Just a stone’s throw away from buzzing Orchard Road sits Red House Seafood along Prinsep Street. Designed to look like a classic old school restaurant for both the interior and facade, Red House has a certain vintage charm to it.
Its fare is far from vintage, very modern local cuisine is offered to its patrons. When we paid a visit to Red House, we sampled their signature dishes such as the charcoal buns with chilli crab fillings ($10 for 3, 40% during lunch from now till December in conjunction with their 40th anniversary). I have always loved how charcoal powder makes the bun so soft. The bright orange filling also pops from the dark grey exterior of the bun, giving it a nice contrast.
We also tried the trio of squid ($32 for S, $64 for L) which was recommended by the manager of the restaurant. When I saw salted egg squid, I was sold, of course. Anything with salty, savoury coating makes me go nuts (I didn’t like the salted egg croissant, just on a side note). The salted egg squid retained its crispiness despite the thick coating of soft salted egg, which gave it a nice contrasting texture. There was also barbequed squid and crispy baby squid.
The barbequed squid was cooked perfectly. Squid, if overdone, gets too chewy and hard, but this was done to perfection and cooked through. The crispy baby squid was crispy as promised and had a pleasant sweetness to it, almost like caramelised Ikan Bilis.
Of course, the chilli crab is a favourite for foreigners to try when they’re in Singapore for the first time. I do believe this is one of the only dishes Malaysians don’t argue with Singaporeans over when it comes to its taste and origins. The thick, gooey gravy complements the crab meat well. I go on a little rant in my other post about how huge Singapore crabs are compared to Malaysian crabs (take a look here).
I love the mantous that come with the chilli crab. In fact, as a kid, I had always hoped my parents would let me take more than one. As an adult, little has changed. Heh.
The last dish we tried that evening at Red House was a nice soupy, crab bee hoon. The broth was thick with crab taste and it was very aromatic. My dining companions were commenting about how the soup here is better than Mellben Seafood’s. That isn’t for me to judge as I haven’t tried the latter. But I was incredibly impressed by the quality of the food here at Red House.
Needless to say, if you’re craving for quality seafood that will never disappoint, head to Red House Seafood @ Prinsep Street. This is the kind of comfort food that will chase away all blues and warm the cockles of your heart.
Red House Seafood @ Prinsep Street
Address: 68 Prinsep St
Opening hours:
Weekdays: 3PM – 10:30PM
Weekends: 11Am – 10:30PM
Brought to you by Discover SG x Foodie Vs The World
This was an invited food tasting session.
Also, read Old Is Gold – 12 Best Food Finds In Mature Estate Toa Payoh!
