Blue Heart Journey: Singapore's Chinatown

It seems as though we visit Chinatown in most of the cities we visit in Asia. We’ve yet to find Americatown, but we will continue to look. Chinatown in Singapore was just a tad different from the rest. The layout was better and the scene was not so gritty and rough like most other Chinatowns we’d visited. It was also cleaner and more open than others which made it that much more welcoming. There were still the usual traditional Chinatown shops that overflowed into the market, making it the ideal venue to purchase gifts and souvenirs. Chinatown is an excellent place to shop on a budget. Bartering prices is welcomed and encouraged. Very few vendors sold items for fixed prices. We were able to find hand painted Christmas ornaments, a perfect find since we now collect unique ornaments for our Christmas tree.

Our favorite experience while in Chinatown was dining at the various food stalls and restaurants. I had read about a popular stall at a food court located in the area. It sold a Hainanese dish consisting of boiled chicken served with seasoned rice and vegetables. It didn’t sound like anything special but was highly recommended to eat while in Singapore, and this particular location received rave reviews. We decided to eat there for dinner on our first evening visit to Chinatown. When we got to the food court we found that this stall was no longer in business. I was so disappointed. I began checking out the other stalls for a second option. We settled on a nearby stall that had a long line of Westerners – a great sign that the place had to be good. While in line, we read some articles on the storefront. Come to find out that the chef of the food stall we originally planned to dine at quit that place and started his own stall only two spots away – the same one we were in line for. We ended up eating the same dish that was talked about in the reviews after all. It was delicious for such a simple dish. Douglas and I contemplated eating there again for lunch on another day – that’s how good it was.

As we exited the Chinatown market we spotted a large outdoor restaurant called Chinese Seafood. The restaurant didn’t sound too alluring from its simple name, but we decided to check it out anyway. The menu looked pretty good. One of the waiters approached us and told us more about the place. Something about it felt good. That evening I looked the restaurant up online and read some reviews. There were nothing but good things said about the venue so we decided it would be an ideal place to get Singapore’s famous chili crab. We knew what to expect having had the crab at the hotel buffet but we were still excited to try this one. We went back for lunch on our last day in Singapore.

When the bowl of crab came to the table it looked delectable. Chili crab is such a messy dish that all etiquette goes out the window when eating it. You just have to get your fingers in that sauce and get crackin’! The crab was so good we ordered a second serving halfway through the first one. I don’t usually eat much white rice but I especially loved mixing my soft white rice with the sauce from the dish. Douglas got to have little bread rolls with his and said they were also good with the sauce. I am a sucker for saucy dishes (which is probably why I favor Indian food so much). This restaurant provided wonderful service along with great food. Glad we went with our gut instinct in choosing to dine at Chinese Seafood.