The Famous Kitchen : A Well Hidden Gem

Jumbo Seafood, No Signboard Seafood, Red House Seafood are all the big names in the Singapore seafood scene but have you been searching hard enough for the hidden gems scattered around the island? I must admit I haven't, but here's what's worth celebrating : I'm sharing one with you today.(: But before we get to the beef of the matter, how does one classify a seafood restaurant under the 'must-try' category? Certainly it must be the taste of the dishes, then as consumers it's only right that we ask for quality ingredients and lastly the creativity of the dishes. It was easy classifying The Famous Kitchen as 'must-try' simply because it possesses all three criteria. It's no wonder The Famous Kitchen is enjoying such good business. 

Ah... So let's cut the 'crab' and let's get on with the dishes, shall we?! Haha. 

Nigel Ate : 4/5

The Pumpkin Chicken is a newly formulated dish and we were fortunately enough to be among the first few to taste it that night. I was expecting for more pumpkin taste in the sauce but it was the taste of curry that came through, they must have used curry as a seasoning but it overpowered the pumpkin taste, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing though. The fried cuttlefish strips made up for the lack of crunch from the fried chicken. An innovative dish that still needs refinement.

 Nigel Ate : 4.4/5

The Coconut Spiced Prawns were fragrant and well fried. The curry flavour accentuated the whole dish and I enjoyed the prawns that were succulent. It might be a little spicy for some but it's the little spiciness that makes it even more addictive.

Nigel Ate : 4.7/5

Vegetables during a dinner are, more often than not, ordered just for the sake of having some greens on the table. However, I highly recommend you ordering the Shrimp Paste Kang Kong because as simple as it is, sometimes the simplest things in life are the hardest to get them right, was absolutely mouthwatering. This dish has already been altered so that the amount of shrimp paste is reduced and the dish is not that thirst inducing. The amount of shrimp paste was just right, you should try it even if shrimp paste isn't your thing, you might just be a convert after trying this!

Nigel Ate : 4.5/5

Nothing beats a freshly steamed fish because freshness is crucial here. The Sour Vegetable Steamed Fish was something new, since I'm used to our tradition Teochew-styled steamed fish. The meat of the fish was firm and tender, while the sour vegetables, peanuts and saltiness of the gravy complimented the fish very well, great dish to go with a bowl of steaming white rice.  

Nigel Ate : 3.8/5

The boss was frank and honest with us and declared the Plum Sauce Spare Ribs a failure because he could see that the spare ribs were fried too long, resulting in a loss of moisture and slightly tough and dry meat. He was spot on and I couldn't really taste the plum sauce either.

Nigel Ate : 4.4/5

One of their speciality here, Kumpong Chicken, you can hardly find restaurants preparing this anymore and over here it was well prepared with the meat remaining tender and moist.  

Nigel Ate : 4.2/5

Lobster fans would dig this. Looks flavourful and promising right? Yes and no, the Lobster Beehoon was one of the 2 dishes that the boss self declared as failed because the amount of bee hoon was too much and so the stock wasn't as flavourful as they had wanted it to be. Many of us didn't seem to think so, but of course agreed that if the flavours were more concentrated and sweeter, it might have left us in awe.

We also had the Black Pepper Crab (Nigel Ate : 4.4/5) and Salt Baked Flower Crabs (first photo) (Nigel Ate : 4.5/5). I have always preferred chilli crab to black pepper crab because the taste of the black pepper is always so overwhelming and spicy that I don't get the to taste the crab properly. But the pepper used here are said to be top notch and are triple the price of the normal pepper! Indeed, the black pepper wasn't as overwhelming as the others I've tried previously and it was spreads around your whole mouth gradually, weird but interesting experience. The latter is yet another speciality of the restaurant, the flower crabs were very fresh and meaty and don't forget to lick the shell because that's where all the flavours are!

Nigel Ate : 4.85/5

Oh, and here's one of those of you who love pork lard. The KL Fujian Mee was dark, fragrant and glistening with pork lard. I've been missing out too much - trying all the mediocre KL hokkien mee locally - and this just made me a convert. The noodles coated with quality dark sauce sauce that gave it the sweet and savouriness while the pork lard gave the dish its fragrance and oophm. It was so heavenly, it's a must-try when you dine here!  

Lastly, we ended with desserts that were equally good! We tried their homemade Mango Pudding (Nigel Ate : 4.6/5) which was evidently made with fresh mango and make you feel that it's worth paying for. Their Yam Paste a.k.a Orh Nee (Nigel Ate : 4.7/5) is the best I've eaten so far. I dig these traditional desserts but far too often, their too oily, or not smooth enough but here they do it right; The Orh Nee isn't oily at all and it was smooth with a slight sandiness to it that felt really nice. I loved it.

Dishes here are prepared with simple, fresh and unpretentious ingredients and condiments that many would not think of piecing together to form great dishes. They have succeeded in doing so here, and surprisingly it's the seemingly simple dishes which have won my heart. And so, I forsee myself returning with my family for a hearty dinner again.

Much thanks to Haren from Streetdirectory for the invite, his colleagues for hosting the dinner and also the boss for the very delicious dinner!

The Famous KitchenHong Heng Mansions #01-01 
54 Sembawang Road (S) 779085 
Tel: 6257 1843
http://www.streetdirectory.com/famouskitchen/