Pasarbella at Suntec - Seafood buckets, Truffle Beef, Korean Fried Chicken Wings...

We needed a place for meals and we happily tasked our male colleague to choose a place. Pasarbella was the answer and we happily gave him a thumbs up! The place turned out to be great. We went there for lunch and again returned for dinner.

Pasarbella at Suntec City, offers a variety of cuisines from different stalls. The concept is like another high end food court. But this outlet at Suntec stands out from the rest because I was so surprised to find seafood on the table - think Dancing Crab, think Crab in the bag.

Cajun on Wheels  (Halal)

Poseidon Bucket S$108

Delicious seafood in Cajun Cheese sauce

Cajun on Wheels stall looks so adorable that you will not be able to miss it. The stall is literally on wheels! There is something exciting about pouring hot steaming seafood from a bucket onto the table. It was fun!

The concept of the stall resembles a food truck that I have seen on TV.  Miss C was nudging me and saying why the signboard had to be slanted, making us crane our necks.

For the seafood bucket, it was cooked in Cajun Cheese. The sauce was so good that we wished there was more of it. I was a tad disappointed that the bucket only had one 600g crab. For 100 bucks, I was hoping for a larger crab with big claws or two small crabs? There was a generous serving of prawns, mussels and clams. What was interesting was the chicken spam fries soaked in the cheesy sauce. There were also sweet corns and mini potatoes. The seafood was fresh. The prawns were sweet. Overall, we enjoyed ourselves licking our fingers and eating the food literally on the table.

From Cajun on Wheels, we also tried ...

Seafood Platter S$28

Torpedo Prawns, Sutchi Fillet, Squids, Chicken Spam Fries, Fries

The seafood platter was an indulgence of deep fried seafood with their dips. We ordered the extra Salted Egg Yolk sauce for 3 bucks. It was slightly on the sweet side but the fragrance of the salted egg yolk was still distinctive so I would definitely order this sauce again. The Chicken Spam fries were sinfully yummy!

Grillo 

Truffle  Short Rib (Beef) Bowl S$14.90

The Truffle Short Rib Bowl is Grillo's signature dish and it is a Must Try. The dish, with runny egg, truffle fragrance, tender beef and most surprisingly, the crispy shallots, was a success. The mushrooms side was a dark horse as they were beautifully charred and I could taste the wonderfully charred yet not bitter taste in the mushrooms. Yums!

Choo Choo Chicken 

Crispy Chicken S$18 (8 pieces)

Tender Chicken Honey Soy S$14

I am a fan of Korean Fried Chicken and Choo Choo Chicken delivered them just the way I like it - extremely crispy on the outside and still juicy on the inside. The honey soy chicken tenders were also fingers linking good with the sweet soy and crispy skin. Thinking about it makes my mouth water.

Pita & Olives (Halal)

Hummus Set with Pita Bread and Salad S$13

I was pleasantly surprised to find middle eastern cuisine. I love to dip pita bread in hummus (chickpeas) and enjoy the wholesome nutty, sourish taste. I learnt to enjoy Middle Eastern cuisine from my Sofra days. I have not been to Sofra (a restaurant) in years. I hope to return one day to try their delicious take on Middle Eastern cuisine again.

Salted Caramel Latte

I have drunk coffee for the day and I was reluctant to drink another one. I was trying to be less of a caffeine addict and more of a heath nut. After much persuasion from my Kopi Kaki, I relented and asked him to choose any coffee for me. It was a sweet surprise because I love coffee art. The heart shape is so sweet. When I drank the coffee without knowing what it was, what hit me first was the strength of the coffee - strong and soothing. Then I tasted a familiar taste which reminded me of a nice alcohol infused latte. It turned out that it was a salted caramel latte. It was my first time trying salted caramel latte and it was awesome! I did not know the price as it was a treat! Thank you! It is definitely nice to know that Pasarbella also serves good cafe drinks.

I have taken a few shots of the other stalls which I have yet to taste. The whole atmosphere was very funky and I love places which gives me a feeling that I am overseas. This place somehow reminded me of Australia. I will definitely be back for the good food and ambience.

