Traveling Chomps: Going back in time ...

Where: Singapore (Kranji Reservoir)
Specialty: Seafood

Kranji Farm Resort in Singapore must be one of the strangest places I've been. The idea behind this resort is the farm life for city folk. Not particularly appealing to me given Singapore's humidity. Anyway, the in-laws insisted on checking out this place (thankfully at night).

The resort is buried deep in the jungles of Singapore (didn't know this existed!) and gives off a tacky 80s vibe. Also the restrooms were gross, like we were in a rural town! They really didn't need to be that authentic :P

The main attraction for us though was the seafood restaurant, Atlantis. Thankfully, despite the location, the food was actually amazing!

Do you doubt that the seafood is fresh? Hrmmm check out the tanks and tanks of sea creatures I've never seen before:



Based on the owners recommendations we ordered several dishes.

Clam Vermicelli (L): This was absolutely delicious! Spicy with a rich clam broth and full of clams. I couldn't get enough of this. Fresh Steamed Prawns (R)



The weirdest dish of the evening though was the shark. I've never actually had shark before but it was strangely delicious, perhaps because of the unique preparation. The shark was first prepared asam style which is a spicy, sourish curry often cooked with fish. It was then cooked in a more traditional Cantonese sauce. I'm not sure what cut of the fish this was but it had lots of gelatinous parts (as you can see in the photo) which was really yummy!

Assam Style (L) Cantonese Soy Sauce Style (R)


Chomp Meter:
Minus 1 star for the strange location. The food though was excellent. Ask the server for the night's specials and stick to the seafood of course!

Atlantis Seafood
10 Neo Tiew Lane 2
Singapore 718813

New Golden Gate Restaurant in Chinatown

What you order really makes or breaks your dining experience at a restaurant. New Golden Gate certainly demonstrates this. We've been to New Golden Gate once before but weren't impressed with the food. I vaguely recall some roast chicken and sweet sour pork dishes (hey we didn't do the ordering).

We somehow ended up at New Golden Gate again on another friend's recommendation (a Chinatown insider!). Well actually we didn't realize it was the same restaurant till we were outside.

The restaurant has several tanks of shrimp and fish in the back and I even spied a scary Harry Potteresque serpent in one of them! OK I'm exaggerating and it was an eel not a serpent ... still scary though. Anyway we concluded that seafood is the way to go here.

We started off with a Geoduck. It was served in 2 dishes, one in sashimi form (known as mirugai in Japanese) and the other in soup form. I loved the sashimi. While it wasn't beautifully presented or cut, it was fresh sweet and crunchy. YUMMERS!



The other dishes we ordered were clams in black bean sauce, a beef and green bean dish (weird) and some garlic bok choy stir fry. The guys in the group liked the beef which they said was cooked on the outside but still tender and a little rare on the inside. I wasn't a big fan mostly because of the size of the beef chunks. A knife would have been helpful. Hey I thought Chinese food was supposed to be bite sized!



Chomp Meter:
3.5 Chomps. Overall a solidly good meal. A nice alternative to Peach Farm for seafood. I would love to try the shrimp on our next visit. They also have Chinese banquet style set menus (8 courses) that go up to $300! I wonder if anyone orders these? The restaurant seems to be quite popular and full of people (always a good sign) so go early if you don't want to wait.

New Golden Gate Restaurant
66 Beach St
(between Hudson St & Oxford St)
Boston, MA 02111
(617) 338-7721

To Die for Fried Clams at Tony's Clam Shop

I've eaten fried clams on occasion but can't say I understand people's obsession with fried seafood until today! After tasting the fried clams at Tony's Clam Shop, I'm now a convert! Those things are mad delicious!

Tony's Clam Shop is on the Quincy Shore, right across the road from Wollaston Beach. We ordered a medium box of fried clams (not clam strips) and they were gone promptly. The batter was fresh, light and delicious but the real differentiating factor was the clams. They were sweet, large, plump and somehow maintained their juiciness despite being fried. I've never had fried clams this good! Perfect with a squirt of lemon juice and some tar tar sauce.

Fried clams on the left. I'm sticking to just the clams, no onion rings my next visit. It was too much fried food in one meal.


Tony's is a self service restaurant. There's also lots of outdoor seating so bring your pets!






