The Last Dinner - No Signboard!

My last dinner in Singapore! What better place to eat than No Signboard Restaurant? Yes.. It IS Uniquely Singapore . The branch featured here is found in Geylang. Address is as follows:

Mattar Road No Signboard Seafood Restaurant, 414 Geylang Rd Singapore 389392

Good news to all motorists! No signboard has a mini carpark at the back of the restaurant. They also offer FREE VALET PARKING services (be sure to tip)! In the event that the mini carpark is full, the valet service parks your car for you in
the neighbouring HDB carparks. Most likely, you'll sit in the car and form a convoy along with 4-5 other cars, before moving off to the carpark of choice(everyone follows the valet's van, who leads the convoy). Upon reaching the carpark, all of you will park and the valet will issue out parking coupons for your vehicle (yes, free parking courtesy of No Signboard.. From there, everyone hops into the van and the valet drives everyone back to the restaurant. Same thing when getting back your vehicle. Unique huh?

Back to topic: My farewell! So.. what does one eat when facing the impending prospect of
of leaving Singapore for a long time? Chillie Crabs! - the Official Dish of 2007 Singapore Food Festival. Another Uniquely Singapore Initiative. By the way.. FREE CHILLIE CRABS for ALL Tourists, offer ends on 31 July.

The food as usual, was GREAT! Especially those mouth-watering chillie crabs. For non chillie crab lovers (btw, the chillie crabs aren't that spicy either), No signboard also offers Black Pepper crabs, Butter Crabs and crab beehoon? (cant remember if they do though).

Making this blog entry from Melbourne really makes me miss Singapore food even MORE! To those who have not been to No Signboard, keep your expectations of the service standards to a minimal. This is after all, a kopitiam restaurant.. with a small air-conditioned VIP corner. Kick back, relax and forget all about table manners! Always remember, you're there for the food =) (Those prefering good, service and air-con, I recommend the Esplanade branch. Prices in No Signboard are the same, regardless of branch).

JJ Rating: 5/5

Foodies Anonymous #1

Ok, I admit, I'm NOT a hardcore foodie. Neither am I an expert food critic. This is just a sample of the food I like.. which most people would find palatable.

FIN Seafood Cafe, Marina Square

Marina Square #02-226A/B6 Raffles Boulevard (S)039594

Heard that anyone could get oysters for only SGD$1/ piece every mon, Xiaoping and I decided to head down to our favourite hang out mall, Marina Square, which is just a 10 min bus ride/mrt ride down from my home. Sadly, we arrived there at 1400 hrs.. still too early for 'Oyster night' which starts after 1500 hrs.. But they were still reasonably priced at SGD$1.95. We chanced upon an INCREDIBLE OFFER for weekday luncheon at FIN:

This:

Mussels as Starters...

+

Seafood Pasta ala Olio UP: SGD 11.90

+

Apple crumble for Dessert and free flow Coffee

=

Cost: SGD 8.00 !!!

As you can see from above.. it's a STEAL!! It's Criminal!! Food was quite good (despite everything being ready made) but as usual, service sucked BIG time. Waiters seemed pretty un-motivated, they don't smile or greet you. They ignore you and simply want you to just finish up and get out of their lives.. forever. Here's an interesting thought: I read from a Men's Magazine that in Singapore, Fresh Seafood is only delivered to the restaurants and various eateries twice a week: Tuesdays and Thursdays. Therefore, the BEST time to get seafood are on these days. The WORST time to have seafood is on MON.. simply because the seafood have been sitting in the refrigerator for a consecutive 4-5 days already. This makes me wonder.. Is that the reason why Oyster Night is on Mon?

DESSERT TIME!

One of my personal fav:

Tom's Palette

100 Beach Road #01-25 Shaw Leisure Gallery, Singapore 189702


(Shaw Towers)

Tom's Palette is a rather cool hang out place to be! Very cosy environment, the staff are friendly, service is good and personalised and you can to try all the ice-cream before you finally settle for 2 of your favourite flavours for only SGD$2.80 (small cup) or SGD$4.00 (big cup). I loved their local creation Tau Sar Piah Ice cream but when I went there on 090707, it was gone! Instead, I had Horlicks Ice-cream and Ed's Tea (tastes like Teh Tarik). Customers can also order ANY flavour they want by the Tub and they'll discuss with you if that particular flavour can be made and also the price of your request. Love the (liang cha) cooling tea that your grandma makes? Turn it into ice-cream then.. and double the chill.. with cheese!

Fans of the place can't help but leave traces of them being there in the very conveniently positioned Fan Board. Examples of 'Fan Art ':

Lastly, there's supper:

East Coast Lagoon Food Village

1220 East Coast Parkway

When I went there on 090707, a Mon night, many of the food stalls have already closed for the day. Only One recommendation from there:

Hwa Kee Barbeque Pork

Stall No 4, East Coast Lagoon Food Village

East Coast Parkway

They basically served pretty good Wanton Mee (steamed meat dumpling noodles), however, it the Char Siew is their selling point. Sorry, I'm not able to provide a picture of the dish because I was so hungry then I practically gobbled it up!

I also ordered a plate of sambal fried lala (clamshells) and sugar cane. Would have ordered BBQ Chicken wings, Stingray, Oyster Omelette and Hokkien Mee if I had the opportunity!

Tip of the day: when eating clamshells of any kind, be it hum or lala.. if the shell is UNOPENED, DO NOT TRY TO OPEN IT! The following images are graphic and explicit in nature. They should not be viewed by expecting mothers and the faint hearted...with cheese. This is what you get if you do:

EEW!! The single most harrowing experience I ever had in East Coast Park. The stall which I ordered this dish from was actually recommended by Channel U...