BBQ Stingray

I came across Rong Guang BBQ Seafood when I visited a friend in her apartment near Bukit Merah. She recently came back from a vacation from the United States and I asked her to buy me some stuff there for my latest hobby which is photography. She had hand-carried the lens I asked her to buy and somehow I felt compelled to return the favor.

She suggested that I just treat her for lunch. There is the Bukit Merah Lane Food Centre nearby and she said she knows where we are going to eat. Fact is I have not eaten at Bukit Merah Lane before. She knowingly said that I am going to love the unique seafood they serve there. My friend is aware that I am a seafood addict. I was intrigued right away.

We arrived at the Rong Guang BBQ Seafood. From the name of the restaurant itself, you can already guess their specialty: Seafood BBQ. Fresh varieties of seafood are placed on a windowed chiller where you can easily choose the seafood of your choice. My friend told me that the specialty of this restaurant is the Stingray BBQ. I immediately ordered for that. Aside from that, we also ordered some Kangkong, and tried the shrimp paste chicken, again, upon the recommendation of my friend and some seafood fried rice.

I can see that the BBQ Stingray was slathered with sambal chili. The stingray was really soft and not tough, just grilled right. The sambal chili paste on top made the whole stingray dish interesting. I never had grilled stingray before so I cannot really compare but the one they serve there is really tasty. The Kangkong with belachan is way too good. I really enjoyed eating it with the seafood rice. I am not really a meat eater but the chicken really looked mouth watering so I tried it. My fried mentioned that she always orders this. It wasn’t too bad; I actually liked the taste of the shrimp paste on the chicken skin which is also crispy. The meat is tender and not dry - definitely, worth trying.

I was thankful to my friend for taking me at Rong Guang BBQ Seafood. I would definitely go back eating there and try their other Seafood BBQ when I visit her again. The Stingray BBQ is really good and would like to have some again.

Absolutely Abalone

This entry is short and sweet. Maybe not too sweet as I am not feeling well but I just wanted to share the seafood I want to eat whenever I am sick. I’m actually down with flu so I want something hot, preferably a soup.

I absolutely love abalone soup. I usually eat this to clear my sinus. But since I can’t cook, I asked a friend to get me some from the best Singapore restaurant that makes a very tasty Abalone soup. I am talking about Lam’s Noodle House. I like the Abalone soup there. Last time I had this soup I remembered it was so very good. The broth comes from boiling meat bones so you can just imagine how tasty it is. The noodles are just tender, cooked to perfection. The star of course is the lovely abalone. They are skewered in a bamboo stick. They are the tastiest and juiciest abalone you could ever find. Wonder how they do it? But I just wish they would add more abalone. This soup is really best eaten with the restaurants chili sauce. That would really take care of my runny nose.

Aside from the Abalone soup, I also asked my friend to get me some Abalone dumplings. I think after eating those, I’ll feel a lot much better. The Abalone soup will just drown my flu away.

Not Your Ordinary Egg Dish

Just mention caviar, Beluga caviar specifically, and it immediately whets my appetite. One time an ex-boyfriend gifted me with a tin of Beluga caviar and my heart just melted. It was the beginning of my romance with the sturgeon roe. Caviars are expensive so I don’t often get to have them. They are like job promotions that are hard to come by but when opportunity presents itself, you just have to grab it.

What am I saying? Some lame personification of my life to a tin of caviar. Others just think of it as fish eggs. I already got passed that fishy and briny smell. It is just pure explosion when I put it in my mouth and my taste buds are just dancing with glee. The last time I had it on top of a good cracker with some cream cheese. It was already heaven for me.

Maybe it’s time to treat myself.

So I headed to the Marina Bay Sands and headed to this restaurant that serve some of the best food in Singapore. Never would have thought that a 3 star Michelin restaurant would someday set ground in Singapore. I had the opportunity before at eating in Guy Savoy’s restaurant on our more recent travel to Paris. That alone was already worth the trip. I may be extravagant but I am never wasteful. I ate every morsel of food there is on my place, maybe even the garnish.

Although not the same ambiance, it was the same good food at Savoy Singapore. It was rendezvous written all over the place. Aside from the Sea Bass that I ordered, The Colors of Caviar just blew me away once again. Creamy and delightful, like ice cream. Only it is sweet, salty and sour and all the goodness that goes with it, expensive price included.

