Sin Huat Eating House

Never knew that such a place exists in Singapore. Gives a whole new definition to the term "Atrocious Service".

Murky fish tanks, lousy lighting, EXTREMELY OVERPRICED FOOD that took almost an hour to serve, staff that seem to zone out everytime you try to talk to them but never fail to amaze you with a whole array of methods to make a paying customer feel stupid.

If this place was really chosen by Anthony Bourdain and Makansutra, I guess pride might have overshadowed their service mentality.

Please do not patronise this stall unless you really wish to have a whole new dining experience.

I had an extremely bad experience at this place. Probably the worst, considering I am quite a foodie and have been to so many places to dine in Singapore.

Nevermind the dingy coffeeshop with algae-filled fish tanks. I wonder when was the last time those tanks were washed. We were the second table of guests to arrive, and when we told one of the staff that we wanted to order crab beehoon, this lady simply walked past us and barely acknowledged our order with her back facing us. Never once did she even bother looking at us.

We waited for about 40min and decided to check on our order. Another lady with equally bad attitude answered us in mandarin, saying something like, "Don't have." What she meant was "your food is not ready, you can jolly well wait if you still want to eat."

Finally, the crab bee hoon arrived, served by the same lady. She dropped the crab cracker tool unwillingly on the table as though she was trying to crack the table instead of the crab.

The pain of tolerating such bad service with a growling stomach made my blood boil. We dug into the beehoon and it was not exactly fantastic. The noodles was drenched in this seafood sauce which tasted quite good with the crab. However it gets really salty from the third mouthful onwards. The dish was probably too much for 2, we had quite a hard time finishing it.

Finally, the bill. We were charged $67 for the dish and 2 cups of barley. How's that price for a dingy coffeshop? It's ridiculous! We asked how exactly did they come up to that price. This younger lady said the crab dish costs at least $56, yadah yadah yadah...... All this while, the family beside us has already started complaining about how long they have been waiting.

DEFINITELY my first and last time there.

My friends from out of town requested that we come here, after watching the Discovery Travel and Living Program, where Seetoh brought Anthony Bourdain here to eat crab bee hoon. I had never tried this place because I had heard horror stories about the long wait, the high prices and the rude wait staff.

Still, with eager bellies, we made a reservation for 6.30pm (the time it opens). We quickly ordered, and decided on the 'gong gong', frog legs with chicken essence, kai lan, garlic prawns and the infamous crab bee hoon. However, we soon found out that those horror stories were absolutely right. For a party of 6, we ordered 5 dishes. Despite coming promptly at 6.30pm, we only left the place at 9.30pm. 5 dishes in 3 hours is absolutely ridiculous - we weren't there for a wedding dinner for goodness sake! They have this ridiculous policy about serving one dish at a time, and the wait in between dishes ranged from 15 - 25 minutes. In addition, the atmosphere isn't the most amazing by any stretch of the imagination - think uncomfortable chairs (the kind that can leave an imprint on your thighs if you're wearing a short skirt ):), no air-conditioning and general noise and dust from the busy Geylang street. By the time the last dish arrived, none of us were in the mood to really enjoy it, as Bourdain did. Guess he received special treatment.

Food:
Gripes about waiting aside, the food was actually really good. The 'gong gong' (i don't really know what the english name is, this was what the stall aunty called it) was really interesting - it was some kind of shell that looked like those garden snails. The best thing about it though, aside from the novelty factor, was the amazing dipping sauce that came with it. Tangy, garlicky (a little salty, but good nontheless) and tart, it really complemented the firm , slightly chewy flesh of the 'gong gong'. Yummy.

Twenty five minutes later (I can't emphasize the excruciating nature of the wait!) came the frog legs with chicken essence. This was my absolute favourite dish of the night. It was *almost* worth the mindless wait. The frog meat was tender, with a little bite, as only frog can be, and falling off the bone. I love chicken essence and it really infused the dish with earthy, herbal and comforting flavours. There was a whole lot of chopped garlic, which meant that the dish had another amazing dimension to it - I literally was spooning the gravy into my mouth, it was that good. So anyway, if you're ever curious about this place and have 3 or 4 hours to spare for dinner, I think you should definitely check out their frog legs!

