Sunday, November 23, 2008

Steam Boat Dinner

If Singaporeans can still remember, Marina Bay used to be a heaven for steamboat lovers who will flock there to eat steamboat dinner, then go for a bowl at the Marina SuperBowl. Some kite flyers love to go to the once barren (of skyscrapers and buildings) Marina Square area to pursue their interests.
With the construction of the Integrated Resorts and the Marina Barrage at the Marina Bay, Marina Bay becomes like nothing of the yester-years. Yes, Marina Bay will become a splendid area when the Integrated Resorts open in a few years time, but right now, Marina Bay has become a construction desert, populated by dusty, heavy-duty construction trucks and the dust and pollutants from all the construction which goes on day and night seems to give this place a name called the Singapore Sahara.
With the change, all the steamboat restaurants have now been shifted to a stretch from Kallang to Lavender and to Bugis. For kite flying, one can still see at times in places like East Coast Park and Pasir Ris Park, but nowadays, one can go to Clarke Quay and see people playing with remote-controlled electric kites which glow at night, making them even more beautiful.
Having not eaten Steamboat dinner for many years, tonight, I and my Dear visited a steamboat restaurant from the raft of similar restaurants in Kallang.
Pictures tell a thousand words, so our food expedition is as follows:








Sorry for having no captions following each picture, but the pictures are quite obvious.
Now the verdict:
After two hours of eating the steamboat dinner, which comprised of mainly meaty spreads, I can hardly distinguish what on earth am I eating: as all meats after munching and munching, taste rather the same and may I say, I feel like eating rubber!
The restaurant, owned by China nationals was packed full of China nationals and their HUGE appetites dwarfed mine! China people really eat a lot as I have always known.
The meats are quite salty (to preserve their taste) and after just some dishes, we took some free iced drinks to quench our thrist.
It was noisy, chaotic, with all the smoke etc.. typical of any Steamboat restaurant. The meal was very filling as most of the spreads were meat dishes and could easily fill up an average person's stomach after some plates.
On the whole, I could just said that this steamboat restaurant is only at most average in terms of food and atmosphere.

4 comments :

Anonymous said...

Not only china nationals r big eaters. When I served steamboat for a festive day here, my european family thought all the small bites were much too little. They can only hv satisfaction with a chunk of meat !

Luckily my hubby has adopted our Sg ways, so he just go with the flow n enjoy the experience.

Overcooked meat tend to taste like rubber, so watch out the next time u BBQ or cooking them in the simmering soup !

Singapore Short Stories said...

Hi Dutchie,

Sometimes, premium restaurants, as a part of their business strategy, may deliberately serve small portions of food to diners, leaving them wanting for more and coming back to the restaurant again!

Anonymous said...

Actually I hv noticed the portions of char kway teow or the size of the roti prata (at Thomson Rd) r getting smaller :-/

Do u think food at hawker centre or food courts will one day be too expensive for the general public ?

Btw, I enjoyed ur food blogs :-D

Singapore Short Stories said...

thats nice to hear Dutchie you enjoy reading my food blogs, though I do not usually blog about the food I eat, except on weekends!

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