One of Singapore's most famous dishes has got to be Chilli Crab. We were only going to be in Singapore for a few days but figured we should really make sure we tried it. A quick google search on best places to get chilli crab and a little bit later we were at Jumbo Seafood.
We started off with some seafood noodles. This came with some big chunks of seafood. You can see in the photo the fairly massive bits of scallop and squid. The sauce was a slightly black bean style slightly spicy sauce that was full of flavour. A fairly standard dish but done pretty well!
Then it was onto the main event. We'd ordered the classic chilli crab and the thing was pretty big! It also came smothered in this sweet, slightly spicy and a tiny bit sour sauce. The sauce went really well with the sweetness of the crab.
The crab came with these fried mantou. They turned out to be pretty much the perfect side to the crab; perfect for mopping up all that sauce yet stil have a great little bit of crunch.
We decided to pair the crab with a little bit of veg so ordered some morning glory to go with it. Stir fried with garlic, this was a pretty standard dish but still nicely done.
The last thing we'd ordered was what was on the menu as golden phoenix chicken. This was an interesting dish where they made like a layer of chicken meatball that was then covered with crispy chicken skin. The skin was done really well, almost a little like the skin of roast duck. Unfortunately, we weren't big fans of the layer of "chicken" that lay underneath.
The crab and the mantou were the clear stars of this meal and I can see why it is so popular. It does get a little messy though. The rest of the dishes were fairly standard and nothing too exciting but the crab was good enough for me to be willing to go back - it's just a shame that Singapore is just a bit too hot and humid for me!
Jumbo Seafood, 20 Upper Circular Rd, #B1-48, The Riverwalk, Singapore 058416
