JUMBOOOO
Happy 2025!
It’s been a while, a long time, in fact. I’ve been MIA for a while as I lost a bit of motivation for a variety of reasons, but I’m back! I hope to try and post and promote this blog more.
The first review of the year comes from Singapore’s famous Jumbo Seafood branch at ION Orchard. As a disclaimer, I’ve never been to Jumbo Seafood until recently, as I've never found a reason to visit. Normally, I associate visiting restaurants like Jumbo Seafood to special occasions, such as birthdays, family gatherings, friends visiting from abroad, etc., But on this fateful date in late November, I finally visited with my partner.
Jumbo Seafood was founded in 1987 at the East Coast Food Center, serving fresh seafood to the public. Their reputation grew from there and soon attracted people islandwide to their single outlet. Soon after, the brand opened restaurants overseas, including mainland China, Japan, and South Korea. They have since won multiple accolades for their culinary and service excellence, such as Singapore Tatler’s Best of Singapore 2018, Excellent Service Award 2017, TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2017 and the Ctrip Food Award 2016 ([Singapore Choice: JUMBO Seafood [(Dempsey Hill]))], just to name a few. (Jumbo Seafood, 2025).
As I mentioned earlier, we visited the ION Orchard outlet at the end of November for dinner service. We made a reservation the night before to ensure a table, as the restaurant is immensely popular with both tourists and locals in the heart of Orchard Road. We arrived early for our reservation and noticed there was a small crowd right outside the restaurant. Our table wasn’t ready yet so we waited around the outside until our number was called. About 15 minutes later, our number was called and we were shown to our table. We were seated right by the windows overlooking one of the entrances to ION Orchard. As a very curious and eager foodie, I started looking around at other tables to see what dishes were being ordered. As expected, many tables had the famous chilli crab being devoured by both tourists and locals alike. We noticed that every seat had a wet tissue packet along with a bib arranged by the plate, and a small dish with crab opening tools and some unknown square packets that turned out to be disposable gloves. The bibs were meant to be worn over your clothes when eating the crabs, as the juices may squirt out when using the crab opening tools. It wasn’t until half way through our meal that we realized the square packets were actually gloves for crab eating. However, by that time, we had already been eating with our hands. Food tastes better with your hands anyway!
As we scanned the menu, it seemed like we could eat everything. We narrowed it down to a few items, namely the famous Jumbo Seafood Chilli Crab, Freshly Shelled Prawns with Golden Salted Egg, Homemade Vegetable Bean Curd Braised with Fresh Mushrooms, and Broccoli Stir Fried with Minced Garlic.
For a midweek dinner past 8PM, it was pretty busy in the restaurant. That didn’t seem to affect the kitchen as all our dishes were served within 10–15 minutes after being ordered. The chilli crab arrived first, followed swiftly by the prawns, broccoli stir fry and finally the bean curd.
Before we get to the main dish (the crab), let’s review the rest first. The deshelled prawns provided some ease of eating, there was no need for us to de-shell each individual prawn and waste the salted eggs that would’ve been on the shell. Instead, each prawn was beautifully covered with the salted eggs. The initial burst of flavor from the eggs is quickly triumphed by the juiciness of the prawns. When I normally have salted egg prawns, the greasiness overpowering at first, stopping me from eating more. While there is some of that here, I felt that it was manageable if you ate it with some rice. It helped that there was little to no oil at the bottom of the plate. Afterall, you do eat with your eyes.
The bean curd was topped with a homemade vegetable paste and then deep fried to a golden hue, then served with a delectable egg white and mushroom stock. I personally thought the portion size was a bit small, but the bean curd had a sweet but savory taste and soaked up the stock’s flavor. The vegetable paste on top however, left something to be desired as I could barely taste it. It felt more like an afterthought when tasting it, and I wished it would be more prominent. The stir fry broccoli was admittedly a dish that I personally wanted, because I love broccoli. Unfortunately, I did not have any pictures of this dish, as I’d completely forgotten about it. I did feel a bit of disappointment when the broccoli was a bit crunchier than I’d like. Despite that, the garlic had infused with the broccoli and I still found myself reaching for another floret throughout the meal as a palate cleanser.
