#01-03 East Coast Seafood Centre,1202 East Coast Parkway
Tel: 6345 1211
Operating Hours: Lunch: Noon – 3pm Dinner: 5.30pm – 11.30pm

While the mood and decor has changed slightly since its move to East Coast Seafood Centre, 23 year-old The Seafood International Market & Restaurant is still very much the same in essence: the emphasis here is still on quality live seafood – and a large array of it too. The menu states “if it swims, we have it”, and those of us with adventurous palates will be happy to know that this claim holds true.  A visit here is like a visit to the aquarium, one where you can eat the most delicious looking creatures. (Come to think of it, I think many aquariums would be enhanced by this option.) The unimprovably fresh seafood is transformed into Chinese and Thai-inspired dishes: I chose a crab (which met its end in a fragrant curry sauce), some fried butter prawns and a flopping, thrashing, red garoupa, seen entering a steamer and moments later appearing on my plate, spankingly fresh and delicious. All of these are, of course, standard dishes in Thai and Chinese restaurants across Singapore – but here they became really special because of the sparklingly fresh seafood. Given their just-out-of-the-tank freshness, the seafood is really pretty fool-proof to cook – and most dishes are simply delightful. The restaurant also features a Winners’ Circle degustation menu which needs to be ordered 24 hours in advance. This is made up of various signature dishes and includes a lobster sashimi (so fresh it is still pulsating softly), Rice Trellis Crustacean Delight, lobster tom yam soup, and, of course, curry crab.