✍️ 21 July 2024. Buddy jio-ed to go eat his favourite Ocean curry fish head at Toa Payoh lorong 4 (opposite the Blk 93 hawker centre). I went along lo - the last time I was here was in 2020. A lot of people love Ocean curry fish head.
Ocean curry fish head is actually a chup chai png 杂菜饭 stall in a coffee shop.
We had the signature curry fish head in a claypot and some side dishes to share.
It's a huge snapper which I prefer over grouper, batang, and sea bass for curry fish head. I particularly don't enjoy farmed raised sea bass for curry fish head.
I was impressed that the fish wasn't cut laterally into half, which is a common practice in Singapore. So, for S$42, we are actually having two servings (by the local norms).
The curry was loaded with coconut milk (thicker than those in JB). Well spiced but relatively mild compared to Indian style curry fish head. It was just gently spicy hot.
Lots of aromatics like shallot, lemongrass, lime leaves, and fleshy vegetables like lady fingers, tomatoes, egg plant, fleshy chili pepper, etc. These gave the curry a lot of textures, complex taste profile and depth of tangy, sweet, spicy hot and savoury flavours.
I go to curry fish head places for the fish 🤭 Fresh, meaty, done just right, soft tender, moist, and subtly sweet which the mild curry didn't hide away.
Soft things deep in the fish head's recesses are my favourites, so if the fish isn't absolutely fresh, I cannot enjoy my curry fish head. Never had any problem at Ocean curry fish head.
The curry was good enough for us to get a loaf of baguette to sponge it all up.
Ocean curry fish head is a chup chai png (economic rice) stall, so we had a few sides from their wide range of dishes.
The dishes were freshly fried as we were here just when they were sending the steamy hot freshly cooked dishes from the kitchen to the display shelves. Anyway, Ocean is popular for their chup chai png, so the dishes turn over is fast, ensuring customers get freshly cooked food.
I sometimes hear people comment that Ocean curry fish head is a premium price chup chai png stall. Looking at the prices we paid, prices seemed within expected range to me in today's market. But, I can vouch that the quality of cooking and ingredients were above the average economic rice stall in Singapore.
Stall name: Ocean Curry Fish Head 海洋咖喱鱼头
Address: Blk 92 Lor 4 Toa Payoh, #01-264, Singapore 310092
Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Braddell station
✍ 23 Sep 2020. Nice Chinese style curry fish head with sweetish, slightly tangy curry and mild heat. Served bubbly hot in a claypot with ocean fresh Ang Ko Li 紅戈里 (gold band sea bream) and loads of vegetables.
Restaurant name: Ocean Curry Fish Head 海洋咖喱鱼头
Address: Block 92, Lor 4, Toa Payoh, #01-264, Singapore 310092
We had been wanting to try the famous Ocean Curry Fish Head together for some time and finally found the opportunity last week at their Toa Payoh Lor 4 outlet.
Ocean Curry Fish Head is an economic rice type of place with their popular curry fish head as the signature dish.
Yeah, a lot of food and this was the third stop of our food trail 😄 We also had Kim Keat Claypot Hokkien Mee which is at the same kopitiam 🤭
Ang Ko Li is my favourite fish for curry fish head and Ocean Curry uses ocean fresh fish..., like that win already lo... . The Ang Ko Li fish served has a good 50-50 balance between head and fish belly meat. The Ang Ko Li's white flesh is relatively firm-tender and sweeter compared to red snapper (the other fish commonly used in curry fish head).
There's tomatoes, brinjal, cabbage, onion and lady fingers which contributed sweetness and a slightly tangy zest to the mild curry. Ocean Curry Fish Head grind and fry their own spice paste (rempah), so the spice blend is fresh with depth of flavour and aroma. The rempah gave the thick curry a grainy feel.
The fish head is cooked directly in the claypot, so some fresh fish sweetness is infused in the curry. The coconut milk that hold the spices together is relatively thick (personally, I prefer it to be slightly lighter like that at Johor Bahru's Kam Long).
I like it that the mildness of the spice allowed the natural sweetness of the Ang Ko Li fish to dominate the dish.
The litmus test of freshness of fish head is in the eyes and soft tissues in the crevices - Daniel gave them the thumbs up.
I love their sambal cockles. The sambal cockles that I have tried elsewhere all had chewy, almost rubbery texture due to overcooking. At Ocean Curry Fish Head, the blood cockles are soft. Smothered in sambal chili with mild heat, I can still taste the subtle flavours of the blood cockle.
We also had stir fried pork, sambal prawn and oyster sauce squid which you might want to add if you have a larger party. For 2 or 3 persons, I will just go for their curry fish head and sambal cockles with plain white rice - I think that would be a simple but great lunch or dinner.
Pro-tip: The queue is long during lunch. But, if you are having the curry fish head, skip the queue. Order at the counter and your food will be served to you at your table.
How much is it?
ReplyDeleteI love the fish tail curry at Ocean too.
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