Sin Huat Eating House and its eccentric owner-chef Danny is a legend and
enigma in Singapore's culinary world. Five of us gathered here for a
dinner which we knew will be memorable and will add to our own foodie stories.
Sin Huat Eating House is a typical dingy, dimly lit but clean corner coffee
shop at Geylang Lor 35.
This was only my second time at Sin Huat Eating House. The first time was
in the 1990s after reading KF Seetoh's recommendation. That time we had Sin
Huat's signature Crab Bee Hoon and a live stingray done in savoury sweet
sauce. The live stingray and other seafood were kept in these tanks. The
tanks are still here - looking like neglected relics, these are at least 30 years old now.
In those 30 years, the look and feel of Sin Huat Eating House hasn't
changed much, if at all. The popular braised duck stall that operates only
during the day is still there.
Sin Huat is Singapore's original omakase restaurant. All these years, Sin Huat never had a printed menu. When he comes to take orders, tell Danny the owner-chef what seafood you want to eat (crab, fish, prawn, squid etc) and what you don't. Then, you wait ๐ Danny will decide how it will be done and you just have to trust him ๐ [Actually, Danny only cooks a few dishes all these 30 years but very well.]
We had some house made otak otak to nibble on while waiting - Sing Huat was
full house on this Tuesday evening. The tenderly juicy otak otak was packed
with bits of fish and tasted well balanced, assertively savoury sweet
spicy. Personally, I like otak otak that are more moist.
First up was the gong gong (sea snail) - this was the best gong gong dish I've ever had so far.
Truth be told, these were not the best sea snails that I have had before.
The
best were in Indonesia
where we ate sea snails plucked right out of the sea.
I like the sauce so much that I kept the unfinished sauce to enjoy with
other dishes, after they cleared the table of empty gong gong shells.
Steamed scallops served smothered in a dark blanket of soy sauce, black bean paste, garlic, ginger etc - so, nothing to see here.
The scallop was tenderly juicy, bursting natural umami sweetness with every bite. This was overlaid and complemented by savoury garlicky flavours from the dark sauce. The sauce flavour was prominent and assertive but highlighted the scallop's delicate flavours instead of overwhelming it.
MRT Prawns - a fanciful moniker for steamed prawns smothered with chopped
garlic and scallion.
The butterflied prawns were arranged in a row like a MRT train, hence the name.
The big prawns were butterflied, steamed and blanketed in a coat of chopped garlic held together by a blend of soy sauce, rice wine, and the crustaceans' juices. Personally, I am not a big fan of butterflied prawns as I feel that takes away some of the crunchy texture and juices, and therefore some taste. But, I was drinking the sauce like a soup as it was heavenly. (Yeah, Sin Huat is about their sauces. Before the dinner, we were joking about bringing bottles to take home any unfinished sauce.)
The bee hoon strands were relatively heavy, thick and done slightly on the stiffer side of al dente. The wok seared strands were well infused with umami flavours from the crab roe, gut, flesh, etc. The rich sauce enveloping each strand added another layer of umami savoury kick.
The crab meat was tender with subtle firmness and tastes naturally sweet.
Yeah..... Sin Huat's legendary crab bee hoon is a must try.
As we are health conscious, we had this simple, nice fresh leafy Kailan green stir fried in a savoury sauce. Healthy and delicious way to round up our dinner (delusional ๐ ).
After our dinner, we spotted this dish which was on its way to another customer. Couldn't resist stealing a shot of it to show you.
Sin Huat's owner-chef Danny Lee has been described as a "food Nazi" because he decides orders for the customer (much like an omakase chef though I haven't heard any being branded a Nazi ๐ค ).
A former pig farmer who reinvented himself after the government closed all pig farms in Singapore in 1990, Danny is one of the most mis-understood man in Singapore F & B industry.
Chef Danny is notorious for not giving dignitaries and celebrities special attention nor entertain them with small talk at their table.
I could see why when I peek into his kitchen. To start with, though Danny is a
friendly man, he is reserved like many of us are. Not a fame seeker, he doesn't "tumpang glamour" when the rich and famous turn up regularly at his dingy shop in Singapore's red light district. Though uncounted who's who had eaten at Sin Huat Eating House, there's not a single celebrity wefie in his shop.
Danny takes orders, works alone in the
kitchen and personally cooks every dish. I also didn't see any kitchen
helper this evening. On this ordinary Tuesday evening, the restaurant was
full house - every table was taken. No wonder Danny doesn't have time to
engage his customers at the table.
Even with Danny working at full steam, our dinner took 3 hours in total (which was no
issue as the company was awesome).
Sin Huat Eating House was equal to the high expectations of being a legendary restaurant. Five of us, we enjoyed every dish - the ingredients were all fresh, every dish was masterfully executed, the flavours were well balanced, assertive yet allowed the natural tastes of the seafood to shine through deliciously.
In Danny we trust.
Five of us, each share of the dinner was $90 (total bill $450).
Restaurant name: Sin Huat Eating House ๆฐๅๆตท้ฒ้ฆ
Address: 659 Lorong 35, Geylang Road, S389589
Tel: +65 6744 9755
Hours: 6:30pm - 1:00am
Date visited: 17 Nov 2020
Daniel Wong Sylvia Bau said on Johor Kaki Facebook:
ReplyDelete"Tony, this is the unique "coffee shop" seafood stall that accepted credit cards and sells wine some 30 years ago. I clearly remembered that but one has definitely got to have patience to eat at Sin Huat. Previously, the MRT prawns were not deshelled so it retained the sweetness. I like it that way . Guess customers are too pampered these days .
I remembered he only had a couple of dishes but it seems he added otah otah. Some 30 yrs ago it cost $250 -300 without wine for 3 to 4 of us . What was the total cost for your meal in the present time."
Thank you for an inspiring story and tribute to the chef, really strikes a deep note in me. Went there to get inspired before opening our new restaurant in 2012, wasnt shure whether we were at the right place as there was not a single customer, then we started eating and I knew that we had found the right location
ReplyDeletePeter Chong said on Johor Kaki Facebook:
ReplyDelete"I was once there with a bunch of angmo, we love to take visiting watchmakers there - 3 surprises. 1. How dirty the place is. 2. How good the food is. And 3. How expensive the bill came up to.
Anyway I digress. He took the order, of course. And prescribed the entire menu, the dishes we were to eat. The size. And when all done, one of my guests said, oh. Can we have some fish. Danny glared at him and said “No”. And walked off to cook.
On another, I saw the table next to me. Wait like an hour. No food. So they ordered some roast duck - there used to be a roast duck stall there. He stormed out and cancelled their order. Said they won’t be able to appreciate his food after eating the duck."
ๆดๆด said on Johor Kaki Facebook:
ReplyDelete"I think the price is fair now comparing to last time. I ate there ard 30 years ago, easily can cost $500-700 for 4 pax in a coffeeshop set up. A few times all hit above $500 20years ago. Normal seafood, no abalone, shark fins, geoduck etc..."