Funky decor

Don't forget to try their freshly squeezed juices!

Salads options

Burgers

Yet to make out what this is despite standing in front of the stall for a long time

Vietnamese Cuisine

Overall 4/5

Food 4/5 Pricing 3/5 Variety 4/5 Service 3/5 Ambience 4/5 Sassiness 5/5

Located in: Suntec City

Address: 3 Temasek Blvd, 455-456 / 459-461 Suntec City, Singapore 038983

Hours: 10AM–10PM

Swatow Seafood at Toa Payoh - Unforgettable Fresh Cold Crab with Golden Creamy Crab Roe

Swatow Seafood is known for serving delicious Teochew Cuisine. Teochew Cuisine places emphasis on bringing out the natural essence of the ingredients. The freshness of the ingredients is a must and Swatow has done well in this aspect. Teochew Cuisine also uses less flavourings so it is overall, a healthier option among the other Chinese cuisines. The most memorable dish is Swatow's Signature dish - Cold Crab! It truly lives up to its signature status. We enjoyed it thoroughly.

Cold Crab 2 x S$38

Extremely fresh 

Creamy and Golden Crab Roe

Plenty of golden yellow roe

Cold Crab is not sold at every seafood restaurant because it is a classic Teochew dish. Teochews have a special way of preserving the natural sweetness of the yellow roe crabs. The crab meat is cold and sweet. The freshness of the crab is unparalleled. This is my first time eating a traditional Teochew Cold Crab and I am sold. I am still craving for it right now. This dish is a Must Try for Crab Roe lovers. This was the most awesome roe I have ever eaten. The golden yellow crab roe was so creamy that I almost felt like I was eating ice cream. 

Steamed Minced Pork with Salted Fish S$12

I love to eat steamed minced pork. I would order this dish everywhere because it is quite difficult to cook it at home. It is very difficult to ensure that it is cooked and yet retain the juiciness of the meat. The salted fish in this dish has no fishy smell and is nicely done. I have eaten some steamed salted fish smelling totally awful. Instead, its strong fragrance permeated the entire meat patty. The meat was also perfectly cooked, not dry at all. It is best to compliment this dish with white rice. It is definitely too salty to eat it on its own.

Swatow Kampong Chicken S$18

It is OMG smooth.

Whenever I cook, I always buy Kampong Chickens. By right, Kampong Chickens are those that are bred free range and not cooped up in cages. They are also not injected with hormones to make them look plump. Kampong chickens usually feel skinnier. By "left", I am not sure if the Kampong Chickens that we buy from wet markets is the real deal. 

Swatow Kampong Chicken was simply amazing. The taste of the extremely smooth skin and tender meat is still lingering in my mouth.  The skin had absorbed all the goodness of the sauce and I really wished for chicken rice to go with the delicious chicken. This dish is a Must Try. 

Crispy Prawn Roll S$8

Hei Zor

The Crispy Prawn Roll was tasty and not too dry. I have eaten some other versions that were overly dry or oily. The filling had a slight crunch to it. Overall, it was delicious but not delicious enough for me to keep going for it. You can consider ordering this if you have a craving for Hei Zor. 

Stir-fried Teochew Vegetarian Delight S$12

I like this dish very much because it has everything that I like - black fungus, crunchy lily bulbs, deep fried lotus etc. The dish was wonderful because it had a light fragrance to it. Lily Bulbs are also very healthy because they are supposed to calm the spirit and moist the lungs, keeping coughs away.

Crispy Oyster Omelette S$15

It's so fluffy!

For O Luat lovers, this is a Must Try because the omelette was OMG fluffy and oozing of the eggs fragrance. Very skillful! The oysters were very huge, definitely bigger than those served in hawker centres, if you are thinking, "Chey, order hawker dish for what?" Teochew O Luats are known for their large and succulent oysters, served with lightly beaten eggs. 