The kailan was good - it looked oily at first but it didn't taste oily at all. Yummy, garlicky and fresh (no yellow leaves here!) but not worth the (1 hour plus) wait.

I personally didn't like the garlic prawns as much as the others did - the prawns were big, yes, and fresh, but they were smothered in garlic, and nothing else. Unlike the other dishes, this came out too one-dimensional, I was hoping for more complexity in taste. Even the natural sweetness of the prawn had been drowned out by the overwhelming amounts of garlic. I think you should recognize a general trend in the food they served - garlic, garlic and more garlic! This led to serious dragon breath amongst my friends and I but if you don't mind, or better yet, if you love garlic, then this is definitely a place to check out. (We were wondering how many kilos of garlic this place goes through a day, hee hee) Just don't bring a first date here, and hope to kiss her/him goodnight afterwards (:

The crab bee hoon was the last dish to come out (at around 9.15pm). By that time, the whole table was fed up with waiting. When it arrived, instead of the great fanfare and anticipation that we experienced at 6.30pm, it was more of a 'thank-god-it-finally-came,-let's-just-eat-this-quickly-and-get-out-of-here'. I think it's good, with the smokey 'wok-hei' taste and the noodles had indeed soaked up some of the crustacean's distinct flavour. However, since the crab had been 'smashed' before hand, possibly to make it easier to extricate the meat, little shards of the shell were "hidden" in the bee hoon, making it impossible to take a mouthful without inadvertently biting into those hard bits. I was a fan of Ya Kwang (so depressed when they closed down) and I have to say that their version of the crab tang hoon was at least twice as good as Sin Huat's. Also, when we asked the aunty to give us one of those instruments you use to break open the crab (nutcracker? crabcracker?), she just brusquely said 'no more la!' and walked away.

For a meal that cost around $70 a head, you would expect better service. The food, while better than average, wasn't so amazing that I would willing sit on uncomfortable chairs, get abused at by the grumpy wait staff and be forced to buy drinks over and over again (another thing i forgot to mention is that, because you wait so long, there's this lady who comes and asks you if you want a drink repeatedly. and you're so hungry and tired of waiting that you will end up saying yes. we bought 14 cups of barley and ice lemon tea that night!).

Conclusion:
Only come here if you're friends with Seetoh, or you have ALOT of time to kill and you don't mind waiting for good food.

This was one place my better and I had been looking forward to patronising, after the various endorsements from KS Seetoh and Anthony Bourdain on the Discovery Travel and Living channel.

Ambience:

Not much to speak of really - this was a very dingy coffee shop and it would be perched right at the bottom end of the coffee shop league. The view of the main road was occasionally peppered with 'working ladies' strolling down. The eating house was also filled with algae-laden fish tanks, which hardly inspired confidence. There were about 7-8 occupied tables during our visit, including one which had BYO red wine.

Food:

We waited about 10 mins before the chef/owner Danny Lee came to take our orders. As people who had been here would know, there was no menu and the chef/owner would 'help you decide' what you should eat. Call it the 'Omakase of coffee shops' if you like.

We went with four dishes and were served in the following sequence:

Stir fried kai-lan with garlic and oyster sauce - This was good though without the 'wow' factor, but then again, how brillant can a plate of stir fried kai-lan be? We were looking forward to the subsequent dishes.

Scallops with black bean sauce - I am a scallop fan but i was not too impressed by this dish. The scallops served in their shells were drizzled with a rather intense black bean sauce. Two issues i had was that the scallops were 'lukewarm', and the intensity of the sauce overpowered the delicate flavours of the scallops. Pan seared scallops get my nod any day.

Steamed Parrot fish - The fish (around 400g) was served with the scales, which the server competently removed. There was a tinge of alcohol with the sauce, which bothered on the salty side but tasted all right when paired with the fish. The texture of the fish though left something to be desired; the flesh was not 'chunky' but was a bit 'mushy'.

Signature crab with vercimelli - This would be the one dish we had travelled all the way to eat, having read and heard so much about it. While we were midway through our dinner and the table beside was being served this dish, it looked really good and we were rubbed our hands in anticipation.

