New & Noted: Jumbo Seafood Restaurant
What: Crustaceans and more from the Lion
City
Where: iAPM Mall, 5/F, #502, 999
Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Xiangyang
Nan Lu. Tel: 6466 3435. Web: www.
jumboseafood.com.sg
Why: Singapore’s national dish has arrived
A n entire menu of slow-cooked items? Sure, it's gimmicky. But here's the secret about gimmicks: When they are pulled off, they're usually outstanding.
A household name in Singapore since it opened in 1987, Jumbo serves more than 1.4 tonnes of chilli crab daily at its five outlets around the city-state. Now the Brand has left the island, bringing with it the signature crab (and Singapore’s national dish) to the first international location, Shanghai.
Although Jumbo’s average-looking entrance might be tucked away on the fifth floor of iAPM, the interior matches its sizeable name, with seating for at least 200 diners in a main dining room flanked by private rooms. Overhead, a school of sculpted golden fish escorts guests past decadent wine cellars and aquariums teeming with suggestive geoduck, rubberbanded lobsters and, of course, crab. In the mammoth dining room, the décor skews local, with ornate golden chandeliers illuminating white tablecloths laid with crystal ware, satin napkins and freshly-cut flowers. It’s all a little over the top, but the reservation book is packed with Shanghainese diners weeks in advance, so it’s working.
The menu focuses on Singaporean seafood specialties, from cereal prawns (RMB 108) to deep-fried scallops with Chinese pear (RMB 128). In the former, plump spicy prawns coated in Nestum wheat flakes are fried then tossed with chilli and curry leaves. An adventure in taste and texture, the combination is at first bite bewildering, but quickly becomes intriguing and then oddly addictive.
When the crabs arrive, the fun really begins. Bibs and leg crackers are distributed to the table, and jugs of Tiger (RMB 80) are poured. The mud crabs that serve as the base of the dishes run RMB 400 per jin and come pre-cracked for easy access. Sautéed in butter, the roasted black pepper crab is meaty and blazing, much spicier than its chilli sauced counterpart.
A distinctly Singaporean dish, the chilli crab is a mishmash of cultures and flavours, just like the tiny city-state itself. Nearly a dozen Southeast Asian spices make up the sauce, including Indian turmeric, Malay candlenuts and Chinese fermented vean paste, all stirred with ketchup (from the Brits). A beaten egg is coddled into the sizzling sauce, lacing it with silken strands. Served with golden mantou (RMB 20 for five buns) for dipping, Jumbo’s crab proves that fusion really can be greater than the sum of its parts.
The service needs work – waiters seem flummoxed by the simple concept of putting a tray down – and the banquet hall design is standoffish, but Jumbo makes up for its pitfalls with some of the best seafood in town. Thanks to a centralised kitchen and some tried-and-true standard operating procedures from their corporate HQ, Jumbo’s food quality stays the same across borders, a feat that not many international restaurants can brag about when they arrive in China.
