7 & 8 Satay and Crab

Isla and I decided, again, to try somewhere new for dinner. We’d heard that the restaurants at Boat Quay were something of a sight to behold so we sauntered down there as the sun was setting and the afternoon heat was beginning to fade. It was a pleasant stroll from our hotel but when we arrived we were not prepared for the assault we received from the restaurant staff.

Boat Quay is a 500 metre strip of restaurants next to the river in the Financial District. It’s much like a market place and as you walk from restaurant to restaurant you are attacked by waiters and waitresses saying “Eat here,” and “Good curry here,” and “Lot of seafood here”. We opted for one that sold both Thai and seafood as that’s what Isla and I wanted respectively.

For starters I had proper chicken and beef Singapore Satay which was amazing. Many tourist guides say that satay is a must and so I felt it would be rude not to. The satay sauce was rich and oily and full of peanuts and there was tons of it. I only wish I’d had more skewers to dip in the sauce. Amazing.

I’ve never eaten crab before. I’ve had crab balls and crab sticks but never a full crab. So that’s what I had for my main. It was strange. The crab sat in a bowl of chilli sauce staring at me, waiting for me to tuck in. I grabbed it by the shell and lifted it up and then realised that the body shell was hollow and when I turned it over all that was left in the shell was something that looked like a single lung and some other crustacean organs. The claws were much the same as those of lobster but the meat was a bit firmer and fishier. The sauce was really tasty but I almost had to eat it with my eyes closed as it had the consistency of egg white that’s not been cooked properly and I was trying to forget that it was basically boiled crab guts and chilli sauce. None-the-less it was another first but I was regretting it later on that night!