When the dish was served, i liked what i saw - big gigantic crabs with claws almost the size of hand (ok i am exaggerating a bit). The aroma from the dish was also sensous - there was a hint of alcohol and we could not wait to tuck in. The first taste of the vercimelli revealed a strong and unmistakeable crab aroma - the strands of bee hoon were heavily covered with crab roe. Loved it! But it started to trend downhill after the second or third mouthful - it was beginning to taste too salty for my liking. We then had the little matter of 'disposing' off the crab - these were huge monsters but they tasted great; that the crab roe was in such abundance didnt harm.

Conclusion:

This was definitely the most expensive dinner we had had at a coffee shop. We felt that the food was generally too 'heavy' in taste and the salt element could certainly do with a higher level subtlety. Tone that down (and dare i say the price too) and we will certainly be back again.

Now I love Sin Huat and really do think the crab noodles are the most amazing thing ever. But our latest trip set us back in excess of 400 bucks for 5 persons! What the hell right? I am not going to bother talking too much about the food because anyone who’s been here before knows that you don’t really get a chance to order stuff. We were told that we would be having the garlic black bean sauce scallops, black pepper crayfish, kailan, crab noodles and a steamed fish. It was all top notch, really really amazing stuff. The crabs were sweet, succulent and massive, and the noodles were liberally sprinkled with roe. All the seafood was incredibly fresh and the fish was especially gigantic. It was really an amazing meal. My mouth is literally watering as I type this.

But seriously? 400+ bucks for the dingiest coffee shop in Geylang ? With a thick green layer of sludgey algae in the live seafood tanks? And let’s not even talk about the service. One auntie points at the dishes on your table, telepathically communicating to you that you should quickly move them out of her way as she loads the table with more food (delay at your own peril!). Another openly scolds you for not finishing your fish head. A third man walks around topless, clutching your uncooked vegetables to his salty sweaty torso.

Now all of this I can handle, but at 400 bucks!?!? I left confused and miserable. Miserable coz clearly I’d paid an arm and a leg for the meal. And confused because in spite of that, it was so damn good I wanted to come back the very next day. I know old Danny prides himself on the whole Food Nazi thing, but would it really hurt to have a price list up so we all know what we’re in for?

Have been to this place twice, and I must say that all the hassle of going to geylang and wating for almost an hour is worth it....once in a while at least :)

The undoubted star is the crab bee hoon with HUGE crabs. The crabs are monstrous and really fresh and delicious. The feeling when you crack the shell of the pincer and reveal the huge chuck of meat is simply indescribable. Its practically the size of a small chicken drumstick. The bee hoon totally soaks up all the delicious sweet crabby flavours and there is plenty plenty plenty of roe. Totally and decadently yummy.

Other stuff I've had there - black bean scallops, garlic prawns. Both pretty good dishes, the prawns are quite yummy, fresh with plenty of garlic.

Another thing I had, quite hilariously, was "yi ge cai" - literally, "one vegetable". In fact, we had wanted to get a stir fried vegetable dish when we were ordering. We had already ordered our crab bee hoon and scallops, and then I simply said "hai you yi ge cai" - "and one vegetable". So you know when u say that you would expect the person taking your order to describe to you, for example, that they have kangkong, kailan, caixim etc right? And ask you which one you want? But NO. The guy simply nodded curtly and walked off! HAhaha it was simply hilarious. So we had fun during our long wait speculating what "yi ge cai" would turn out to be.

Anyway, as it turned out, "yi ge cai" means kailan at sin huat. Pretty good, with plenty of garlic, fried onions and oyster sauce :D

A caveat though - if you're really hungry or in a rush, this is not the place for you. The food takes at least an hour to arrive and I'm pretty sure they don't take kindly to being rushed - I've never dared to try personally :P

I know i know it's kinda silly to be afraid of Chef Danny but honestly u can't blame me!!! it's muz be e food nazi thingy tat freaks me out... i mean e super duper long waits.. e sky-high astronomical prices... e stern stares n unfriendly attitudes... e refusing to serve food if u order from other stalls.. erm aren't u scared yet??? Oh cmon ppl! ...u muz be!! .. look! e last review was in 2007!!!

