Singapura Seafood Restaurant @ Selegie Road

Singapura Restaurant has been around for as long as I can remember. It's located within a small cluster of HDB flats along Selegie Road. As you may have noted from the glass panel to the right of the doors, this place is famous for Cold Crabs.

Singapura Cold Crab (sold by weight)
- this crab cost about S$25

I'm not a massive seafood fan as crustaceans that are less than fresh tend to make me break out in hives. The Cold Crabs here are awesome! They are compact shell-bound parcels of sweet and fresh crab flesh coupled with a rich, creamy roe that coats your tongue.

Here is my portion of crab. The white firm flesh is sweet and is good enough to eat on its own because the crabs have been infused with the flavour of the herbs that they were steamed with. I generally prefer to eat hot food, though I make exceptions for chilled Alaskan Snow Crab or Dungeness Crabs. This restaurant prides itself as being the creator of chilled crabs in Singapore.

Could this be Singapore's answer to Joe's Stone Crab in Miami, Florida? Joe's is a 96-year old Miami institution that I had the fortune to dine in once many years back but remains forever etched in my memory because of the amusing sight of huge grown men with bibs tied around their necks. They're only open during Stone Crab season (October to May).

Singapura packs a regular crowd and thankfully doesn't require us to queue for hours to savour the chilled crabs. However, they have a limited quantity of crabs available daily so on a busy evening, you'd probably not be able to partake of this delicacy. The Cold Crabs here are a MUST-TRY!

Special Prawn Rolls @ S$20

The Prawn Rolls are another specialty. They are not made with prawn paste nor prawn paste mixed with chicken or pork but firm chunks of fresh prawns. They are not heavily seasoned or spiced but are delicately sweetened with the natural flavour of the prawns. This is worth a try.

Crispy Duck @ S$24

The Crispy Duck here has a deliciously seasoned and crisp skin. The flesh tended to be a little dry and stringy at some parts. It was a little disappointing as the fragrantly browned skin bore so much promise.

Honey Pork Ribs @ S$15

The Honey Pork Ribs are also a specialty. I don't usually like to eat pork but the tasty pork ribs here are impressive! The tender flesh was well-seasoned with the rich flavours of the spice-infused honey marinade and practically fell off the bones. This is a Must-Try!

Steamed Fishtail @ S$36.80

The Steamed Fishtail with Tau Cheo (fermented bean sauce) and garlic was a tad on the sweet side. My dad loved it but I generally prefer fish steamed Teochew or Cantonese style (both of which have very light sauces) so I didn't like it as much as he did.

Foochow/Fuzhou Fried Noodle @ S$15

I'm a carb freak and I love KL-Style Hokkien Mee so I had to try the Fuzhou Fried Noodles as it has a similar flavour! The seafood was very fresh and I enjoyed chomping on the white clams.

The noodles are delicious though the sauce could do with just a little more salt to enhance its flavour.

Teochew Orh-Nee (Yam Paste) @ S$18

The Orh-Nee looked unappetizing at first because of the dark colour of the yam paste and the thick layer of oil that smothered it. Although Orh-Nee is traditionally served with a layer of oil, this is rarely the case these days as diners are getting more health-conscious.

The waitress broke the steamed pumpkin into smaller pieces and mixed everything up. The oil was absorbed by the paste resulting in a smoother mix. The yam paste was just a little too sweet for my preference but still bearable in comparison to some other versions that I've tried.

Fried Ice Cream @ S$4

Mum hates yam so she ordered some fried chocolate ice cream. The golden crust looked good but was too thick for her liking.

The restaurant is old school but the service staff are attentive and friendly. I guess this is largely because the lady boss keeps an eagle eye on them and ensures that all diners' requests are attended to swiftly.

I couldn't help but snap a picture of this block of HDB flats at the adjacent carpark as they were decked out in Singapore's national colours (red & white). I thought it was an interesting coincidence because the restaurant is using the Malay name for Singapore (Singapura).

Singapura Restaurant
Block 9 Selegie House,
#01-31 Selegie Road,
Singapore 180009
Tel: +65 6336-3255 / 6336-3478 / 6337-5197

Operating Hours:
Daily: 11.00am to 2.30pm & 6.00pm to 10.30pm