Adjectives rarely pop into my head while I’m eating, although my mouth may move and praises may form as part of friendly meal time conversations (when the food isn’t so good that you can still afford some talk between bites). Adjectives, like “succulent”, have never pinged suddenly in my head while I ate, much like the proverbial light bulb in the brain when an idea strikes. But yesterday it did. It was a scallop that did it.

Rarely do I ever find seafood worthy of much debate, mostly because freshness is truly the only thing that counts. And unlike meat, with seafood, size does matter. Case in point, a large hefty steak would likely turn me off as opposed to a large crab pincer, or a juicy tiger prawn. When that part of the meal has been taken care of, though, then elevating and complementing that freshness becomes paramount. I’m always glad to have seafood steamed, as Chinese cuisine would have it, with garlic and some rice wine, promoting the quality and features of the shellfish through subtle textures and broths. Fried shellfish may be interesting as well (such as cereal prawns), but that’s never as telling as when something is steamed. Subtly brings forth much truth.

Sin Huat restaurant had the best of all. It made sure that freshness was the true king of taste, that size was status, and skill made up for legend. There to celebrate a friend’s fortieth birthday, a band of merry (hungry) people ordered some of Sin Huat’s most celebrated dishes.

It could not be called cheap, though, I’ll give you that. Despite the dingiest ambiance you could hope for, a meal for seventeen came up to fifteen hundred dollars. This has brought up debates with different people I’ve spoken to over time, some of whom have mentioned that Sin Huat was priced way above average. Therein lies the question, what is average, and why shouldn’t it be? Granted, the setting leaves much to be desired, but I’m not there to pay for air-conditioning. I’ll take that giant, garlicky, succulent bite of prawn over that any day.

Sin Huat Eating House
659/661 Geylang, Lorong 35
6744 9755

These aren’t the most glamourous of my photos, and although they say you eat with your eyes, I’ll be straight up here and tell you you’d want these tastes in your mouth. If you’re insistent on some visual clarity, check out this blog’s post. Also check out this blog for a foodie’s experience to Sin Huat. His post offers a look at the food, its prices, and the chef behind it all. 

Gong gong (conch) with chilli. I shoved these like peanuts and would have made off with the chilli bowl of I could. Behind this plate is the scallops in black pepper sauce, our first dish.

Frog’s legs with herbal chicken essence. I’ve never had frog’s legs till today. I didn’t like it, but boy was the sauce delicious.

Garlic-heavy steamed prawns. The broth was some kind of wonderful, there’s definitely flavours of prawn heads.

Black pepper crayfish. Not so epic. Brought up a lot of Alien references during dinner conversation

Always served last. Tumbling threads of broth-soaked beehoon entwined around such heavy giants.

Kids, say cheese!