| LauHound

Sin Huat is a famous seafood restaurant located in a coffee shop type setting in Singapore. Now by coffee shop I’m not talking about Starbucks, in Singapore there are open air restaurants that are referred to as coffee shops and inside there are usually a few different places to eat there, the main place and then some semi-hawker stalls set up as well. So I guess they are some sort of cross between a real restaurant and a hawker center. Anyhow, Sin Huat is one of these except that instead of your normal cheap simple cze char fare (cheap homestyle food) they specialize in expensive seafood.

The restaurant has become very famous with the likes of Anthony Bourdain dining there and the owner / chef Danny Lee has also become famous for being sort of a food nazi. What makes him a food nazi? Well, first you are not allowed to order at other stalls otherwise he’ll refuse to serve you. Next, there is no menu at this restaurant and he is pretty quick to tell you what you should order. Lastly, he speaks fairly quickly and assertively. So did he meet up to his reputation? The other stalls were closed that day and I wouldn’t have taken my chances anyhow, so I can’t verify that, but by all accounts it’s true. He didn’t have a menu and was fairly quick to tell me that I should order the shrimp that day. He was pretty fast in talking, but I thought he was actually a nice guy and was pretty receptive when I was talking to him about the food later and seemed really appreciative when I told him how good I thought it was. So it’s probably just the case of a chef who is very passionate about his food. Also, he is an ex-pig farmer, so I don’t think you’d expect him to be a polished white shoe type of guy anyhow.

The restaurant looks like a typical Geylang coffee shop meaning that it’s run down, has little to no décor and actually looks kind of shady, which is in stark contrast to most of Singapore. If you’re not familiar with Singapore, Geylang is home to two things: 1) the red light district and 2) some of the best food in Singapore. The service was brisk and I get the feeling they don’t speak English too well although I think Danny does speak English to some degree.

Peanuts:

These were provided at the beginning of the meal for free. It was just typical peanuts and then peanuts with a sweet coating on outside. Nothing out of the ordinary, but the peanuts with the sweet coating were kind of addictive. 7.75/10

Scallops in Black Bean Sauce:

These were live scallops in the shell and came in a surprisingly thick black bean sauce that had some vegetables in it. The sauce was excellent with a nice black bean flavor although not nearly as strong as you would think looking at it and was slightly sweet. I thought the sauce was really nice and the scallops were great fresh scallops. The only thing is that the sauce overpowers the scallops, so you don’t fully enjoy the good quality of the scallops. Overall though this was an excellent dish. 8.75/10

Sauteed Kailan:

Sauteed kalian is definitely a favorite dish of mine to eat when I’m in Singapore. Its leafy vegetable that somewhat similar to spinach, but has a more firm texture than spinach does. They sautéed it in a light brown almost clear sauce with golden fried onions on top. I’m not sure what it was about that sauce, but it was so good that we ended up getting two orders of this. 8.75/10

Gong Gong:

While the restaurant is known for its crab bee hoon, which I will talk about later, the gong gong turned out to the star of the night. Gong gong is a shellfish that I believe is a type of conch (anyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). They come in the shell and you use a toothpick to pull them out, but don’t worry they are very easy to pull out. You then dip them in this spicy sweet brown sauce that has lots of diced chilis and green onions in it and I’m just going to call it “crack sauce” because it has to be one of most addictive sauces I’ve ever tried. Gong gong are similar to eating snails or maybe a clam, but much bigger and more awesome. We couldn’t get over how good these were; this is a “must try” dish not only at this restaurant, but if you are coming to Singapore in general. 9.25/10

Steamed Shrimp with Minced Garlic:

Danny basically told me I must order these, but it sounded pretty good, so I obliged. These were live shrimp, butterflied and then steamed with a lot of garlic and a light sauce. The shrimps were good quality with good sweet meat and the garlic tasted great with them. The only compliant I had about the dish is that the garlic somewhat overpowered the really nice flavor of having good fresh shrimp meat although that said the garlic was pretty good. 8.5/10

Crab Bee Hoon:

This is the signature dish at Sin Huat is known for. Bee hoon (mi fen) and is a thin white rice noodle. He steams the crab with the bee hoon in a clear sauce. It doesn’t sound like much, but wow this is really really good. The crab flavor with this amazing sauce all combine with the bee hoon and the bee hoon is the perfect medium because it soaks up all the flavors. It’s almost hard to explain if you haven’t had it, but it’s amazing and probably one of the best dishes I’ve had in Singapore. Also I thought the crab meat might end up being drained of its flavor from the steaming, but surprisingly the crab meat still tasted good. 9/10

Overall, I thought the food was really excellent here and it’s probably one of the most enjoyable meals I’ve eaten in Singapore.

Address:
659/661 Geylang Road Junction of Geylang Lor 35
Phone: 67449755

**THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED, BUT THEIR SISTER RESTAURANT IN SOHO IS STILL OPEN**

Ed’s Lobster Bar Annex specializes in lobster rolls and other shellfish. I’ve heard about Ed’s Lobster Bar in Soho for a long time, but for some reason I never got around to trying it. However, when I heard they opened up a branch in the Lower Eastside, I immediately decided to try it as it was an exciting addition to the neighborhood.

