Great Cze Chars: One Ocean Seafood Restaurant

Another cze char place with a twist...

Last week, I featured Kian Seng, a cze char place which is quite extraordinary for the cooking, but also interesting use of ingredients. Today's feature is on One Ocean...a rather large cze char chain with several outlets throughout the island. The one I went to is in tucked in an industrial building in Toa Payoh, and is rather more like a restaurant than a regular cze char place in a coffee shop. The dining area is air conditioned though they do have tables in the non air conditioned area as well.

The restaurant is also part of many kitchens who use the unique ingredients offered by Unilever Food Solutions.

We started with Double Boiled Sharks Fin with Pumpkin and Pork Ribs Soup (pre-order at least 1 day required), where they use the Knorr Concentrated Scallop Bullion.

The broth was clear, and tasted very nice and savoury. A tad saltish, but very fragrant and nice on the palate. The pork ribs were a bit tough, but still nice enough to eat. There were some strands of sharks fin, but a bit precious, in my opinion. The taste of the soup was very nice, but I felt the ingredients were not quite commensurate with the $28 a bowl asking price.

Next, we had the Golden Mashed Potato Roll

Very interesting dish. Beautiful to look at, even nicer in the mouth.Though the potato outer covering has the texture and taste of a hash brown, it is totally ungreasy, and a wonderful potato flavour. The stuffing complemented very well, as did the pumpkin like sauce.

The Italiana Scallops was next

Another very tasty dish...the scallops were small, but fresh, very sweet and succulent. The french beans and mushrooms were sauteed just right in the Knorr Italiana Herb Paste as a sauce...the beans remainding crunchy, but thoroughly cooked...and the mushrooms were nice and tender. Even the potato crust like fan which I guess is meant as a decoration tasted wonderful with the sauce and the vegetables and scallops.

Next we had a wonderful beancurd dish...Milk Cabbage and Beancurd Skin with Scallop Broth

The beancurd was very good. Fragrant, crispy, light and airy, layered. Topped with dried, deep fried scallops for extra oomph. And a magnificent sauce to mop it all up.

Next up, yet another beautiful dish...in fact, my favourite in this tasting...the Salted Egg Golden Flake Prawns

Salted egg yolk encrusted prawns are not new. And many of them are fabulous. But the twist in One Ocean's offering is the salted egg yolk are mixed with the Knorr Mashed potato flakes which seemed to either fried or lightly toasted. Not greasy at all, but the flakes provided a crunch and mouthfeel which elevated the already magnificent dish to another level. The prawns themselves were fresh, and had crunch and balanced well with the deep, rather heavy flavours of the salted egg yolk. This dish is worth the visit!

Crabs were next...the Italiana Crabs

The crabs were also nice, but after the excellence of the prawns, they did not shine as much. The crabs were nice...sweet, fresh, firm flesh. The Italiana sauce goes very well with the crabs.

Overall, excellent place to dine. The food was cooked magnificently, interesting use of ingredients and flavours to highlite. Recommended.

Thanks to Debbie at Ate Consulting and the fine folks at Unilever and One Ocean for hosting.

One Ocean Seafood Restaurant
1002 Toa Payoh Industrial Park #01-1407
Other outlets
Ocean Seafood Woodlands, Blk 892C Woodlands Drive 50 #01-02
Ocean Seafood Ang Mo Kio, Blk 107 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4
Ocean Seafood Serangoon, Blk 151 Serangoon North Ave 2
Ocean Seafood Hougang, Blk 435A Hougang Ave 8
Ocean Seafood Tanjong Pagar, Blk 7 Tanjong Pagar Plaza

Majestic Bay Seafood

Magestic restaurant is the long time helm of Chef Yong. Having cut his teeth in Pan Pacific Hotel, he ventured out on his own, establishing the standards by which many are measured. Jing in Fullerton Hotel, Majestic at the Majestic Hotel and now fulfilling his dream to own and run a seafood restaurant...the Majestic Bay at Gardens by the Bay.

