Story and photos by Dr. Michael Lim The Travelling GourmetTM
All rights reserved
Food photos are of real food with no photoshop
The resourceful and inspiring Travelling GourmetTM goes to a very remote part of Singapore to…
MAKE a “catch” of very fresh seafood to enjoy! Yes, this restaurant is Singapore’s NEWEST Seafood Restaurant and is called “CATCH”! It just opened on 28 September, 2014. Catch Restaurant is just next to the Johore Battery tourist site at 27, Cosford Road it is also near the Police K-9 Unit at 21, Cosford Road. The Johore Battery now a museum, was an actual shore artillery battery with three 15 inch ‘monster guns’ to defend Singapore against a seaborne attack by the Japanese. Alas, the Japanese Imperial Army attacked from the north of Singapore by land thus the guns useless.
When guns speak, death settles dispute…
The remote location gives the restaurant a very rustic feel and quaint ambience. Inside the spacious restaurant are trendy orange chairs and a private room that doubles as a Wine Cellar. The owner, Danny Tan, and I go back a long way. Danny used to be the Food and Beverage Director of a 5 Star Hotel.
The Travelling GourmetTM and Danny Tan
Danny explained enthusiastically, “All the seafood from many countries like Indonesia, USA and Sri Lanka is fresh! We keep them in 18 big special aquaculture tanks filled with seawater.”
Appetisers included Spicy Chef Marinated Cold Batons of super crunchy Japanese Cucumber and Deep Fried Octopus Tentacles with Pepper and Salt. I liked the Octopus Tentacles in a light crispy batter with their “al dente” mouth-feel.
The next course was a titanic whole Steamed Garoupa with Sour Preserved Plums and Kiam Chye (salted vegetables) in the Teochew Style. It was yummie. The meat was so moist and tender and not too salty in flavour with a nice tangy touch from the Sng Boey (preserved plum).
Do you like Crab? I love Crab! Alaskan King Crab Steamed with Egg White and Chinese Wine was served! In this case the Crab is cooked with Hua Taio Chiew…Triple Yum Yum! The big legs had been cracked so it was not difficult to get at the meat! And as a pleasant suprise, I was provided with vinyl gloves! This is the first Seafood restaurant that has given me gloves to eat my seafood! What a good idea! It reminded me of that verse in the song “Die Moritat von Mackie Messer” which goes…”Mackie Messer tragt den Hanschuh, drauf man keine Untat liest…” It means “Mackie Messer wears gloves so there is no trace of his misdeed…”
Alaskan King Crab Legs Sauteed in Black and White Pepper was also most delightful. It was not overly peppery but extremely tasty! Simply garnished with Wolfberries and spring onions. Friendly Chef Chef Cheong of Catch who is from Malaysia cooks very well. The Alaskan King Crab here costs $148 per kg.
Lala Clams Stir-fried with Curry leaves, Curry Spices and Hair Bee (dried baby shrimps) is also a favourite on the menu. It was a tad on the spicy side but being a Baba, it posed no problems for my palate. With the seafood there is a small but adequate wine selection , both New World and Old World, as well as 9 premium Sakes from Japan. I recommend Nanbumin Sake.
There is the ubiquitous Chilli Crab too but it is different from the original recipe Chilli Crab at Roland’s restaurant which is sweeter and made with tomato ketchup. Here the flavour is flavoursome with out being overly sweet and the sexy sauce is nice and spicy! Perfect with deep fried Mantou bread buns to mop up all that delicious sauce.
Cheeky Chilli Crab!
The plump Signature Roast Chicken is deboned and STUFFED with Glutinous Rice with Dried Shrimp and Mushrooms Brunoise. It brought out the voracious carnivore in me!
A light dessert of Chrysanthemun and Apply Jelly was a nice sweet finale to my feast.
After the meal, Danny brought me to inspect the tanks at the back filled with live prawns, Maine Lobster from the USA, Flower Crab, Garouper, Soon Hock and other denizens of the deep blue sea…Fascinating!
Live Maine Lobsters!
I highly recommend the Seafood offerings here. As the restaurant is far off the beaten track and rather far from any MRT station, I recommend you drive or take a taxi to come here. The yummie dishes are worth the journey!
Be good to yourself, eat well every day! ENJOY! 🙂
Catch Seafood Restaurant and Bar
27, Cosford Road
Singapore 499549
Tel: 6546 2155
Hours: daily 11.30am to 2.30pm Lunch & 6pm to 13.30pm Dinner
The Travelling Gourmet 