Restaurant review: Marina South Curry House, Singapore
updated the 6 October 2015 à 23:59
Enjoy signature Chinese dishes with a twist at this old-school-Singapore style restaurant.
Step back into 1970s Singapore and enjoy some classic Chinese dishes, some with strong Peranakan food influences, in this newly opened retro-style restaurant that resembles a clean and cosy coffee shop from yesteryear.
Known for their Signature Claypot Fish Bee Hoon, this eatery’s take on the dish is truly unique and they’re probably the only place you’ll find in Singapore that serves this dish, at such an affordable price, in a restaurant-style setting. Served in a claypot in order to retain the full flavour of the dish, the restaurant’s Head Chef, Gan Seong Teik/Chef Gan – who hails from Ipoh but has cooked all around the world in places like Mexico, Japan, Taiwan and New Zealand – personally cooks this dish so that its optimum taste is achieved. Talk about dedication! The fish used is tender sea bass and is complemented with thick, springy bee hoon in a thick but light broth, which contains absolutely no milk and is redolent of Chinese wine and fresh ginger. Because it is simmered for over 6 hours, the soup is thick and flavourful and “exudes the essence of Chef Gan’s unique stock combination.” For the added health benefit, absolutely no MSG is used in cooking this difficult dish. Considering the portions are so generous, it is hard to believe that the fish bee hoon is priced so reasonably – a single portion of 120gm is S$7.90 and a sharing portion for 2-3 people (250gm) is S$18.90. The dish goes very well with Luohan Chye, a signature vegetable dish that consists of tofu, taupok, mushroom and small bok choy and made with plenty of flavour to complement the taste of the fish head bee hoon. The dish costs S$9.90 and can be comfortably shared with up to three people.
Since it is a curry house, it would be strange not to mention two of their utterly delicious signature curry dishes – Curry Kapitan and Red Curry. A dish that is popular in the Malayan peninsula and especially common at Nyonya and Eurasian dining tables, Curry Kapitan is loaded with all sorts of tantalizing flavours and you are immediately hit with the scent of lemongrass and spices. Creamy with just the right amount of sourness and spiciness, the dish features tender and succulent free-range chicken pieces cooked in a delicious rempah paste. Have this dish with rice and you can believe us when we say you will be far from disappointed.
Their Red Curry is another strong contender for our culinary hearts. Served in a claypot, customers can enjoy the dish with either chicken or mutton. Blended with spices to enhance the taste of the rich coconut-infused curry gravy, the dish is just the right amount of spice and tender meat simmered to perfection. The Red Curry with Chicken costs S$6.90 and the Red Curry with Mutton costs S$8.90.
If having great food options wasn’t enough, Marina South Curry House also serves a relatively hard-to-find drink in Singapore today. The Original Buah Long Long Drink, or Buah kedongdong in Malay, is a sour yet invigoratingly refreshing drink. Lime and sour plum are the primary sources of the drink, priced at S$3.90 and it is served cold to go perfectly with the curry dishes. If you prefer an even colder blended option, to beat the heat of the curry and Singapore’s weather, go for the Exotic Blended Buah Long Long, priced at S$4.90.
For a Singaporean food experience like no other, we highly recommend visiting Marina South Curry House.
Marina South Curry House is located at 100 Tras Street, #03-14, Singapore.
Diya-Maya Tsering Bhalla