Located right in the new-ish Gardens by the Bay, a bank of tanks with divers fishes and live seafood greets the visitor as one enters. The decor is elegant, but still remainding quite casual.

We began with 4 selections of dim sum

First pic: steamed, shanghai dumpling, pork...aka Xiao Loong Pau

The tim sum is made by a specialist chef...I find the xlp skin to be a bit tougher than I would have preferred, but the filling and the soup within was quite nice.

Next up seared, chili crab meat bun

The pastry was quite fine...the filling being chilli crab meat was rather tasty. Nice dish.

The classical Baked BBQ pork bun, with a slight twist

Quite regular, methinks. But the next dish, spicy, minced pork dumpling was quite interesting.

The sauce is a vinegar-ish, sour, salty concoction with a deep savoury base, probably from the stock. The dumplings were quite interesting...very similar to the those found in Northern China. Quite nice balance between the rich pork filling and the tartness of the sauce.

We had the soup of the day which was - Old Cucumber with Pork Ribs Soup

This was a favourite of ours when Chef Yong was at the helm of Pan Pacific's chinese restaurant...the name escapes me for now...the soup was clear, refreshing and tasty. But what surprised me was the pork ribs used in the soup was still very nice, tender, tasty rather than being reduced to muscle fibres, the pork ribs retain the full flavour and was very nice.

Next steamed, live leopard garoupa, Light soya sauce

This fish was superb. The steaming of the fish, done 80% so that the bits of meat by the bone is still pink, but the rest of the meat is gloriously done. The fish was a live leopard graoupa...very nice, silky smooth flesh, almost creamy and luxurious on the palate.

The next dish was also rather special...with an innocuous name like wok-fried, radish cake, XO chili sauce belies its excellence

The radish cake was nicely done...the flour based cake part was savoury and rather nice consistency. But the highlight was the house made XO sauce...superb. With bits of dried shrimp, dried scallops in a rich spicy base. Superb.

Then an invention by Chef Yong...Live crabs, Bay’s signature “Kopi” sauce

A very large Sri Lankan meat crab, cooked in a special kopi sauce...invented by Chef Yong...comprising of 3 different kinds of coffee beans. The sauce is a bit like the coffee pork rib sauce we encounter rather often these days. But then the crab with sauce is doused in chinese rice wine and set ablaze...quite a spectacle.

But for me, the taste was less than the beauty of the dish and the spectacle of the serving. The sauce is rather sweet to the extent of being coy, and perhaps overpowering. The essence and flavour of the crab was lost in the complexity of the sauce. I can see how some people may be enamoured by this dish, but for me, it does not do the trick.

We next had a rice dish which was very popular...their baked rice, assorted seafood, chef’s recipe sauce

The tasting party agreed with nods of approval on this dish....as did I. Much like paella that the Spanish is famous for...this was quite a nice dish for me. The rice was covered with the sauce which was rich, tasty. The seafood fresh and verynice.

And finally the sweet’s temptation

Comprising (from back to front) the Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Yam Paste Stuffing, Shredded Coconut; Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Fresh Cream Stuffing; Steamed Custard Bun, Salted Egg Yolk; Bay’s Chinese Pancake, Red Bean Paste

Overall, a nice high end cze char style seafood eatery. Cooking was excellent, and the quality and freshness of the ingredients outstanding. Congrats to Chef Yong for achieving his seafood restaurant dream

This is an invited media tasting, thanks to Janice of FoodNews and Chef Yong for the invitation and entertaining evening.

Majestic Bay Seafood Restaurant
Flower Dome, Gardens By The Bay.
18 Marina Gardens Drive #01-10

Long Beach...66 years old, and still innovating

Crabs are as synonymous in Singapore as is the hot, humid weather. Chilli crabs, are supposed to have been invented here even. And many restaurants have become world (?) famous for their culinary presentations of this crustacean.

Long Beach is one of these restaurants. Founded in 1945...I am wondering, this is a strange year to start a business, as it would have been just after WW2 and the Japanese surrender. I am sure money is tight in those days...but anyway, no good or bad timing to start a business...especially in the food space. Everyone's gotta eat. Anyway, Long Beach is one of the magnificent 5 seafood restaurants in Singapore...I would imagine the others being No Signboard, Punggol Seafood, Seafood Paradise, Jumbo Seafood.