Now onto the main dish: the chilli crab. For those with a sensitivity to spiciness, this dish isn’t as spicy as the name suggests. Although the sauce is tomato and chilli based, I found that Jumbo Seafood’s rendition of the dish has more tomato flavor than chilli. There is still a slight kick to it, but I found that it was mainly a strong peppery after-taste rather than a burn-in-your-mouth sensation. The gravy itself was divine, especially when paired with white rice or with the deep fried buns that are served alongside it. The meat of the crab was so succulent and tender, you could literally pinch the meat and it would fall off. Here’s a tip for eating crabs that I learned in Korea a few years ago. Take the shell of the crab, scoop up some of the delicious gravy and put it into the shell itself, take a spoonful of rice and mix it with the gravy in the shell, and start digging in. It may seem a bit basic, but doing this lets you get all the remaining meat and crab roe (if there are any). It also gives you a vessel in case you somehow lose your plate. Although the claws and legs were already somewhat broken down enough for us to eat, the crab opening tools came in handy as we used it to break apart the more stubborn shells. Every piece of the crab was smothered with the gravy. While there were gloves provided by Jumbo Seafood, I think that part of the experience of eating chilli crab is eating it with your bare hands. That way, you get to taste the gravy and it’s finger lickin’ go— wait sorry, wrong brand. Admittedly, cracking the shells can be a struggle and sometimes a bit slippery, it’s an experience that everyone should try. We found ourselves digging for every small piece of meat and enjoying ourselves. It came to a point where I asked myself “should we have gotten two crab dishes instead?”
Ultimately, the decision to get only one main crab dish with a few “supporting” dishes like the broccoli, prawns and bean curd was the right decision as we felt satisfied and full by the end of the meal. I’ll admit that I do not remember the total bill, but I’d estimate it was around S$140–160. So was it worth it, would I go again?
I think it’s sufficient to say that eating at Jumbo Seafood was a positive experience and one that I would happily replicate in the future. However, I did mention earlier that I do associate going to Jumbo Seafood with special occasions and my opinion hasn’t changed after this visit. The priciness of the meal is something that turns me off from returning regularly, and I think most locals will agree with me. You could get the same meal from a local tze char stall (family run eateries) for a significantly lower price. If I had a special occasion to celebrate or friends from overseas visiting, I would definitely bring them to Jumbo Seafood. If it was for a family meal on the weekends, I think I’ll stick to my local hawker center’s tze char stall.
Overall, I’d rate this a solid 8/10. The food was delicious and enjoyable. Everything was provided to ensure your crab eating experience was a pleasant one, including bibs to protect your clothes and gloves should you feel the need to keep your hands clean. However, if you’re on a budget, I would suggest going to a local hawker center instead. You get a more authentic experience in a hawker center and possibly a cheaper bill that your wallet may thank you for.
Lunch at Tim Ho Wan, with a side of dim sum
I’ve been a huge fan of dim sum since I was a kid, probably because my mom introduced it to me whenever we’d visit family in Malaysia. So whenever it’s possible, dim sum for lunch is always a yes for me. And after having so much Japanese food in the last few weeks, it’s about time we switch it up a bit. So here’s my review of Tim Ho Wan, a Hong Kong dim sum restaurant chain.
