New Ubin Seafood

I remember dining at New Ubin Seafood once when they were still located at a coffee shop at Commonwealth and I really loved their localised zi char flavours. Fast forward to today, New Ubin Seafood has 2 main locations; one at CHIJMES and another at YMCA Stevens Roads

We decided to visit New Ubin Seafood for light snacks as were were still hungry after our dinner at the Spanish restaurant so this review is not complete as we did not order proper full meal dishes. Located on the 2nd floor of the building, you can take the stairs right beside Lumbre or take the lift

The restaurant layout is pretty weird due to the original layout of CHIJMES which they maintained. There is no 1 big open space for multiple tables, instead, there are clusters of tables placed at every turn. We got a table right next to the centre bar counter and it was very squeezed as servers and customers were walking up and down all the time

The first item we got was the traditional satay with peanut sauce. Each serving came with 5 sticks and was priced at SGD 7. The satay meat itself was surprisingly nicely grilled and succulent although the peanut sauce was lacklustre. It tasted similar to those I have eaten on Singapore Airlines which has a nice sweet glaze and less of a charred flavour like those sold in hawker centers

We also ordered the foie gras satay for 2 friends who really liked eating foie gras. It was served with toasted sliced baguette and a sort of berry sauce. The foie gras was quite mediocre and it was really a waste to grill foie gras like satay

I ordered the crispy pork jowl served with miso gula melaka sauce on the side. The pork jowl was quite flat and cut into slim strips which is easy to snack on. The pork was well fried with a nice crispy skin but as it is fried for a longer time, I could not really tell the difference if this was a pork jowl cut or a pork collar cut. The sauce was savoury and sweet at the same time but did not really complement the pork so we opted to eat the pork strips without the sauce

We ordered homemade Orh Ni which is Teochew yam paste served with pumpkin and gingko nuts. The yam paste was quite decent with a nice creamy texture and you can bite into yam chunks. My friend who likes her yam paste completely smooth did not like this but I personally did not mind. The sweetness was also just right although it is slightly lacking in the fragrance

We ordered the banana gula melaka served with ice cream and were quite turned off by the presentation where the bananas were just plopped onto the plate and ice cream served in a separate bowl. There was nothing too special about the bananas as they were caramelised thoroughly with gula melaka and were soft and very sweet. The ice cream actually helped to balance out some of the sweetness of the bananas

Last but not least, we ordered the durian pengat which was smooth and creamy but the pengat tasted a bit too processed. The flavour of the durian paste was not the best I have eaten as it lacked that natural sweetness of the durian fruit

Overall, some of the starters tasted fine especially the satay if you do not mind the price. The service was acceptable but a little slow. The desserts were mediocre but as we did not order any seafood which is their speciality, I would not mind coming back to try eating a full meal as I remember the last time I ate at their Commonwealth shop, the food was nice. Therefore, I will not conclude my review

Address: 30 Victoria St, #02-01B C, Singapore 187996

Operating hours: 11.30 am to 3 pm and 5.30 pm to 1 am ( Mon only 5.30 pm to 1 am)