Damage done: $130 for a meal for six, but it was worth it!
Stuff ordered: Crab Bee Hoon Pork Ribs in Lotus Leaf Cereal Prawns Crispy Seafood Tofu Sambal Kang Kong
Patience and aggressiveness are necessary virtues if you want to eat here. First you need to queue up for a table, which is about half an hour's wait. During that time, need to be vocal about the unfair allocation of tables. Once you get a table, you need to wait for another half an hour for your crab. Plus, the service we experienced took rather long between the first and second dish. We thought it was a banquet style dining, one dish after another. But such is the joy of dining at the kopitiam.
You probably can't go wrong ordering anything here so we ordered by recommendation of the wise Girlfriend. That's of course, provided that the usual robust tze-cha palette is to your liking.
So the thing I do want to talk about is the main event of that meal, the crab bee hoon. I would personally prefer to call it the mutant crab bee hoon since the crab's pincer was the size of a Milo can while its top shell was the size of a man's palm. I think it fed on dead cows.
The dish is much like fish head bee hoon. I liken it to Ka Soh's fish bee hoon at Amoy Street or XO fish head bee hoon somewhere in Buena Vista, except here, they use crab instead of fish. The condensed milk laced soup base is exceptionally rich in taste and it was a perfect combination with the thick bee hoon. I would recommend eating clearing up the crab first while the bee hoon soaks in the broth. Once the crab has been cleared, leisurely wash everything down with the bee hoon soup. But then again, who cares? It's a neighbourhood kopitiam, not a fine-dining restaurant.
So anyone wants to join me on the next trip to Mellben Seafood?
Simply put, it is a Seoul Garden set meal on a hot plate. Tastes really unexciting, only redeemed by their rather choice select of vegetables that came along with the main dish.
The dining space was rather nice actually, provided you are madly in love with the colour orange.
From my wild imagination, this chain probably started like this...
Person A: Hey, our rival company's Pepper Lunch is doing very well, you know.
Person B: Yah, they taste very good.
Person A: We should look into doing something that is similar to Pepper Lunch, but it should be uniquely different. We jump on that bandwagon to profit from this hot plate craze.
Person B: That's a good idea. Since Pepper Lunch is a Japanese thing, how about we also do something on hot plate that is not Japanese?
Person A: Fantastic! I know! We shall do Korean food on the hot plate!
Person B: Exactly! I know! We can bring all the unused marinated from Seoul Garden and bring it to this new concept!
Person A: Yeah! We can package it into a set meal with a hot plate and it will be really cool. We will make a lot of money from this new concept!
Person A and Person B now are full of themselves because of their brilliant rip-off idea.
This is weird. Junk food never tasted as good as this...
I saw the posters in the restaurants. The claim: 100% fresh chuck beef, never frozen. So it compelled me to purchase a simple beef burger as a litmus test. I needed to taste and judge if it lived up to its claim. I was not disappointed. The beef patty was juicy, tender and pink in the centre, just like a perfectly cooked steak.
The hotdogs are consistently cooked to perfection as well. Served in a baguette, it will thoroughly satisfy your hunger and craving.
The must-try here has got to be the Chilli Fries. The claim: Its chilli is made fresh everyday. Also, the fries are amazingly crispy even after it has been drizzled with the chilli. There is no such thing as soggy fries. Rejoice!
Now I just wish they would open near my work place...
One of the things I noticed recently about the local food scene is that there is a lack of smoothie bars in Singapore. It's something that peeves me a bit, as I am trying to stay away from ice blended coffees. Also, caffeine only serves as a quick fix. Once the effects go away, you become more tired than ever. Juices, however, does the work of waking you up differently, and it stay that way throughout.
I was figuratively jumping for joy when I spotted this place. Many of the smoothies bars I frequented in the past has since relocated or winded up their business. So it was a cause of celebration for me to see one again.
I have to admit it is on the pricey side at $7 for a medium-sized cup. Add on to the conservative menu, it is not hard to see why the crowds are not lining up at the counter.
The flavours are pretty standard fare for a smoothie bar with the usual suspects of mango, banana, berries and pineapple and combinations. Despite this, the taste of their smoothie is among the better ones I have tried, which is the main reason that I will be a return customer. And of course, drinking a smoothie gives me an illusion that I am having something healthy.
I firmly believe that a good Thai restaurant must serve a good bowl of tom yam soup. The seafood needs to be fresh, plenty of potent soup and the glass noodles must not clump up together. Plus, it must be served hot enough to scald. Failing this basic criteria, the restaurant is not a Thai restaurant.
So back to my litmus test. Among Thai restaurant chains, Siam Kitchen by far serves the largest bowl of tom yam glass noodle soup. And I think it has a respectable potency. There are plenty of condiments like spice leaves, lemongrass, ginger and chilli padi in the soup and it looks as potent as it tastes, which is very good. The seafood used is quite fresh with the exception of the fish on occasions, I mean sometimes it's fresh, sometimes it isn't. The noodles sometimes clump together, which only irritates customers. But you can separate them in the soup. That's why it is important for the dish to be served hot and with plenty of soup.
1=SGD 0.0587
Damage done: $130 for a meal for six, but it was worth it!
