Sunday, April 08, 2012

Ala-carte dinner at Tung Lok Seafood


When I was younger, we used to eat crab about once every four months at either Long Beach or Jumbo. But as I grew older and understood the value of money, I felt that crab was too expensive and persuaded my parents that I did not want to eat it. Our crab feasts tapered down to once or twice a year, and when I lived abroad, none at all.

So it had been more than three years since I had black pepper crab, and I suddenly had a craving for it. Since we had tried black pepper crab at Long Beach and Jumbo but not Tung Lok, and because of our good experience with Tung Lok Seafood's ala carte buffet, we decided to pay Tung Lok Seafood another visit.

The black pepper crab was excellent. The crustacean was slathered with black pepper gravy and topped with caramelised black pepper onions. Underneath its hard shell was only juicy flesh, and it was enjoyment tearing at and sucking the meat out of the crab legs. In fact, I think that Tung Lok's black pepper crab tastes better than its chilli crab.


We ordered half a roast chicken because my mother does not eat seafood. Unlike the roast chicken from some restaurants, this chicken was not at all greasy. The combination of crisp chicken skin and succulent flavoursome meat did it for us. Even the breast meat was tender, and we polished off the whole dish quickly.


Token vegetable of the night: sambal kangkong. Good amount of spicy sambal belacan, and again, what we liked about Tung Lok's version was that the food was not swimming in oil and grease.


We could not miss ordering my father's favourite dish: sea cucumber and fish maw. This picture was taken after my mother took a piece of fish maw from the plate. Unfortunately we found this dish quite disappointing for the price, as so little fish maw and sea cucumber was served. For about the same price at Beng Hiang, we get a huge claypot. And we certainly received much more at Mong Hing.

Overall, our round 2 at Tung Lok Seafood was just a little above average. Maybe we did not know what to order, or perhaps the buffet menu has more value. Additionally, at The Central's Tung Lok Signatures, if it is your birthday, the restaurant will present you with a complimentary plate of birthday buns in the shape of peaches and filled with lotus-seed paste. In comparison, there was nothing from Tung Lok Seafood. If we return to Tung Lok Seafood again it will only be for the buffet.



Tung Lok Seafood
http://www.tunglokseafood.com/

Orchard Central #11-05
181 Orchard Road
Singapore 238896
Tel: 834 4888
Fax: 6834 4266

Opening Hours:
Mon - Sat
- Lunch : 11:30 - 3:00PM
- Dinner : 6:00 - 10:30PM
Sun and PH
- Lunch : 10:00 - 3:00PM
- Dinner : 6:00 - 10:30PM

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