Restaurant review: Palm Beach Seafood Restaurant celebrates 65 years of heritage with new menu

With humble beginnings as a pushcart along Upper East Coast Road to its current spot at Fullerton Bay, Palm Beach Seafood Restaurant has remained steadfast in an ever-changing restaurant landscape.

Through the years, new locations, and modernised operations, Palm Beach has retained its key evergreen feature – authenticity of its signature dishes – that explains its longevity and continued success.

In celebration of its 65th anniversary, Palm Beach has launched a new 1956 Menu Expect a repertoire of beloved classics dishes – appetisers, seafood, poultry, and desserts that have been served to generations of diners over the years.

The ingredients that Singapore Rojak ($12) draws on reflect the country’s cultural diversity – its name means “eclectic mix” in colloquial Malay.

A proprietary sauce of shrimp paste, tamarind paste, and sugar coats familiar ingredients such as ginger flower, pineapple, turnip, dough fritters, and century egg, a delightful addition. Served in a banana leaf cone, strong flavours and varying textures come together in a harmoniously tasty dish.

Not to be missed is the comforting, belly-warming King Prawn Soup ($14), a tangy superior broth prepared with evaporated milk, dried orange peel, Chinese jin hua ham, chilli oil, and lime juice.

Served with succulent tiger prawn and vermicelli in individual portions, it’s the more wallet-friendly option to the restaurant’s award-winning Coco Lobo with ‘live’ lobster.

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Any trip to Palm Beach is made memorable with its seafood showstoppers; this time, they deliver with the Deep-Fried ‘Golden Phoenix’ with Spicy Sauce ($48, 800g) and Stir-fried Mussels in Soy Bean Sauce and Sambal Chilli (from $16, 400g). Savour the succulent and crispy deep-fried ‘Golden Phoenix’ fish, sourced from a freshwater, local farm.

It’s served with a side of papadum (thin fried Indian flatbread) to mop up the addictive sauce that is sweet, spicy, and sour at once. Be sure to also order steamed white rice to accompany the mussel dish that is a rich, umami explosion of flavours.

Save space for their signature crab dishes; after all, Palm Beach is credited with inventing and perfecting Singapore’s iconic chilli crab. Soak up the proprietary sauce of the Palm Beach Signature Chilli Crab (market price, from 1kg) with crusty French loaf slices ($5).

Cheese devotees will be thrilled with the award-winning Crab Ala Singapura (market price, from 1kg), where charcoal-grilled Sri Lankan crab is capped with an irresistible trifecta of melted mozzarella, aged parmesan, and creamy French butter.

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If that’s too much seafood, look to the Oyster Sauce Chicken ($24) that deploys a whole organic Anxin chicken served in a giant steaming basket.

First deep-fried, the chicken is then stuffed with an aromatic mix of stir-fried chives, garlic, and lard, before being steamed with oyster sauce, sesame oil, and huadiao wine. The result is a wholesome and flavourful dish perfect for sharing.

For desserts, the Orh-Nee ($4.80) will satisfy with a warm trio of yam, pumpkin, and sweet potato pastes while the Sweet Potato and Yam with Ice-cream ($6) is a unique and deconstructed interpretation of the traditional Bubur Cha Cha. Hit a home run on the Singaporean feast with Fried Durian ($8) — creamy Mao Shan Wang durian flesh encrusted by a crisp flour exterior.

Palm Beach Seafood Restaurant is located at #01-09 One Fullerton, 1 Fullerton Road, Singapore 049213, p. +65 6336 8118. Open daily 12pm – 2.30pm, 5.30pm – 10.30pm.

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This article was first published in City Nomads.