Chomp Meter:
I have to head to Tony's one more time before the summer is out and savor those yummy fried treats. The fried clams are pricey at $19.95 for a medium box but worth every penny! A must try for visitors to Boston.

Tony's Clam Shop
861 Quincy Shore Drive
Quincy MA 02170
Phone: 617 773 5090
Hours: 11am-11pm Daily (Summer)

Bet's Famous Fish Fry

It's summer time again and Boothbay Harbor, ME is only 3 hours from Boston. You could make a trip this July 4th and gorge yourself on lobster. Anyway here's another restaurant from my recent visit.

Bet's Fish Fry is a little shack located off rt 27 in Boothbay Harbor and is only open for lunch. They have awesome generous portions of fish & chips or fish sandwiches (you really only need a half portion ($7)). Both the fish and chips and fish sandwiches feature the same battered fish so for those of you who HAVE to try everything (like me), you don't have to get both :)

Bet's Fish Fry is also very popular with the locals which is always a PLUS in my books! I'm not a fan of the overpriced mediocre restaurants in tourist spots. But who is huh?

Just so you don't drive right past it. This is what it looks like:


The fish sandwich. You can see that the batter is very light and the slivers of fish melt in your mouth. Simple but so delicious MMMMM


Bet's Famous Fish Fry
Off Route 27 (near the town center)
Boothbay Harbor, Maine


Chomp Meter:
This is a great place to go for lunch. There are picnic benches near by where you can sit in the sun during the summers and savor the yumminess of fried fish! It's a great alternative for those who are lobstered out or those that are allergic to shellfish (gasp!).

Peach Farm - My Favorite Chinatown Haunt

Took my dad to Peach Farm for Father's Day last weekend. Peach Farm is one of the better Cantonese style seafood restaurants in Chinatown. IMO it has the best Fuzhou fried rice (fuzhou chow fan) ever! I have to confess however that I haven't had this dish before Peach Farm hehe. And Fuzhou isn't in Canton. For the uninitiated, Fuzhou fried rice is not the usual fried rice. It is more like a casserole, egg fried rice topped with a seafood gravy of scallops, mushrooms and some green veggies. YUM

Fuzhou fried rice from a prior visit:


But I digress, we didn't get the Fuzhou fried rice this time. We went with garlic frog in claypot, sea conch, fish maw with corn soup, steamed fish, and a dou miao (veggie). (My dad is allergic to shellfish) All in all another enjoyable meal.

The fish maw soup. I love soups with corn!


Frog's leg casserole. It's really like chicken :P


Peach Farm
4 Tyler St
(between Beach St & Kneeland St)
Boston, MA 02111
(617) 482-1116



Chomp Meter:
This is a great place to go for a seafood meal. I love their steamed shrimp, they're so sweet. Almost like the ama ebi you get at sushi places. Oh and some trivia, according to Jasmine R on Yelp, Julia Child used to frequent Peach Farm.

The Net Result in Martha's Vineyard

Planning on a trip to Martha's Vineyard this summer? Then you definitely have to stop by The Net Results in Vineyard Haven. This fish market is just a short walk from the ferry terminal and offers all kinds of fresh seafood. They also have a take out counter where you can get lobster rolls, steamed lobsters, and the best fried clams!

The prices here are very reasonable. Fresh seafood at its best. A 1 1/4 lb lobster cooked is $15.95. The clam bake is $18.95 and includes mussels, clams, and a lobster. We had our feast for 4 on the picnic benches outside for about $65. Saturday was a gorgeous day on the island with 70 degree weather. Many of the restaurants looked dead, but this place was bustling.

My fried clams:


Part of the clambake minus the lobster:


I didn't post any photos of the lobsters we ate that day because they pale in comparison to this giant lobster we saw at Net Result. Someone ordered it, I think it was 12 pounds?!

Note the little 1 pounders next to the giant:


The gigantuan lobster relative to a person:


The beast relative to the size of a human head. OMG:


Chomp Meter:
I like this better than the lobster shacks in Rockport. It's also a great place to get seafood for the family/friends/party if you've rented a vacation house in the Vineyard.

The Net Result
79 BEACH ROAD
PO BOX 1686
Vineyard Haven, MA 02568
(508) 693-6071