* the love nest of him and her *

Sunday, November 12, 2006

KZW "Make it BIG"
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(Well all this are quoted from the lifestyle newspaper today so do check it out!)

Hop in for a tasty treat
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I COULDN'T help but smile when a reader e-mail me recently raving about a month-old restaurant in Joo Chiat Road.

Its name - Rabbit Brand Seafood Restaurant - makes it sound like a product from china. I emailed the reader back, my imagination hopping with images of cute toys and milky sweets with a rabbit logo.

The Reader replied that the eatery is probably related to Rabbit Brand shark/s fin.
He is right. I found out later from the restaurant's menu that is was opened by a company called Yeow Send in South Bridge Road which markets Rabbit Brand shark's fin ad bird's nest. The 30 year old company owns factories in Hong Kong, the United States and Europe.

Yeow Seng also runs two older and smaller budget eateries called Rabbit Brand Seafood Delicacies in Lucky Plaza and Circular Road. This is its first full-fledged restaurant and, strange name aside, it has done a good job with it.

The double-storey premises' decor is simple but tastful, done in contemporary style using glass and wood. Service is warm without being intrusive, and prices are just as friendly, with non-seafood dishes priced below $15 for a small order. The most expensive dish - braised superior whole shark's fin in claypot - costs $36.

Ironically for a restaurant opened by a shark's fin trader, the only dish I found disappointng in my meal there was one cooked with the delicacy.

It was fried shark's fin with scrambled egg ($18), admittedly a trying dish that few chefs dare to put on their menu. That is because the egg has to be cooked just enough so that it is not runny and yet remains moist. A fire that is too strong, or a minute too long in the wok, is all that is needed to ruin the dish.

The version here was not only too dry, but the chef also seemed to have forgotten to season the dish. The result was dry, bland scrambled eggs topped with equally tasteless strand of fin.

Fortunately, the other dishes were much better.

My waitress recommended a baked crab with cream sauce ($3.30 for 100g) that had an orginal and intriguing sweet flavour which, she later revealed, came from condensed milk. The only fault was that the shellfish was a wee bit dry, which usually happens with baked, as opposed to steamed or fried, crabs.

But the steamed patin fish in nonya style ($3.80 per 100g) was perfect. Its oily meat was moist and smooth, and went very well with the sourish, spicy paste blanketing it.

The pan-fried fragrant prok chop ($12) got the thumbs-up, too, for its well-marinated and tender meat.

My favourite dish, however, came at the end.

The braised bee hoon with brown spindle clam ($12) was not in the menu but came recommended by the waitress. The magic was in the bee hoon, which had been fried before being braised with the clams. It was fragrant from the frying and full of flavour from the juices of the shellfish.

You couldn't have asked for a more satisfying last dish.

For dessert, you can go luxe with a double-boiled bird's nest with fresh milk ($28). Or if you are on a budget, there are a few other choices such as the common mango pudding ($3) and chilled longan with mixed fruit platter - which was what I got.

RABBIT BRAND SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
325/327 Joo Chiat road, Tel: 6348-8772
Open: 6 pm to 4 am daily
Food: ****
Service: ****
Ambience:***
Price: Budget about $40 per person. Add another $20 to $30 if you order expensive shark's fin or abalone dishes.

Quoted from: Wong Ah Yoke

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Hey GUYS!! Recently just found out that there is this posting of photo and messages thingy in every Sunday "The new paper". The column is called SUNDAY SOCIAL. It is like you post a photo and then a messsage to all...hmm...maybe about your class, family, friend and stuff quite cool huh? Hahas anyway u can post them at tnpforum@sph.com.sg so that all about it for today bye folks!

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TheTurningPoint winks
at |12:18 AM|