But first, some brief background information on dim sum. Dim Sum is actually a range of Cantonese dishes that’s normally served and enjoyed during brunch time. It originated in Guangzhou and was typically found in tea houses, served with tea. The tea is considered to play an important role in dim sum, as they complement the meal and dishes served. There are a variety of teas that one can choose when dining at a dim sum restaurant, such as chrysanthemum tea, green tea, oolong tea and other scented teas. The dishes themselves can range from savory to sweet, from shrimp dumplings to sweet cream bun. The classic dishes of dim sum include har gow (steamed shrimp dumplings), shu mai (chinese dumpling), char siu pao (barbecued pork bun) and egg tarts, also known as the four heavenly kings. While most dim sum dishes are steamed, there are other dishes that are prepared differently such as siu mei (Hong Kong Style barbeque meat) and pan fried turnip cake. There are also desserts and cakes that one can order to finish the meal on a sweet note.
It had been a while since I had dim sum, so I figured why not have it for lunch. Tim Ho Wan is a restaurant chain, so the restaurant’s interior design is kept the same for all the branches around Singapore. We visited the branch in Tampines and one thing I noticed was how drab it was. Perhaps it was the rain outside and the lack of customers, but walking into the restaurant didn’t give me much hope for the food nor the atmosphere. As we were handed the menus, we were informed that ordering was done via QR code. The menu included the staples of dim sum, such as four heavenly kings, rice rolls, fried radish cake and congee, as well as noodles. They also had some branch specials such as the crab meat and shrimp baked rice in white sauce. Tempted, we ordered the special along with our usual order of shrimp rice rolls, shrimp dumplings, fried beancurd skin with shrimp and pork congee with century and salted eggs.
It wasn’t long before the food arrived. First came the pork congee with century and salted eggs. If you’re unfamiliar with what the eggs are, century eggs are eggs that have been preserved in a curing mixture (made of clay, ash, salt, quicklime and rice hulls) for several weeks to months. They have a dark brown egg white that has a jelly consistency and almost dark green or grey yolk. Some compare the taste of century egg to like a blue cheese flavor but with an ammonia scent. Salted eggs are also a preserved food, and made by soaking duck eggs (instead of chicken eggs) in brine and then packed in damp and salted charcoal. Like the name suggests, it’s salty in nature and isn’t advised to be consumed by itself, instead it should be mixed or cooked with other foods. To be honest, while my description of these eggs may sound unappetizing, it’s better to try it as they provide great flavor and can be very delicious. The congee was decent, it was made with real chicken broth and you could taste a hint of it, with some chicken strips revealing themselves as you take a spoonful. However I thought it lacked flavor and seasoning. Ironically, the salted eggs either didn’t provide any salt to the taste, or there wasn’t enough of it. The century eggs were almost non-existent as well, despite the photos showing a bit of them. The you tiao (deep fried dough) were crispy, but also quite oily and I didn’t quite like it. The pork was limited too. It just felt like it happened to be congee, featuring a little of everything else.
What’s next, the rice rolls with shrimp. Something to note is that rice rolls often have a sauce that is poured on top of them, some restaurants serve it with the sauce already poured, however Tim Ho Wan will pour the sauce at your table instead. Perhaps it’s to prevent the rice rolls from being too soggy or for presentation? Anyways, the rice rolls were glossy before the sauce was poured (I didn’t manage to take a picture before the sauce was poured) and was steaming hot which was a good sign. There were 2 shrimps per roll as well, which is amazing as most places would only offer 1 shrimp per roll. As I divided 1 rice roll into 2 halves, I could tell that it was a bit on the thicker side. The inner rolls didn’t manage to absorb much of the sauce so there was sort of a gradient of sauce, from the outer layer being dark to the inner layers being completely white. Nonetheless, it was very tasty, there was a hint of ginger with the shrimp that I liked because it enhances the shrimp flavor. The sauce was a bit salty but because the inner layers didn’t absorb the sauce, it balanced out quite well. This is one of the dishes that I find myself going back to every time I go for dim sum, so it was no surprise that I enjoyed it very much.