Stuff ordered:
Crab Bee Hoon
Pork Ribs in Lotus Leaf
Cereal Prawns
Crispy Seafood Tofu
Sambal Kang Kong
Patience and aggressiveness are necessary virtues if you want to eat here. First you need to queue up for a table, which is about half an hour's wait. During that time, need to be vocal about the unfair allocation of tables. Once you get a table, you need to wait for another half an hour for your crab. Plus, the service we experienced took rather long between the first and second dish. We thought it was a banquet style dining, one dish after another. But such is the joy of dining at the kopitiam.
You probably can't go wrong ordering anything here so we ordered by recommendation of the wise Girlfriend. That's of course, provided that the usual robust tze-cha palette is to your liking.
So the thing I do want to talk about is the main event of that meal, the crab bee hoon. I would personally prefer to call it the mutant crab bee hoon since the crab's pincer was the size of a Milo can while its top shell was the size of a man's palm. I think it fed on dead cows.
The dish is much like fish head bee hoon. I liken it to Ka Soh's fish bee hoon at Amoy Street or XO fish head bee hoon somewhere in Buena Vista, except here, they use crab instead of fish. The condensed milk laced soup base is exceptionally rich in taste and it was a perfect combination with the thick bee hoon. I would recommend eating clearing up the crab first while the bee hoon soaks in the broth. Once the crab has been cleared, leisurely wash everything down with the bee hoon soup. But then again, who cares? It's a neighbourhood kopitiam, not a fine-dining restaurant.
So anyone wants to join me on the next trip to Mellben Seafood?
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Haa.. Like the way u say it "it fed on dead cows" Haa....
24 Jan 2008 at 10:05 am
Doesn't this place already exist?
24 Jan 2008 at 10:56 am
There is a new branch at Toa Payoh now. FYI.
24 Jan 2008 at 11:02 am
Simply put, it is a Seoul Garden set meal on a hot plate.
Tastes really unexciting, only redeemed by their rather choice select of vegetables that came along with the main dish.
The dining space was rather nice actually, provided you are madly in love with the colour orange.
From my wild imagination, this chain probably started like this...
Person A: Hey, our rival company's Pepper Lunch is doing very well, you know.
Person B: Yah, they taste very good.
Person A: We should look into doing something that is similar to Pepper Lunch, but it should be uniquely different. We jump on that bandwagon to profit from this hot plate craze.
Person B: That's a good idea. Since Pepper Lunch is a Japanese thing, how about we also do something on hot plate that is not Japanese?
Person A: Fantastic! I know! We shall do Korean food on the hot plate!
Person B: Exactly! I know! We can bring all the unused marinated from Seoul Garden and bring it to this new concept!
Person A: Yeah! We can package it into a set meal with a hot plate and it will be really cool. We will make a lot of money from this new concept!
Person A and Person B now are full of themselves because of their brilliant rip-off idea.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!
This is weird. Junk food never tasted as good as this...
I saw the posters in the restaurants.
The claim: 100% fresh chuck beef, never frozen.
So it compelled me to purchase a simple beef burger as a litmus test. I needed to taste and judge if it lived up to its claim. I was not disappointed. The beef patty was juicy, tender and pink in the centre, just like a perfectly cooked steak.
The hotdogs are consistently cooked to perfection as well. Served in a baguette, it will thoroughly satisfy your hunger and craving.
The must-try here has got to be the Chilli Fries.
The claim: Its chilli is made fresh everyday.
Also, the fries are amazingly crispy even after it has been drizzled with the chilli. There is no such thing as soggy fries. Rejoice!
Now I just wish they would open near my work place...
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!
One of the things I noticed recently about the local food scene is that there is a lack of smoothie bars in Singapore. It's something that peeves me a bit, as I am trying to stay away from ice blended coffees. Also, caffeine only serves as a quick fix. Once the effects go away, you become more tired than ever. Juices, however, does the work of waking you up differently, and it stay that way throughout.
I was figuratively jumping for joy when I spotted this place. Many of the smoothies bars I frequented in the past has since relocated or winded up their business. So it was a cause of celebration for me to see one again.
I have to admit it is on the pricey side at $7 for a medium-sized cup. Add on to the conservative menu, it is not hard to see why the crowds are not lining up at the counter.
The flavours are pretty standard fare for a smoothie bar with the usual suspects of mango, banana, berries and pineapple and combinations. Despite this, the taste of their smoothie is among the better ones I have tried, which is the main reason that I will be a return customer. And of course, drinking a smoothie gives me an illusion that I am having something healthy.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!
I firmly believe that a good Thai restaurant must serve a good bowl of tom yam soup.
The seafood needs to be fresh, plenty of potent soup and the glass noodles must not clump up together. Plus, it must be served hot enough to scald.
Failing this basic criteria, the restaurant is not a Thai restaurant.
So back to my litmus test.
Among Thai restaurant chains, Siam Kitchen by far serves the largest bowl of tom yam glass noodle soup. And I think it has a respectable potency. There are plenty of condiments like spice leaves, lemongrass, ginger and chilli padi in the soup and it looks as potent as it tastes, which is very good.
The seafood used is quite fresh with the exception of the fish on occasions, I mean sometimes it's fresh, sometimes it isn't.
The noodles sometimes clump together, which only irritates customers. But you can separate them in the soup. That's why it is important for the dish to be served hot and with plenty of soup.
- 1 more comment »
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!best kitchen
25 Oct 2007 at 1:25 pm
why best kitchen?
25 Oct 2007 at 2:43 pm
siam kitchen means best kitchen, stretch your brain abit
25 Oct 2007 at 3:33 pm