Lee Hup Lee Seafood Beer Garden

Now for the main meal treat before Alvin left for Australia. Its really nothing much, but its nostalgic because it happens to be the first place his mother brought us to when they arrived in Singapore. And honest to goodness, the crab here is pretty big.

This is pretty much a throw back to times before fine dining and food is simply food with a distinct lack for service choices nor ambiance. One thing i really don't get is, what's with the word "beer garden"?

Coconut Juice ($4) - I have to say, this has got to be the WORST tasting coconut ever. It was sour, watery, lack ANY coconut taste whatsoever and costs $2 a piece. I was first impressed with the size until i drank it. And the meat inside was terrible as well. We bought this from a seperate store and brought over but that doesn't change a thing, this was bad, really really bad.

Orh Jian (Oyster Omelette $8) - Another item we packed from a nearby location. This oyster omelette came across as a little too watery for me. I prefer mine crispy and fragrant. The oyster's were faultless though, they came across as reasonably clean to me and tasty too. The problem was that some parts were cold, probably because the stall man didn't defrost it well enough before cooking so we got him to fry it again. After that, it was really nice with the chilli sauce. An average dish at best but still palatable.

Gong Gong ($12) - I honestly don't know the English name for this dish but its called Gong Gong which actually means dumb. Its supposed to be some kind of snail i suppose but not knowing what it is might be a blessing i suppose. Its quite a hassle to eat this because you have to firstly spear the tail like portion so that you can finally pull it out before it can be eaten. Al commented that the lady didn't cook it properly and so resulted in quite a few which we could not get out without a struggle. The dish itself isn't really too difficult to do i suppose, apart from frying the buggers with some light marinating sauce, everything else was god given. The freshness and taste is difficult to describe but is pleasant especially with the chilli sauce but i seriously doubt its worth $12. Try it and judge for yourself.

Chilli Crab ($37.26 for 1.035kg) - Actually, this place is known for HUGE crabs but we were unlucky that day. They ran out of Sri Lankan crabs and so we had to settle for its smaller Indonesian cousin which didn't disappoint in the least IMHO. Though smaller, the meat was still firm, fresh and sweet and thats just what good seafood is about. The shell was also a little thinner then its cousin making it much easier to crack and get at the meat. We opted for it to be cooked chilli crab style and the sauce came not as the spicy hot variety but rather more towards being sweet and sour with hints of chilli and eggs. The sauce, i discovered recently, is what makes a great crab better and the sole fact that we ate 21 buns with the sauce is testament that both the fried buns and the sauce complement each other really really well. (On a side note, i discovered another location which serves great crab but not chilli crab style. They call it Jin Sha Xie or Golden Sand Crab literally and it was awesome. Will do a blog on it one day.)

Chicken Wings ($8.40) - We actually ordered fried dough sticks (you tiao) but they unfortunately have run out of such luxuries so we had to settle for Barbecued Chicken wings instead. This was decent but oily. The meat was a tad dry but otherwise thoroughly cooked. Not too special.

The total bill came up to $64.70 for the main meal. If you add drinks and additional items, this would total about $76.70. Not too expensive for 4 people really.

Well, great company and freedom of speech and actions made this an extremely casual and enjoyable affair. Food was at least reasonably priced and of an acceptable standard. They pride themselves as crab specialists and though i wouldn't go that far, i'd say they made enough effort to provide good crabs. Try it if you come around to this part of Singapore.