oyster craving?

i've always been quite fascinated by those special foods that need to be eaten with particular cutlery. you've got everything from the escargots that need two fancy tools - one to hold the shell, another to pull the little bugger out....to  the old school toothpicks that we use to entice that gong gong or cockle out and off of their shells. in the case of today's post, the fascination for me at least, was how easily the oyster dislodges (and cleanly too, i might add!) from its shell with the humble two-prong fork you see...but in all honesty, we headed for oysters more to tame the oyster itch that g's been harboring!

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the palms

with my cousin judith jet setting off to the usa soon and my other cousin mark graduating from medical school, lunch at the palms was in the honour of the both of them. the palms was a really nice place, hidden in the newly revamped changi beach club, the restaurant had a fantastic view of the sea and a nice laid back feel to it. the law clan brought a buzz to the place, with all of us fitting into three tables, we pretty much over took the restaurant!

being a branch of roland's seafood, i was already quite sure that the food would be good. what i didn't expect was the amount of refinement they managed to infuse to each and every dish. we started off with deep fried wasabi prawns, followed by fried cod. the prawns were a good start to the meal, fresh and deep fried in quite a unique batter and filled with just the right amount of wasabi mayo. we had cod done two ways, fried and cooked with miso. Both were pretty good, with the fish cooked fresh, but i personally preferred the miso version. tofu was next and this was one of the best dishes in my opinion. very smooth with a really good broth based gravy, and the mushrooms that accompanied the tofu were huge and amazingly fresh. meat dishes consisted firstly of chicken that was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. but i think the stewed pork was the crowd favorite. distinct layers of meat and awesome gravy were fantastic with the deep fried man tous. the spinach was the other personal favorite... cooked in a special broth, i never tasted spinach cooked this way before. the vege somehow managed to give a nice flavor to the broth, making this dish quite outstanding. lunch finished off with some tradition, long life mee sua and orh ni. the noodles was light and refreshing, leaving sufficient room for the orh ni which was done slightly differently from the ordinary. not too oily and rich, with slightly more pumpkin mashed with the yam, it actually tasted quite good. this version is definitely more up dia's alley *grin* it was definitely a good lunch, great food and nice time with the family. here's to the new dr mark tan and judith who's headed to conquer the world!

the palms
2 andover road
changi beach club
(65) 6542 2653

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go fish!

the greenwood fish market is probably the first restaurant that i've been to amongst all that have landed in the neighborhood...and truth be told, it was only after visiting the humble establishment did i realize the definition of fresh oysters!

of all the times we have been there, the main attraction is of course the oysters! served on ice, with generous slices of lemon and a huge bottle of tabasco, the fish market did not at anytime skimp on the size or freshness of these gems. definition of fresh? the ability to remove the oyster from its stem with just one swop of the fork, just enough brine and absolutely no pieces of sand or shell! g and i literally polished off a full dozen within minutes, with each one sliding easily off the shell and literally melting in the mouth. superb!

beer battered or crumbed, snapper or barramundi, most people usually have an order of fish and chips. i personally had it once and found it pretty good...but having to choose between the fried fish and pasta, the pasta won hands down. this place served probably the second best aglio olio that i've tried in singapore with al dente pasta and amazing seafood stock infused with loads of garlic. the order this time around was almost the aglio olio until i asked the waiter how the hot smoked mackerel pasta was done. the moment garlic was mentioned, i was sold! still the same fantastic aglio olio with the exception of nice small pieces of mackerel used in place of the original anchovies. really reminded me of the english brunchs i used to have with smoked kipplings up at my sar-yi's place in manchester *grin*

g's chilli soft shell crab pasta was quite well done, with quite authentic chilli crab sauce and a generous portion of crispy soft shell crab. nice local twist to the classic seafood pasta and i think they could have upped the 'wow' factor by using linguine instead of spaghetti and adding a bit of cream to thicken the sauce just a wee bit.

its official! tuesdays will now always be oysters day!


greenwood fish market
34 greenwood avenue
(65) 6467 4950

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mellben - its spelt with a double 'l'!

no prizes for guessing where we had dinner! promised my good friends carrie and nathan who travelled all the way from sydney that we'd head out for crabs and crabs was certainly what we had.

before i dive into raving about the dinner, i would like to add that this dinner was made all the more memorable just because carrie and nathan had, let's just say, a little trouble finding the place. i reserved a spot for us at the new branch of mellben over in toa payoh, and thought subconsciously that it should be easier to find then the main ang mo kio one. but unfortunately, they did get lost....i could so picture carrie frusing in the car and nathan trying to keep things under control *grin* in any case, it all worked out in the end with the food arriving just minutes before they eventually got there.

some people might think that the original amk branch is still the best, but i do beg to differ. the food at toa payoh was outstanding. i do apologise for my amateur photography skills...think these pics don't do the food the justice it deserves!

our crab feast consisted of guiness stout pork ribs, claypot tofu, the signature mellben crab bee hoon and not one, but two crabs cooked chilli style. yes, there were only four of us and i think we did really well with 4 dishes and 3 crabs!

we ordered the ribs as we remembered them to be yummy from before. it was one of mellben's specialty and they tasted as good as the first time i had them. the ribs were tender and roasted pretty much to perfection, leaving a crispy outer shell that tasted of guinness. for those who think guinness should remain a drink, take a chance and try these ribs if you get a chance. the synergy of the guinness and the ribs produce a taste that is truly unique. you will not be disappointed i guarantee!

the tofu was a nice change from our usual order of the home style fried tofu. but i guess the main highlight for me would still be the crabs. never mind that i just got my nails done, i still managed to plough through 2 pincers and one crab body with only slight dings in my thumb and fore finger nails! pretty much nothing stood in between me and the crab and bee hoon soup. lemak scali the soup...not too creamy and lemak, and infused with the sweetness of one huge sri lankan crab.

i was already quite stuffed after two bowls of bee hoon soup but one spoonful of the chilli crab sauce had me reaching for man tou after man tou to soak into the delicious gravy. again, just the right amount of chilli, tanginess and egginess to create the right consistency and sweetness. the crabs were big and very fresh, with the meat coming off the shells pretty much all in one piece! yum!

just writing this post is already making me hungry! and i've made a mental note to have mellben crabs again soon....5 out of 5 scoopies!!

mellben seafood
block 211 lorong 8 toa payoh
#01-11-15
(65) 6353 3120

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