Sin Huat Seafood Restaurant

• Geylang Road Lorong 35,
• Singapore 389589
• Tel: 6744 9755

Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth. The seven deadly sins most Singaporeans would commit once in a while. I did, well, almost all of them during a visit to the famous and sometimes infamous Crab institute Sin Huat at Geylang.

Ambience

Coffee shop by day, coffee shop in guise by night. The bright red plastic chairs remain, along with peeling laminated tops of foldable round tables. The feel is decidedly viscerally raw. As the vehicles by night raced by, neon lit Geylang juxtaposed with the dark damp streets defines the ambience.

Service

Service staff sits you down taking drinks order in a jiffy. Food orders are left to the chef , when he takes his short breaks between dishes. He tends to invoke over-ordering so do take caution. Although he seems satisfied after you order the crabs so maybe you can start with them.

Food

Roast pork platter – A porky quadtet of Char Siew, Roasted Belly, Ribs and Sausage. The Char siew stood out with its fat marbled center coated by a dark red caramelized syrup. Roasted belly was standard good stuff but the ribs felt a little too chewy. Sausage was almost all fat, it was almost too fat, even for me.

Scallops with black bean sauce – Ultra fresh succulent treasure of the oceans were coated with a brooding sauce peppered with garlic. Sauce was surprising mild and generously complimented the fresh scallops.

Topshell(Gong Gong) with special sauce – The sauce looked innocent enough, heaps of rough chopped garlic, chilli, spring onion swirling in a viscous mix that delivered a potent blow to my delicate palate, opening my senses, leaving me wanting more amid the pain. As for the Topshell itself, there is really nothing much to say except they are the freshest and plumpest mollusks I ever had the pleasure of plucking from the shell. And what an easy pluck it was as they were already semi exposed, rendering the provided picks slightly redundant. 

Sri Lankan Crab Bee Hoon – Usually served as a finale, drips of bee hoon soaking in what I suspect to be lard are placed casually over a monster of a crab. It took a while to break the crustacean’s hard red shell. The reward beneath was immense. The sweetness of its flesh envelops my being as the coarse surroundings faded and I melt into a blissful oblivion of intoxication. Of course, that ended with my last spoonful of the sinful mix.

This place made the news recently for having a infamously difficult chef, almost dictator like. Also, the prices makes the air conditioned restaurants feel, well, cheaper. Do not leave home without your credit card or lots or cash! After the last dish, I know I will always be back, regardless of what they print, especially for the exceptionally wonderful but extremely pricey Gong Gongs.

(New rating format!)

Ambience - 1/5

Service - 2/5

Food - 9/10

Price - About $70-120 per person