Never mind how much dent it made on my wallet, going and eating at Savoy Singapore at Marina Bay. I just got to have the caviar in this restaurant.

Dangerous Seafood Delicacies

Warning: this is not for the weak of heart.

This entry is more like a wish list to try these one of a kind seafood dishes. They are for those adventurous types like me and for those who have a strong stomach. Since this blog is all about seafood and trying them in whatever form with so much courage one can muster, I thought of writing this documentary I saw on TV.

One time I was watching television and I got a chance to watch some documentary about dangerous food being consumed around the world. Most of these are delicacies and it involves a lot of seafood dishes. These are Fugu or Blowfish in Japan, Sannakji or Live Octopus in Korea, Silverstripe Blaasop in the Mediterranean, the Lutefisk in Norway and Blood Clam in China.

The Blowfish, sometimes called the Pufferfish and Fugu in Japan is considered one of the deadliest seafood. You will never find this in any Singapore restaurants for sure. This is because chefs who want to handle this fish must spend several months to get a license to prepare this fish. A chef has to learn how to separate the poisonous part of the fish like the skin and its organs from its flesh. Japanese people have hailed this fish as the most delicious but eating it you may end up being dead. I would surely love to try this one day.

Next is the live octopus. Live small octopus are seasoned and then skewered in bamboo sticks. They should be immediately eaten while the tentacles are still moving. Once in your mouth you have to wrestle the octopus from the skewer and next come the hardest part. It will suction all the parts in your mouth including your teeth. It is like clinging for dear life. I gathered from watching the documentary that the Silverstripe Blaasop is illegal in most western countries. Like the blowfish, the poison concentration is on the skin and the organs. They are usually prepared in a soup dish. The lutefisk is actually fish, particularly cod, soaked in caustic soda. Because of this it is highly toxic. And then there is the Blood Clam in China. It was very surprising to know that you can find Hepatitis A in these clams. How weird can it get, right? It can only be virus free by cooking it at a certain temperature and for a prescribed period of time. In China, authorized vendors are the only ones allowed to sell it and selling must be approved by the local government.

I don’t ever think that these dishes will ever set foot here in Singapore. Sure there are restaurants in Singapore that serves octopus dishes. I have tried octopus dishes at Bodega Y Tapas with its paprika flavored octopus and at Sarangchae Korean restaurant where they serve octopus hot pot. Interestingly, they also serve some blowfish soup. The Octopus hot pot and the blowfish soup are really tasty and not fishy at all. The octopus in the hot pot is not chewy same goes with the octopus in Bodega. The blowfish soup has a little bit of bitter taste but for an adventurous person like me, the experience is more important and the taste just came in second. Maybe I would have to go to Korea and Japan someday so I will be able to see and taste these delicacies.

Fresh Oysters, Anyone?

This is NOT for those squeamish about oysters.

I know some people who cannot eat raw oysters. Even my mother cannot imagine herself getting near an oyster much less eating it. The sliminess, the saltiness and the briny smell of the sea that goes with the oyster is enough to fend off those who would dare taste it.

I read somewhere that Oysters are the most tender and delicate of all sea foods. I think whoever said that meant well. I think he was trying to describe oysters as palatable as possible for those who have not tried eating it. But then eating oysters is an acquired taste. It really takes time for one to put it in their mouth, swallow and appreciate the taste. You got to have a strong stomach to swallow it. For first timers, I suggest that you eat it with cocktail or hot sauce to disguise the taste of the raw oysters. It is best to wash the taste away with a good beer or wine. Washing away the taste prepares you again for another oyster.

There are few restaurants in Singapore that serves really good fresh oysters. I can count in my one hand those who have a good oyster bar. One of them is the Harbor Grill and Oyster Bar. The oysters there are just juicy and fresh. Although there are good oyster bars in Singapore, nothing beats the oysters I had in Arcachon Bay in France. I was fortunate enough to go there and taste those wonderful Arcachon oysters. I was lucky to see oysters plucked from the sea and directly placed on a platter atop a bed of ice. And slurp, slurp, slurped away I did with all those fresh oysters served in front of me. They were so good and very clean to the palate. Wedges of lemon are served on the side but I prefer to have the briny taste of raw oysters. I was with my sister then when I went to France. I pushed my luck by having her try one raw oyster. She did alright. But she ended up sick after having that one oyster and stayed in the hotel the whole day. Up to this day, she swears not to lay an eye on an oyster,

I had my first oysters when I was in junior high during our visit to my cousin in Charleston, South Carolina. I got the “shuck” of my life when I first put it in my mouth and even contemplating on swallowing or spitting it out. As I move along on my second oyster, I was beginning to love it. One after the other, I continue to consume these slimy delicacies. I kept coming back for more.