Crabs were wat my BF wanted for his bdae and wat better place to have crabs other than e lengendary crab bee hoon at e infamous Sin Huat by food nazi Chef Danny? Moreover, if it's good enuff for e likes of Anthony Bourdain n KF Seetoh n Calvin Trillin... it's definitely good enuff for us! I gotta admit this ain't my 1st visit and i was slightly traumatised previously.. y? let's juz say ordering e scissors curry rice next door while waiting for e food aint e smartest idea.. i know tat by e extra long wait n by juz looking at e bill..*faintz*

I finally plucked up e courage n returned while dragging e clueless birthday boy to Geylang Lor 35 while cleverly hidding all nasty tales of e food nazi.. haha smart huh? Sin Huat is by no means a fancy restaurant if tat's wat u r thinking... it's a truly dingy n dodgy no air-con small coffeeshop tat is easy to dismiss.. It's pretty hard to believe tat world class chefs n food writers actually flew halfway across e globe for this!

A great tip is to be early to avoid e crowd and catch Danny in a good mood... yes e master insisted on taking all orders himself n he personally cooked every single dish as well.. hence e long long wait. To order u gona wait til e interval when Danny is not cooking n this could b up to 30mins while u felt neglected n ignored in ur little corner... advice? pls self-entertain. Danny's pretty grumpy when takin orders but he's not rude. I happily ordered e crab bee hoon, e black bean scallops n e kailan..*phew*...however i nearly faintz when mr clueless happily asked if there's any soup! woah! well it really ain't no easy task trying not to upset e bdae boy nor anger e food nazi! So while waiting for e food i finally confessed to bf abt e food nazi but luckily he's juz plainly amused...

Rumbling tummies were gratefully greeted by scallops and kailan 30mins later... The scallops were beautifully covered in this black bean garlic chilli spring onion sauce tat's toally divine! i lurrve it! The scallops were unbelievably fresh n u could taste e sweetness of e scallops even thru e "heavy"sauce.. apparently there's no fridge since all e seafood were fresh fresh fresh from e tanks! fresh seafood r usually steamed to fully enjoy e freshness so it's unusual to cook it this way but hey i'm not complaining!

This has gotta be the BEST kailan i've ever eaten in my entire life! it's so yummy!!! Simply fried with garlic n oyster sauce.. e kailan is so crunchy yet soft at e same time.. e sauce is sooo tasty tat even my non veggie loving bf is happily chomping it up! e kailan is so fresh tat e sweetness is retain n it's quite different from e usual fried kailan outside.. i've no idea how to describe it except it's simple yet good.. "hats off to e chef!" my bf exclaimed as he wondered how did chef Danny did such a wonderful job out of e simple kailan.. This is perfection.

Last but not least is e star of e show... e crab bee hoon! This is absolutely wonderful! A hugh crab with bee hoon n mushrooms n e mysterious stock... yesss e stock is e secret to e legend! The crab is super duper fresh n yet totally infused with e special stock.. most sri lanka crabs whether cooked chilli or black pepper r usually pretty independent from e sauce.. ie e crab meat is not infused with chilli sauce but rather u dig out e meat n dunk it in e sauce right? i was totally impressed when i sunk my teeth into e crab n e stock actually spurted out! n e crab meat is juz totally soaked in flavour...amazing! I'm not such a hugh fan of e bee hoon actually coz i dun really like such bee hoon n e stock though delicious was a bit too crabby but it's still unbelievable!.. e skill of e chef is totallly amazing! e stock is so full of flavour of e crab e garlic e mushrooms and plus e generous crab roe... AHHHHHHHHH!! even e freshness of e mushrooms shine thru... i wonder did they like have a garden back there??? i know they do have a wine bar though...