Up next were the har gow and fried beancurd skin with shrimp. The har gow arrived steaming hot in it’s steaming basket, shiny and glistening. The beancurd skin was just a little past golden brown but still looking great. The har gow skin was pretty thick, and it featured 2 whole prawns inside which I thought was good value considering the price. Some may dislike the thickness of the skin, but I quite enjoyed it because it had some chewiness to it. The beancurd skin with prawn was very crispy, although there wasn’t much filling nor taste and mostly just air inside. It didn’t look anything like the one depicted in the menu. One might argue that the items depicted in the menu isn’t a representation or whatever, but I wish I could’ve seen some color in the filling, or a bit more filling in the first place. It was oily as well and it wasn’t served with any paper (the kind that you put under oily foods) to soak the oil. That being said, although it was oily and lacking in terms of taste and filling, it wasn’t disappointing. Nope, that came next.
The crab meat and shrimp baked rice in white sauce. Look, everyone knows that unless it’s a high-end upscale restaurant or seafood restaurant, the word crab meat should be taken lightly because they usually don’t put real crab meat in, or if they do, it’s usually a very small portion. Unfortunately, I jumped the gun on this one because I wanted to try it. If you’re unfamiliar with what baked rice in white sauce is, it’s normally fried rice with white roux poured on top with cheese, baked until the top is golden brown. It’s delicious when done right, and can be a very filling meal on it’s own. This however, was anything but delicious. Let’s start with positives first, the visuals were decent, it was golden brown on top, and the cheese was bubbling when it arrived. That’s it. Moving on, when I put my spoon into the rice, it was so oily and wet. I figured that the cheese probably was the culprit of this, but something told me there was more issues under the surface. There was a ton of vegetables, in fact more vegetables than seafood. Some of them weren’t even evenly diced or chopped. For example, in one spoonful, I had 2 of green peppers, but one was much larger than the other. The vegetables weren’t cooked thoroughly despite being put into the oven, and they weren’t mixed well with the fried rice. The crab meat portion was small as expected, but only the left side of the dish had crab meat. The right side had 1 strand of crab meat, that was it. The prawns were clearly frozen, you could taste it. I honestly tried my best to finish it, the only good thing about the vegetables were that the tomatoes were sweet.
By the end of lunch, I will admit that I was a bit disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely enjoyed the dim sum, but the baked rice was what ruined a good meal. The total bill came up to S$66.30, so was it worth it and would I go again?
If I were to omit the baked rice, I think it would’ve been worth it. As I mentioned it earlier, Tim Ho Wan is a restaurant chain, they have multiple branches around Singapore and I suspect that popular branches would have better tasting food than the one we visited. Instead of visiting the Tampines branch, I would visit another branch, for example the one at Changi Jewel. I’ve visited the Jewel branch in the past and had a better experience there. The Tampines branch felt tired and underwhelming, the dim sum was worth it for it’s price, but the special was nothing special.
I think I would rate this visit a 5/10. Baked rice aside, I enjoyed the dim sum. Maybe a visit to a different Tim Ho Wan branch at another time would inject a bit of excitement in me.
Level 33, out from the hustle and bustle of Singapore
Above the bustling city of Singapore sits LeVeL 33 and it’s urban brewery. The atmosphere is reflective of it’s unique restaurant/brewery style; bright and exciting with a beautiful backdrop of the Marina Bay Sands towers.
I will admit, this restaurant was not on a list or on an Instagram reel that I watched. It was recommended to me by my partner when they visited Singapore as an alternative, because we couldn’t find another restaurant with a classy interior and a gorgeous backdrop while maintaining the integrity of our wallets. However, it was an amazing find so I thank them for it.
LeVeL 33 is described as the world’s highest urban microbrewery with a unique rooftop dining experience. They offer a unique selection of beers that are locally brewed with sustainability in mind, serving straight from tank to tap with no packaging whatsoever. The first thing to note when heading into LeVeL 33 is the location. Although it’s located near Raffles Place and downtown, it is situated up on level 33 of the Marina Bay Financial Center where it overlooks the Marina Bay Sands towers and the Singapore River. If you squint a bit, you can even see the Gardens by the Bay at night when the Super Trees are lit up.