Ever since then, I never passed on a good oyster bar whenever I can here in Singapore. For me, they taste divine. And I can brag that am not a sissy when it comes to eating raw oysters.

Seafood Paradise at the Airport

My friend and his family from Manila visited the country several days ago and I had to show them around on the three days that they are here. It was a business and leisure trip so they were really looking up forward to going here. I also to pick them up from the airport and bring them to the hotel. Before bringing them to the hotel, we had a quick late lunch so I decided to bring them to Seafood Paradise restaurant which is just near Terminal 2.

I have read somewhere that it is one of the best seafood restaurants in Singapore so I hope I will not disappoint my guests. I have been to other branches of the restaurant before so I know that they feature a lot of well-known local Singapore recipes in their menu. It is my friend’s wife first time to visit Singapore so I want her to have a taste of what food in Singapore is like.

I took in charge of ordering for all of us and also asked them what they like to try on the menu. I told them that they should try the restaurant’s signature Creamy Butter Crab. I ordered the crispy chicken for the children, some chili crabs, drunken prawns and the soon hock fish and a big platter of fried rice. My friend was raving about how good the butter crab is. He just can’t get enough of the sauce which he find so tasty and mouth-watering. He even scooped out the roe inside the shell of the crabs. The wife was also impressed especially with the drunken prawns saying that she would love to cook this dish when she goes back home. The crispy deep-fried chicken were a hit to the kids and the happily munched away all throughout the meal. We finished by having some desserts and by the time we were through; we could barely get out of our seats because of the heavy but delicious meal we ate.

I was hoping to make an impression on my guests and I think they thoroughly enjoyed the food. Over the years that I have been eating at this restaurant, the food has improved tremendously. My first time to host a family turned out to be good.


Seafood Paradise (Changi Airport Terminal 2)
60 Airport Blvd.
#036-059 Level 3 Terminal 2
Singapore Changi Airport
Singapore 819643
Tel. 6214 9655

Worth the Wait Crab Dish

I decided to have a less stressful night in finding a good seafood restaurant from all the many restaurants in Singapore and having a very good meal for dinner. So I decided to go to Palm Beach Seafood Restaurant at One Fullerton. With its waterfront view, I am hoping that I would enjoy my dinner in this restaurant.

Of course, having gone to a restaurant at this hour and one located at such a busy place, expect it to be crowded. But I waited to be seated for more than 15 minutes. It turned out to be a non-stressful night with all that waiting. Anyway, as I was already seated, I proceeded to scan the menu and look for something nice to order. Being a seafood lover, I ordered the seafood fried rice, the double baked crab, their Kang Kong with Sambal and their cereal prawns. There were a lot of people that night so understandably, the waiter took so long to get my order and for them to cook all of it.

When I got all my order and started eating them, I was really impressed with the double baked crab. I think it is one of the best local Singapore recipes invented. For me this is better than their chili crab. I never cared to order this one before. I can see that a lot of people were ordering pepper crab and chili crabs so I figured my order will take longer if I order the same as everybody else. And I guess I made a right choice this night. This double baked crab has double-the-taste. Melted butter is also added into this dish making it heartier and flavorful. The saltiness of the cheese just brings out the contrasting sweetness of the crab meat. I even scooped some of the juices or the sauce of the crab into my fried rice because it was really so good. The Kang kong with sambal is also delicious as well as the crispy prawns with cereal. But I still think that there were a lot of cereals hiding the prawn. Nonetheless, still not a bad dish. But I was really overwhelmed by the nice baked crabs in this restaurant.

Although the service is bad, I can say that it is one of the best seafood restaurants in Singapore. For the crab alone, it was worth the trip and I guess I will be going back to this place or try their other restaurant branches just for this Double-Baked Crab a la Singapura.