I decided to bring Charmaine* there for a sumptuous, unconventional dinner (usually we frequented Western-themed restaurants), and we decided go to the outlet near Yio Chu Kang as it was nearer for us. The Chinese restaurant's address is 16 Jalan Kelulut, Seletar Hills Estate, Singapore 809033, telephone no. 6484 2495.
It was a simple Chinese Restaurant concept, complete with stark white walls and wooden furniture, nothing fanciful or too elaborate. One could totally relax here and enjoy the attentive service and great food - no worries about dress code or falsified mannerisms / dining etiquettes. Yes, just let your hair down and the rest shall fall into place.
Heard that it would usually be crowded during dinnertime, we reached the restaurant at around 5.00pm and had the entire place all to ourselves - trust me, just the two of us. It stayed that way for more than an hour - which was the time we finished - and so we enjoyed the full attention and service of the wait staff. A couple of the ladies were rather brusque, but efficiency was noted, and that was what mattered more.
We decided to go for the Set for Two, after ordering a pot of hot tea to share.
The first dish that arrived was the vegetable dish Kai-lan (the Chinese name for what may be more commonly known in English as Chinese Brocooli or Chinese Kale). It was not cooked in any sauce or gravy, but scattered with shallots or garlic bits. The taste was a little bland, so I waited for the next dish to be served to eat it together.
Next came the Live Chilli Mussels - cooked in a thick spicy sauce (sambal?) rich in flavor. The mussels were fresh and deeply infused with the deliciousness of the gravy - it was soft and chewy, I would give it high points for textures for sure. We found the sauce a tad too spicy though, and I have rather high spiciness-tolerance level. Nonetheless, it piqued our appetite for more.
The main star - the Lobster Porridge itself - came onto the table next. The porridge is what I believe is cooked Teochew-style - in which the rice grains are still visible in the soup base itself? It is piping hot, and tastes awesome of the sweet aroma of lobster. It was love at first bite for Charmaine* as well.
The lobster portions were rather generous - two whole lobsters served by the side - but eventually we dunked them into our own bowls of porridge as well. Fresh and tender, the succulent lobsters along with the aromatic porridge filled our hungry bellies very readily and happily. For that large ceramic pot of porridge, each of us had about 2-3 small bowls of porridge.
Steven's Chicken Wings - another one of their specialties - look very different from the usual chicken wings, do they not? Extremely crispy and tasty, tinged with sesame seeds on the skin, this juicy chicken wings dish was memorable as well.
Lastly, the set meal came with desserts of very traditional Potong-style Red Bean Ice-cream on sticks! How cute was that - I havent eaten ice-creams like this since I was a kid, and I did not realize how much I'd missed it. Deliciously cold and sweet, filled with red bean's fragrance, this was the perfect finish to a lovely, hearty, homely, Chinese meal.
We enjoyed ourselves very much, and every cent of the SGD$45.00 we spent each on this meal, was well worth it.
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