High above the noise of a thriving metropolis sits LeVeL 33, where fine dining meets the beautiful backdrop of the Marina Bay Sands towers
For our dinner reservation at LeVeL 33, we were sat indoors due to the lack of seating out on the terrace, but that didn’t stop us from leaving our seats to admire the beautiful evening view, more on that later. We were shown the dining room menu with some delectable choices on offer, for example the Beef Tartare, and their signature raw and chilled seafood platter. In the end, we were convinced by our server to try out the Sharing Cut of the Day, consisting of a steak cut, slow roasted tomato, IPA & honey roasted garlic, 3 house made sauces and our choice of 2 sides. Along with our sharing cut was a side of their Housemade Spent Grain & Herb Focaccia and a lobster bisque for myself.
Doesn’t that sound delicious? Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.
Let’s start with the basics. The bread. Personally, I’m of the opinion that bread is there as an accompaniment. By itself, they can be delicious provided they are made with great care and love. This was indeed the case with LeVeL 33’s Focaccia bread. It was fluffy and warm, when drizzled with the balsamic and evoo pairing they serve as a great appetizer and lead you perfectly into wanting more. Which incidentally, leads me to the lobster bisque.
The presentation of the lobster bisque was already different from what I had imagined. I would’ve expected the bisque to be in the bowl when served, but LeVeL 33 was no ordinary fine dining restaurant. Our server slowly poured the bisque around a portion of poached lobster with it’s caviar and fennel partner in the center of the bowl. My immediate thought to myself was, I’m not sure if I should gracefully taste this bisque, or devour it immediately. I opted for somewhere in the middle. The bisque was flavorful, like an ocean breeze in the summer. With every spoonful, I could taste the lobster umami in the bisque. No, I didn’t forget the poached lobster, that was equally delicious, although my only gripe with it was that it wasn’t hot, but I think that was intended. The contrast in temperature between the bisque and poached lobster provided a very interesting dynamic, allowing you taste the texture of both. The bisque also went very well with the focaccia bread, although the bread did turn cold pretty quickly.
On to the highlight of dinner, well, it is indeed a showstopper.
The Sharing Cut. Oh my, if only technology was so advanced that you could have a quick taste of the food. Today’s particular cut was a tomahawk,, matched with roasted tomatoes, and honey roasted garlic. Cooked to medium rare perfection, they were tender and delicious. You may think the portion may be a bit small for 2 adults, but with the mashed potatoes and fries with parmesan cheese they were more than enough to fill our hungry stomachs. The 3 sauces included were Chimichurri, Red wine & Stout jus and an IPA onion & roasted yeast. Each of the sauces paired delightfully with the steak and, while unconventional, the fries as well. The chimichurri sauce was minty, giving the steak a different taste, while the red wine and stout jus was as you’d expect with red wine and steak; traditional and well paired. I can’t describe the final sauce as I’m not 100% sure if I actually enjoyed it.
There’s nothing more I can say about the food apart from the fact that I will definitely return to try out the rest of the menu. Given LeVeL 33 is high above the city, the ambiance and serenity is not something you experience every day. The views were outstanding, the only unfortunate part about our experience was not being able to sit on the terrace to fully soak in the views of Marina Bay Sands. On a different day, I would definitely request a table outside and at sunset. Similarly, the service was great. Our server was very warm and welcoming when we arrived, and slowly explained the day’s specials and recommended us our incredible dinner. As dinner service got busy, they still came around to check on us to make sure everything was okay.
The dining room however, is not big and you may find your conversations being overheard by others unless you decide to speak softly. Toward the end of the night, a large group of diners were seated behind our table. I found that the space between tables were minimal and as the dining room got busier, it would get harder to have conversations without raising your voice. I also don’t remember the outdoor terrace having any coverings in case it started to rain, so do beware if you happen to sit outside on a day forecasted with rain.
Overall, I would definitely rate this dining experience a high 8/10. Definitely would go back and try their seafood and beers next time.
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