Tasty Crabs & Other Discoveries in Balestier Road

In the old days, there seemed to be no mainstream halal food. Nowadays, it’s good to find eateries that not only bring excitement to the palate but are halal-certified, too. Got invited to a lunch birthday gathering at 10 Mouths Seafood in Balestier Road and I must say, the Italian chilli crab I ate was delicious!

If you’re wondering why I refer to the tasty crab as Italian, well, it’s mainly because it’s cooked in a rich-tasting red tomato-chili sauce. The delightful sauce harmonizes well with tender crab meat, making for one super duper tasty meal.

When I eat out, I don’t always go for traditional ethnic dishes when they dine out, though tacos, buffalo wings, thin crust vegetarian pizza and curry dishes suit me fine. The restaurant’s take on Italian chilli crab – as I prefer to call it – is actually just moderately spicy with a delightful sweetness to it. Reminded me of a halal Italian restaurant in Tampines also serving tasty Italian chilli crab.

After digesting my sumptuous meal, I walk along Balestier Road and I find a bakery shop. Hmmm. Freshly baked bread is almost as comforting as grandma’s homemade cookies. With Italian chilli crab still on my mind, I head home and wonder where my next gastronomic journey will be. Most probably a restaurant with a steamboat buffet. Or perhaps one offering mixed Italian, Western food and Asian cuisines – where there’s a mouth-watering spread of sashimi, tempura, dim sum, lobster salad, meat dishes, and of course the spicy Singapore chilli crab. How I love dining out in Singapore!

Halal Tummy Pleasers

Many people have this notion that all things healthy lack flavor. This is not totally true. Lots of restaurants in Singapore prove that healthy foods need not taste bland.

Take for instance Chinese restaurants in Singapore that offer halal dishes. Halal-certified restaurants are good to have, not only when dining out with Muslim friends or colleagues, but for personal benefit, too. It’s reassuring to know that when you’re dining in a place, the foods you are consuming support your overriding goal to live well.

Well, one of the discoveries that my friends and I made in our quest for the best halal restaurants is that they’re actually all over town. Diners just gotta be alert about and hear out tips & recommendations from foodies to find restaurants in Singapore that truly offer foods with wholesome culinary goodness.

A food trip all over the districts noted for different cuisines will unravel halal-certified restaurant options. One of them, the Tang Tea House Hong Kong Café, is one of the first halal dimsum eateries in Singapore. Beat that! This halal café that can be found in Bedok Road serves a good porridge, tasty dimsum, savory chicken rice and noodle dishes plus other tummy pleasers.

I’ve also had several lovely experience of dining with my family in halal restaurants in Tampines and Pasir Ris Close. In Tampines, we dined in a restaurant that serves authentic Italian pizza and delectable chilli crab. In Pasir Ris Close, we enjoyed a sumptuous meal in a food place that served the yummy steamboat dish. The halal food court, coffee shops, or restaurants in Singapore you’re looking for may be just around the corner, so keep your eyes wide open and find it!

Finding Healthy & Tasty Grub in Singapore

My life in Singapore has recently switched to fast mode. When you go to places buzzing with activity, you feel the frenetic pace. This is `specially felt in the hawker stalls, among the best places to eat in Singapore.

At the most popular hawker centers, I imagine people nodding to each other, as if asking “where’s the best grub?” When you’re at the heart of the hawker stalls, and an assortment of tasty-looking dishes are laid out before you, and you see long queues and satisfied looks afterwards in diners’ faces, the question is answered.

Singapore food stalls are teeming with the flavors of various countries. Local eats reflect influences of several cultures that have left their gastronomic marks on Singapore dining tables. I particularly adore delicious pasta concoctions and succulent seafoods. Need I say that I also crave for the famous Singapore chili crab once in a rare while? Who doesn’t? Maybe only those allergic to seafoods.

Being a Muslim who wants to eat right, finding good places to eat in Singapore (eateries that adhere to good sanitary conditions and use natural ingredients, too) makes me heave a huge sigh of relief. Let’s zero in for now on a specific place – Tampines. While hanging out at Tampines with classmates, we discovered Italian restaurants as well as laksa stalls, a vegetarian eatery, and noodle stalls offering delicious halal food options.

We went to Tampines to trade in old gadgets for better ones, and we got more than we bargained for. We ended up savoring good eats that the locals are just crazy about. Wending one’s way into the hawker stalls, the best places to eat in Singapore, is not for the faint-hearted (the heat, the crowd, and the pulsating atmosphere can smother you), but for me, it’s a nice adventure!

Trying Singaporean dishes with a healthy twist

My life in Singapore has been smooth-sailing and easygoing, so far. Since I decided to work in the Lion City, I’ve almost always eaten out and chosen Singapore food options depending on my mood. While my first few months in the country have mostly been mindless eating – going wherever co-workers wanted to eat and choosing whatever suited my fancy – lately I’ve been more conscious about what I eat, so I choose halal eateries.

Discovering good Singapore restaurants serving halal foods can happen by chance. You never know what you’re gonna get in terms of food and service, unless you’ve actually tried visiting them. Some halal-certified Singapore restaurants really debunk the notion that healthy food is plain and bland tasting. Others are just so-so.

Take for instance this halal Chinese seafood restaurant that my friends and I discovered while cruising Changi Road. I must say, Singaporean food always tickles my tastebuds. Our meal at Chai Chee Seafood Restaurant pleased our palates, but we really weren’t the finicky type.

We had cereal prawns that looked crunchy on the outside and succulent inside. If you like experimenting in the kitchen, you’ll wonder how cereal prawn is made. To cook this Singapore food, you need to have at hand some curry leaves, chopped chillies, a couple of egg yolks, evaporated milk and the cereal prawn mix.

The menu offerings at Chai Chee Seafood Restaurant are nothing to crow about, but they’re good enough to ease hunger pangs and satisfy both Muslim and non-Muslim customers. My friends and I tried other Singapore food like fried sea bass with sweet-sour & spicy sauce, crispy noodles, and baby squids in oyster sauce, plus the Kangkong kembal. Overall, the meal was good. T’was okay but lacked the “wow” factor. We weren’t brought to gastronomic heaven, but we nonetheless enjoyed eating Singaporean food amidst a relaxing ambience with friendly dining staff.