we can take spicy normally and this was almost reaching our limit.
Nice curry all in all but a little expensive I have to say. Dinner for 2 with 1 beer came to S$100!

Sitara Restaurant and Lounge
#01-01, 291 Serangoon Rd., Singapore. Tel: 6291-3211