Seafood lovers can now enjoy a fresh spin on the seafood boil concept with Ocean Symphony, a seafood-themed dinner on Thursday evenings at Plate over at Carlton City Hotel. In the American Southern tradition, seafood boil is a communal affair that brings people together to share a large assortment of seafood cooked with spices and seasonings, and that is what Ocean Symphony presents–a feast of seafood delights including lobsters, crabs, prawns and clams served in different flavourful sauces.
Plate restaurant at Carlton City Hotel. Photo © Fen Chia.
Expect a lip-smacking and finger licking experience, so do not be a stickler for fork, knife and table etiquette, even in the hotel setting. Perhaps you can get away with cutlery for the appetisers, where Plate’s selection of sides tease what is to come.
The Spam Fries (S$12) were addictive, but even more so are the Fried Squid Tentacles (S$14) and Crispy Chicken Wings (S$16), accompanied by sriracha mayo, ketchup and chilli sauce. Other sides include Deep Fried Mantou (S$6), Popcorn Chicken (S$12), Spring Roll (S$12 for 8 pieces), French Fries (S$12) and Truffle Fries (S$16).
The Signature Mala Xiang Guo (S$98) is an impressive version of the Sichuan dry pot, and a very authentic one too. The sauce is rich and each bite is replete with an addictive tongue-numbing sensation full of ‘wok hei’. Besides mud crab, tiger prawns and pacific clams, this dish comes with Asian ingredients like Taiwan sausage, lotus root, black fungus and luncheon meat, which are usually popular items for Sichuan dry pot. Each set comes with either Deep-fried Mantou (S$6 for 6 pieces) or French Fries (S$12), though we find that the fried mantou, being an Asian item, is the better means to mop up the spicy sauce.
If you wish, you can get Boston Lobster (S$20 for 750g) as an add-on, for probably the most luxurious Sichuan dry pot you would ever taste. Although each set serves two or three, we are told that a foreign hotel guest at Carlton City Centre polished off an entire plate by himself–a convenient yet authentic mala dinner without having to stray far from the CBD.
Signature Mala Xiang Guo. Photo © Fen Chia.
Besides this spicy twist on seafood boil, the other ‘classic’ combos that Plate offers are Black Pepper, Salted Egg and Cajun. For those seeking a taste of the southern USA seafood boil, try the Cajun, a seasoning known for its peppers and blend of herbs and spices. It is not really spicy but has a smoky fragrance that works perfectly with the smoked sausages and corn within. For these ‘classic’ combos, the crab set features mud crab, tiger prawns, pacific clams, corn, sausages and potatoes (S$88) with mantou or fries, while the lobster set gets you Boston Lobster in place of the crab (S$98). We suggest going for the Duo Set, which features both crab and lobster with the accompaniments (S$108).
Cajun Duo set. Photo © Fen Chia.
My dining companion and I liked the Salted Egg best. The yellow sauce was very thick and creamy and we mopped it up with the mantou. It was not too sweet like some store-bought sauces, and the rich eggy taste was something that comes straight out of a wok-fired restaurant or your favourite zi char place-in a good way. Like the Mala Xiang Guo, it was a delightful surprise to be experiencing these local flavours and getting our fingers (though plastic-glove clad) all smeared for that hands-on experience, in a hotel setting. Indeed there is no worry of messing up your clothes as disposable plastic aprons are also provided.
The salted egg sauce is something that we would gladly dip everything else into besides mantou, such as fries, squid tentacles, popcorn chicken-in fact any of the sides.
Salted Egg Duo set. Photo © Fen Chia.
To make the most of each set, you could get not only more sides but also extra add-on ingredients such as extra lobster (S$20), crab (S$18), prawns (S$8), clams (S$8), smoked sausage (S$5), luncheon meat (S$5), taiwan sausage (S$5), sweet corn (S$3), lotus root (S$3) and black fungus (S$3).
Ocean Symphony is a great way to let your hair down and enjoy a no-holds-barred finger-licking dinner on Thursdays, before the end-of-week crowd, paired with a range of desserts, wines, beer and soft drinks to go with your meal.
Ocean Symphony is available every Thursday, 6pm to 10pm at Plate, Carlton City Hotel. More information is available here.
Plate Restaurant
Carlton City Hotel
1 Gopeng Street
Singapore 078862