Longevity Noodles S$18

The cute red quail egg

Traditionally, the Chinese do not celebrate their birthdays with cakes and candles. They celebrate it with longevity noodles and red eggs. Longevity noodles represent the family's wishes for the person to have a long and healthy life; Red represents good fortune. The eggs are usually dyed with a red food colouring. It is very lovely to see cute red quail eggs being served, together with the noodles. 

Corkage S$10 per bottle

Everyone enjoyed the Moscato from D,asti which I had purchased from Jones the Grocer in Demsey. It is having a promotion now - Buy a dozen for S$30 each. Moscato is a very sweet wine. I enjoy it because it is soothing to the soul. At S$10, the corkage fee was reasonable. 

Swatow Seafood also serves a very popular Teochew dish - Braised Duck meat. Is it delicious? 

Braised meat

Very old school charm

Swatow Seafood exudes a strong sense of old school charm. The place is clean but the decor makes you feel like you have stepped into the past. This might be a good thing for you because it always sparks a sense of nostalgia among parents and grandparents. There are also many other interesting items on the menu.

The dish that left the deepest impression is still the Teochew Cold Crab with its creamy golden roe. If you know of any delicious Cold Crab, let me know!

Overall 4/5

Food 4/5 Price 3/5 Service 2.5/5 Variety 4/5 Ambience 4/5 Sassiness 4/5

Address: 181 Lorong 4 Toa Payoh #02-602, 310181

Hours: 8AM–10:30PM

Phone: 6363 1717

Melben Seafood at Ang Mo Kio- Claypot Crab Beehoon is really SOLID

Melben Seafood was founded by Melvin and its then partnet, Benson, in 1979. It set up its first outlet in Pasir Ris in 1985 and it has since expanded its business to 8 outlets (including Uncle Leong's Seafood) in Singapore. One of its most FAMOUS dish is Claypot Crab Beehoon.

At 6.25pm on a Sunday in its Ang Mo Kio outlet, it was already full house with a more than 20 pax snaking queue. We arrived at 5pm and were spared the snaking queue. While we were ordering our dishes in the 6 pax queue, we were handed a white card, stating that there is "No 100% Guaranteed Solid Crab". I have dined at Melben several times in the past and this was the first time I received such a disclaimer. After we have placed our orders, I was praying that our S$75 for 1kg crab would be very SOLID.

Claypot Crab Beehoon S$82.50

Do you think I am solid enough for you?

We were informed that the waiting time would be around 45 minutes. When the Claypot Crab Beehoon was served, it was piping hot and looked very inviting. The claypot soup smelt heavenly. It was packed with the juices of crabs. It was so delicious that we almost polished all the soup. We ordered a female crab and we were reminded that there was no guarantee of crab roe. For our dish, there was plenty of bright orange crab roe.

Solid!

I removed the shell from the pincer, revealing SOLID crab meat.  It felt firm and was not sticking to the shell. Melben at AMK has improved greatly from the past few times I was there. The crab was extremely fresh and there was no weird smell at all. It was pure crab indulgence. Very satisfied!

The part connecting to the pincer

Crab Bee Hoon Soup

I have saved the best for the last - chunks of crab meat with roe and thick bee hoon in a rich and flavourful crab soup. The lingering taste of the Claypot Crab Bee Hoon kept me satisfied.

Nai Bai with added fish slices S$15

Healthy and Delicious

Craving for some vegetables, the Nai Bai with added fish slices was an excellent choice for 2 pax. The fish were fried with Wok Hei and the portion was generous. The dish tasted light and I could taste the natural essence of the ingredients. 

Indoor Seating

It was cooling. 

Outdoor Seating 

Full House

After a satisfying meal, we were shocked to see that many people queuing at 6.25pm. I am happy for Mr Melvin that his recipe for success has sustained. I am relieved and overjoyed that my crab was SOLID!

I am SOLID!

Do you know of any other delicious Claypot Crab Beehoon? Please leave your comments. :)

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Overall 4/5
Food 5/5 Price 3/5 Service 3/5 Variety 4/5 Ambience 4/5 Sassiness 4/5

Address: 232 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, 560232
Hours: 5–10PM
Phone: 6285 6762
http://melben.sg/menu/