I was a bit frightened to ask for e bill coz astronomical figures aint uncommon here (there's no menu much less price list ppl!) but to my pleasant surprise.. it's $100! actually it came up to 90+ but it was conveniently round up to a hundred.. how could they do that? u might ask but i was too happy to spend juz $50 / pax to bother about it.. * siilly grins"

It was a truly satisfying meal coz unbelievably fresh ingredients plus e amazing skill of e chef equals to PERFECTION! I know this might sound ridiculous to some of u guys but for those foodies who have been there done that n r won over by chef Danny.. u guys know wat i am talking about.

I totally agree that every foodie should pay a pilgrimage to this food mecca at least once coz it's really truly an unique experience .. or u can say a truly Uniquely Singapore experience!

so this was the place that kf seetoh brought anthony bourdain to. a dingy coffee shop off lorong 37 geylang, replete with nothing but chairs and tables and ceiling fans and looking like a coffeeshop from malaysia or something - really traditional. so well i've been reading so many reviews about this place and decided to bring my mates down. we heard the service was going to be really bad (read the food nazi), but who cares - if it's good, anything goes.

the food took really long to come. we were all hungry, and we were patiently waiting to see if the chef was going to bring out our orders of vegetables, scallops, and crab bee hoon (we knew it was going to be expensive mah). took about 45 min for the first dish to come, and then 20 min each for the next few dishes to come.

but the food was really good - i don't know how chef danny does it, but all the seafood was really fresh, and the crab bee hoon, pwahhhh=) probably the best hawker dish in singapore.

we started off with the scallops in black bean sauce - the scallops were really fresh, you could taste the sweetness of these succulent mollusks which were cooked to perfection, bathed in a black bean sauce with garlic. woooo i was slurping the garlic even without the scallops, it was that good.

next was the kailan - kailan never tasted that good. it was stir-fried to perfection with an oyster sauce and garlic - and it still retained the crispness while being sweet as well.

but the piece de resistance was really the crab bee hoon, and rightfully so - it was a monster, a killer, a bastion of what singapore hawker food should be - an iconic dish to be presented to the world. the giant crabs were stir-fried with vermicelli that absorbed all the rich flavours of the crab, as the gravy coated each morsel of bee hoon - there was hints of crab roe, garlic and mushroom which made each mouthful a taste of heaven, literally, in a small coffee shop in geylang. the taste was just rich, savoury, food of crab goodness, and just .. mm.it was simply brilliant. you have to try it for yourselves. words cannot do it justice.

the price was on the high side - about $50 per head - but it was simply an experience.
don't miss out.

I was referred to Sin Huant Eating House through a friend of mine. We couldn't wait to eat the recommended crab. We were seated by the waitress but she didn't come for our drinks until 15 minutes later. She got our drinks and then she ran off before we could order our food. We drank our beer and sat there for another 40 minutes. I got up to find someone to take our order because they were ignoring our gestures for service. They looked at us with a glare as if we just comitted a crime and said nothing. I sat back down and waited for another 10 minutes. We never did get a bill for the beer as asked, we left money on the table and left. I will never go back to that place and I will tell everyone I know the terrible treatment we received there. By the way, we went next door at 37 Heng Kee House of Steamed Fish and had a wonderful dinner. Also the staff there was very, very nice.

Had heard about Sin Huat from many friends and decided to give it a try one weekday in Nov 06.

Reservations: When we got there at about 7.30pm, only one other table was occupied. Probably need reservations on weekends as I heard that the place is very popular.

Food / Beverage: Never got to try it as the famous crab bee hoon took too long to come (we had waited 45min) and there was only one other table.

Ambience: Bottom end of coffee shop.

Value: Pretty high priced crab bee hoon but did not taste it so should not comment. Others have said that it is very good.

Service: Order taking was slow, warned that the price would be high, boss is in charge, could learn from his staff.

Observations: when we got there, we were hungry so we ordered stewed duck rice from one of the stalls in the coffee shop. The proprietor of the duck rice warned us that "if you order crab bee hoon, you better not eat my duck rice or else they will not serve you the crab bee hoon". We did not order duck rice out of fear. As time went on, we waited for the bee hoon which still did not come, trying to fill our stomach with the iced water we ordered. We resorted to sneaking a "tar pow" duck rice and eating it on the sly. After the bee hoon still did not come, we sneaked off and left some money on the table.