Orchid Live Seafood (Yio Chu Kang)

I had tasted one at China before, whereby they have the crabs and lobster into the pot of porridge and cook.  It was really very tasty.  So I guess the next alternative it's at this place.  Though it is only lobster inside the pot, better than nothing can be found at Singapore for any of the seafood porridge.  Not that sticky, but rather watery.

Next dish to recommend is the chicken, shall i consider as T-bone chicken?  Whereby the meat is pushed to the tip of the drumstick, with no meat left at the bone.  Quite unique and the taste is delicious as well.

I will go there again for the sake of the seafood porridge, unless I find another one in Singapore.

One of the freshest seafoods i've ever tasted. 

Really worth the money, however will really hope that the service improves... lol... But overall the food is really tasty. 

Must try:1) Lobster Porridge (Heard its the original one)

      2) Steven's Chicken (Really yummi chicken "ribs"

      3) Steam Batin (Can seriously die for.... so d*** fresh its like swimming in my mouth... lol!!!)

It was a convenient location for us because we live in Seletar Hills, so we decided to try out this joint.

We had a very pleasant surprise and found that they had great set menus for 4-6 people and we had a lot of food, including lobster porridge - very yummy.

We like it so much, we went back a 2nd time to try their cold crabs, it was quite nice, but the crabs were small, however, the bamboo clams made up for it in size, they were the biggest clams I've had and they were delicious and we had to order a 2nd helping so that everyone could have 2.

The chicken was unique and delicious, it is a mid wing joing that had the meat pushed to one end and deep fried and coated in a mild sweet sauce and sesame, unique and nice and they called it Steven's chicken after the Chef and owner - we learned.

The service staff were friendly and they were flexible in letting us change items in the set menu and to do a half and half dessert choice as well.

All in all it was a great sunday family makan with relatives visiting from KL.

 

Orchid live seafood is pretty eye-catching with an abundant of celebrities photos plastered all over the entrance which might have u lingering around for a minute or two... Highly recommended by a group of mahjong tai tais aka mum n friends...I reckon it's worth it to move my ass on a lazy Sunday arvo for a bowl of lobster porridge!

We started with e hotplate beef which is pretty run of the mill but would have go good with rice... The hotplate otah sounded interesting but we weren't adventurous that day.. The wasabi prawns came in a surprisingly teeny weeny bowl / plate hence it didn't score any aesthetics points at all..in fact i was thinking we could be ripped off with the mini bowl but surprise surprise! the unassuming bowl actually contain quite a generous amount of prawns that are fresh and crispily fried topped with wasabi mayo.. not too bad!

The steven's specialty chicken has gotta less than stellar comments from e mahjong tai tais but it looked pretty yummy so i ordered it... The chicken is quite tasty with a sweet sticky marinate and i tot this would be a hit with the kids n youngsters (like me!) but not so much with e oldies (like them!)... Fun dish to order.. The mixed vegs was quite delicious despite its boring appearance but the portion is a little too miserly for me..

The signature lobster porridge arrived with a gong as i was stumped by the BIG claypot... A sip of the stock had me nodding my head as i tot it was really quite scrumptious! The hearty stock is quite flavourful with a nice seafood hint to it... The porridge (not congee mind u) is good on the bite as the grains r still intact yet tender... The lobsters r quite generous (they go by weight and not by number of lobsters) and r superbly fresh and QQ! I likey! It's a very heart-warming dish and i can totally see the attraction!

Overall i tot the star of the meal is undoubtedly the lobster porridge which has fresh juicy lobsters and a flavourful yet simple porridge base that yells heart-warming esp to the older folks while the other dishes fared decently though.. I did get a tad thirsty after e meal but the chef maintained that no MSG was used.. Anyway i don't really care coz i likey e dish and i can be pretty forgiving just like that!

So my mother and I trooped down to Orchid last Saturday and it may have well been the new air refreshner that we bought but the anticipation in the car as we drove towards the Jln Kelulut was palpable.