The restaurant is located in the space previously occupied by the now defunct Sachiko’s on Clinton Street across from Clinton Street Bakery. The space has been nicely redecorated with white walls, white marble counter tops and light wood. The motif works well as I feel like restaurants serving lobster rolls are supposed to have spring colors because I immediately think of New England / Martha’s Vineyard architecture when I think of lobster rolls and this matches that idea. The restaurant is laid out with a bar at the front of the restaurant, a raw bar in the middle and full tables and outdoor seating in the back. I enjoy sitting at the raw bar as you can talk to the staff and watch them prepare some of the dishes.

Here’s what we’ve tried:

Oyster Sampler Plate:

This was a platter sampling all of their different types of oysters. It included Beausoleil, Canada Cup, Rappahannock, St Simon and Tatamaguchi. While each of the oysters had a different flavor, they were all very good and tasted very fresh. They gave a trio of condiments including a vinaigrette, a chunky cocktail type sauce and horse radish. This was excellent. 8.25/10

Clam Chowder:

I’m a huge fan of clam chowder so I was excited to try their version. I don’t think I’m a clam chowder connoisseur and I’ve never lived in New England, but I thought this was one of the better clam chowders I’ve ever had. It was rich and creamy, but not overly salty like a lot of the clam chowders that I’ve tried have been. The clam in it was nice and didn’t taste overcooked like most clam chowder. I really liked adding the oyster crackers to it as it added a nice crunchy texture to the soup. This was great. 8.5/10

Lobster Bisque:

We also tried the lobster bisque, which was also excellent although my girlfriend preferred the clam chowder. It was creamy and smoky and you could taste the flavor of the lobster. I really like the smokiness of it. They also added a single lobster ravioli into the soup, which was a nice touch. This was delicious. 8.25/10

Octopus Crudo:

This was simple poached octopus with olive oil and salt. The octopus was beautifully tender and the combo of olive oil and salt went really well with this. This was probably the second best octopus I’ve had in NY with 15 East’s octopus being the best. 8.5/10

Mini-Lobster Roll:

We wanted to try a lot of stuff, so instead of getting the full lobster roll we decided to get the mini-lobster roll. The roll is toasted brioche, which was really good, it had a nice sweetness to it that really complimented the lobster well and the crunchy texture of the toasted bread was nice. The lobster meat was excellent; it was perfectly cooked and had a little bit of creaminess because of the sauce they use. This was really good and I think this might have been better than Luke’s which has been my go to lobster roll spot. 8.75/10

Fried Clam Slider:

This was clam that had been fried in a corn meal batter served on a toasted mini sesame hamburger bun with lettuce, tomatoes, pickled red onions and tartar sauce. I really liked the corn meal batter as it complements the clam very well. I did scrap off some of the tartar sauce because I’m not a huge fan of tartar sauce. Overall, this was solidly good. 7.75/10

Fried Oyster Slider:

This was oyster prepared in the same way as the fried clam except it was served on a tiny brioche with tartar sauce only. The oyster tasted very similar to the clam and the whole thing was quite good. 8/10

Pickles:

They gave these as a side to the fried clam and oyster sliders. They are sweet and tart at the same time. I thought they were really good. 8.5/10

Lobster Tacos:

These were hard taco shells filled with lobster dressed in a Panamanian green sauce and red cabbage coleslaw. The lobster meat was good, but the sauce was too sweet. While I thought it was good, it was the one thing that I don’t think I’d order again as I thought the sauce was too sweet. 6.75/10

Lobster Ravioli:

These were homemade ravioli stuffed a minced lobster meat filling. The ravioli were nicely al dente and you could tell they were homemade. The filling was nice albeit quite simple. The sauce was just a simple cream sauce although I thought it was a bit on the bland side. It was good, but I think that the dish needs to be a tweaked a little because the sauce led it to being a bit bland. 7.25/10

Fried Apple Pie a la mode:

This was a freshly fried apple pie that looks like an empanada and is dusted with cinnamon sugar. The filling is apple and cinnamon and the exterior is flaky pastry dough. It honestly tastes like a really good McDonald’s apple pie. It pairs very nicely with vanilla ice cream. 8/10

Neapolitan Ice Cream Sandwich:

This was three small brioches with a scoop of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice cream. The brioche is excellent and the buttery and sweet flavor of the brioche goes well with the ice cream. We both liked the strawberry ice cream the best, but they are all good. 8.25/10

Belfast Bay Lobster Ale:

I kind of had to order this because it’s a “lobster ale”, typical ale that is a big bitter and hoppy, but just wanted to show it because I liked the lobster theme.

Overall, I really enjoyed Ed’s Lobster Roll Annex, I thought the food was exceptional and I’d highly recommend checking it out.

Address:
25 Clinton St (bet Avenue B & Houston St)
Manhattan, NY 10002
(212) 777-7370
www.lobsterbarnyc.com/