My good foodie friend Larry "discovered" this place, and a group of close friends went to have lunch there...lunch? crab? isn't that too messy? Well, not here. They actually bring the cooked crabs to your table, and the expert-waitress peels it right there...



The White Jade crabs, presented above. We selected 2 large (more than 1kg each) Sri Lankan crabs, and they cooked and presented it as shown above. De-shelling was done in-situ, and all the meat is deshelled. They don't just peel the pincer, but the whole crabs...all the meat is presented back to us on the crab shell. What more delectable way to enjoy crab!

The pincer is presented beautifully with the amazing sauce:



The sauce is known as White Jade...is something like a thickened, enriched, super power butter sauce...very rich, creamy. And with small bits of chopped chilli padi, packs a punch. Also bits of deep fried, almost crisp curry leaves heighten the flavour and aroma. Super dish. Fat, fresh crabs. Cooked perfectly. Dipped in this wonderful sauce.

You can also avail yourself to the sauce by soaking it up with the mantou.



We had the grilled otak as an appetizer...sorry got ahead of myself with the crabs...



Not bad otak. The bits of ground fish can be tasted within. And the banana leaf infuse its own flavour. Not world's best, but passable.

The next dish was another winner...a honey baked prime ribs:



Oozing, with a thick, beguilling sauce. The tender pork ribs were marvellous.



Looks a bit like coffee pork ribs, but tasted totally different. Less sweet, more piquant. The meat beautifully cooked. Excellent.

We had some vegetables as well, but that was di regeur...nothing to write about except it is an essential dish with all these meat and cholesterol to add some greens.

For starch, a special dish...hor fun, braised with lala (local clam) and topped with a deep fried crispy bee hoon.



Quite good. The braised hor fun was a bit mild tasting, but the savoury sauce packs some umami. The clams were fresh and sweet. And the contrast, counterpoint provided by the crispy bee hoon is a touch of genius. Superb.

For desserts, we had a durian pudding.



Quite good too...with the slightly fibrous strains of the durian used still detectable within the pudding. It is served sitting on a ball of dry ice, quite a sight, as it spouts a thick fog...providing some mystique to the dish.

Certainly well recommended for the occassional binge, and for bringing visitors to experience a bit of Singapore. Superb crabs. Great dishes.



Long Beach @ DEMPSEY
Tel: 6323 2222
25 Dempsey Road, opposite Singapore Botanic Gardens
Daily: 11am - 3pm / 5.30pm - 1.30am

Eating USA: Thanh Long Crabs

with Kohei, Eddie, Prof Horolographer

Meeting up with Kohei Saito, a good friend from San Francisco...he decided on a famous roasted crab place...run and owned by a Vietnamese family.

The location was rather easy to find, but the parking is a horror...valet is available, which we eventually used.

The restaurant was crowded by the time we arrived at about 7pm...but we were promptly seated.

First up...grilled calamari



Perfectly grilled...slight burnt edges, but nicely medium rare inside...so the meat gives rather easily. It is easy to overcook squid, and will result in a rubbery texture. But this was perfect. Nice, sweet, a bit spicy due to the seasoning and sauce.

We also had the classic Vietnamese deep fried spring rolls.



This was de-rigeur. Quite tasty, but nothing to write home about.

The piece de resistance is the roasted crab.



A nice large Dungeness crab was roasted in supposedly secret ingredients...The crab was large, fat, and had quite nice chunky meat. The meat itself was sweet, rich and creamy. Nicely done. There was rather a lot of meat within the crab.

We also had their famous garlic noodles...basically soft cooked spagetti like noodles, with a garlic sauce. Some claimed this to be irresistable. I found it to be good, but not great.

I liked the calamari and crabs. Very nice.



4101 Judah St
(between 46th Ave & 47th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94122
Neighborhood: Outer Sunset
(415) 665-1146