The restaurant is pleasant enough - clean, bright, and the service was also prompt, efficient and friendly. But onto the porridge. Between the two of us we walloped the entire bowl even thuogh the size of the serving was initially rather daunting. The soup was very tasty - although there is this odd slight aftertaste which reminded me of instant noodle powder (hello, MSG?). But don't get me wrong - this dish is no doubt enjoyable, helped by the rather generous serving of lobster. There is a lot of soup, not so much (short grained) rice but still we were really full.

We also ordered the bamboo clam for the hell of it. It had a odd butter taste to it (surely there was no butter in the dish) - I'd say skip this if you prefer the way its usually served in mainstream seafood restos.

Worth a try, especially if you should ever find yourself in the neighbourhood.

(An N/A for value as the mother paid and I didn't get a chance to see the bill)

Went in search for chilli crab, but chanced upon this place so we thought we'd give it a shot.

Was just there with my other (she'd argue, "better") half and my mom who wasn't eating. So we just wanted a good ole' plate of spicy chilli crab, but the server said we had a min 2 crab order, and that would've weighed some 1.4 to 1.5kg? That is an insane amount of crab for 2 diners.

So we settled for a plate of cereal prawns and a funky vegetable that had a Chinese name i can't pronounce ( I AM Chinese, i just don't speak it!).

In any case, it turned out to be really good prawns. Not the best (i've had better in JB) but pretty good for a place that we merely chanced upon. The funky Chinese veg was pretty good too... and for 2 people, these 2 dished turned out to be way ample!

What i found particularly interesting was this little sambal chilli that came with the food .... excellent stuff! Spicy, but not crazy spicy, and of course very flavorful.

The ambiance was maybe a step over your neighbourhood chze char place, but certainly not wedding banquet ready. But clean, and quite pleasantly adequate for a place to focus on the food and not so much the experience.

Most surprising really, was the bill.I Kinda expected to get murdered, what with all the min order qty jazz, but for the prawns and funky veg, several non-alc drinks, the bill was $33. Something like $20 for the prawns (400grams worth, enough for 3 or 4!), and $6 for the veg. I felt it was reasonable.

I'd go again, but this time to get some of the crab action with 2 or more friends.

I came here for the lobster porridge if not for anything else. My dad likes it so we went there for some tasting. Apart from the lobster porridge, I don't think anything else is above the bar.

After our set dinner, everyone thought that the pot of lobster porridge was tasty and the rest of the food in the set menu were written off.

For more details and photos, see - http://4-the-love-of-food.blogspot.com/2009/07/lobster-porridge-orchid-live-seafood.html

Orchid Live Seafood from Orchid Country Club has opened a branch at Jalan Kelulut recently, taking over the premises of the old Spice and Wine. If you're not living in or visiting the neighbourhood, you wouldn't happen to pass by and notice "Oh look, there's a restaurant here!". You have to come here knowing that you're looking for it. Yet Sunday night at 8.30pm was met with a full house.

Inside was totally rowdy like a Chinese restaurant. Outside, a few tables are placed on the corridor, spilling over to the front of adjoining shops. Only those tables directly outside the restaurant have ceiling fans.

I ordered the house specialties: lobster porridge (Teochew style) and Steven chicken. 600g of lobster cost $48.

I preferred the lobster porridge at House of Lobster, ITE Simei (though that chef has since left and I'm not sure whether they are maintaining his standards). Orchid's broth seems to have something missing in the flavour, though I can't really pinpoint it - maybe cooking wine?

Steven chicken is chef Steven Chua's specialty chicken. It's fried chicken with sesame and sauce with a sweet flavour. The chicken is served showing the bones, with the flesh in the middle of the bone moved towards the ends - makes eating easier. This was reasonably good.

I noticed several tables with wine, so it appears that they might sell wine.

Wait staff could barely cope with a full house and tables took a long time to be cleared. Once the table is cleared and dishes are served, you're mostly on your own. A table with a birthday cake helped themselves to the plates and forks for the cake.