Review: Jumbo Seafood Restaurant, Riverside Point, Singapore

No visit to Singapore could be complete without sampling the famous Singaporean Chilli Crab, and that is exactly what we did on a balmy weekday evening in Jumbo Seafood Restaurant, where we ate seafood to our heart’s content whilst watching the sky fade to an inky blue across the beautiful Singapore river. Whilst I’m definitely not in a position to comment on whether or not this is “the best chilli crab in Singapore”, what I can say is that I certainly had a lovely dining experience at Jumbo.

The Riverside Point restaurant is the 4th outlet of the Chinese-style Jumbo Group Restaurants (check out the rest here) and overlooks Singapore River. Junk boats sail past breezily and buskers play music on the bridge which crosses over to Clarke Quay. It’s really an incredibly relaxing place to enjoy a meal!

We started off with stir-fried broccoli with scallops, a lovely concoction of sweet, succulent scallops paired with garlicky broccoli . This dish, simple yet delicious, set the tone for the rest of our seafood-filled evening.

Next up was probably the most unique dish of the night- fried prawns with cereal (peeled). This consisted of prawns coated in a crispy egg yolk and cereal batter, and fried alongside with curry leaves and chilli. Apparently the cereal used is a type called Nestum, and it has a really nice flaky, oaty and slightly sweet flavour which went well with the rest of the savoury and spicy ingredients in the dish. Although the peeled prawns are a little bit more expensive than unpeeled ones, it was great not having to worry about getting all the meat out of the shells! (I’ll admit it- I’m pretty lazy when it comes to these things.) This dish was super “shiok”! 😛

Afterwards came the pièce de résistance- the Singaporean Chilli Crab! This delicious dish consisted of a large pot filled the brim with meaty mud crab pieces,swimming in a chilli, tomato and egg sauce. The result is a spicy, sweet, and savoury concoction which is utterly addictive. The meat on the crab was plentiful – especially in the crab claws where you can chew on huge hunks of sweet crab meat.

The restaurant kindly provided us with gloves and cute aprons to avoid the chilli crab sauce from splattering all over our clothes.

We also ordered some deep fried mantous (buns) and rice (not pictured) to wipe up the crab sauce with. Honestly, if I lived in Singapore I would just ask to takeway the rest of the sauce and incorporate it with some e-fu noodles for lunch the next day!

By the end of our meal, Clarke Quay had turned into a beautiful display of lights, and we left with satisfied stomachs 🙂 A few things to note- even on a weekday the restaurant was incredibly crowded by 7.30pm- so definitely make reservations. Also, if you’re going to sit outdoors like we did, be prepared and bring along some mosquito spray- the mosquitos will eat you alive if you don’t. I learned the hard way.

 30 Merchant Road,
# 01-01/02 Riverside Point,
Singapore

Check out the rest of my Singapore posts here! 

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