Smolder

I've always liked Ah Hua Kelong's food. It's familiar and comforting. Scaled added another twist to the olden day flavors while keeping the quality. Smolder does the same, but grilled. Seafood BBQ. Heh. 

Walked in one evening for an 8.30pm meal. They had space. Yayyy. It was truly a seafood-focused menu. They also offered a burger. I dunno why, for people who prefer meats over seafood I guess. Then they wouldn't be really coming here unless it's a group meal sort of thing. 

I was pleased to see a lobster as a main. Opted for the Boston lobster. It's not a big one. At S$60 for 500g (seasonal pricing), it was super manageable. It came with a hot sauce done with local chillies. Not a sambal. It was beautiful. Satisfied a lobster craving that I'm having. This is a 'big plate', so it came with two 'complimentary sides'. Went for broccolini with romesco sauce and corn salad.

Had a stuffed squid for starters. It was happily stuffed with dirty rice, prawns and bacon — this iteration wasn't that spicy. Not bad at all. We were greedy and also had the grouper piccata linguine, which Kai warned us that it would taste 'sour'. Ohhhh. It was done with lemons and capers, quite a classic combination. It wasn't that creamy, thankfully. I could see why some diners might complain that 'the pasta is too sour'. Hahaha. The 'sourness' didn't go behind the first bite, which was quite lovely.

I do appreciate how the kitchen go easy on the salt and pepper and as promised, grill their seafood well. The sauces are placed at the side instead of being slathered all over. If you like Portuguese seafood stew with paprika and tomato, the type with pork belly, Smolder does a great version. It's not my thing, so I'll pass. I'll return to have the whole grilled fish another day. The pearl grouper (it's a hybrid grouper called '龍虎班') looks great.

The husband was up for dessert. So we decided to try the olive cake here. I do love olive cakes. I kinda prefer savory desserts. This version was okay. Nice honey-tinged cream. Hurhurhur. The restaurant offers a decent range of cocktails, some beers on tap Guinness (not a surger), some duhhh lager and a Heart of Darkness IPA. There isn't a highball, but a refreshing Monkey Shoulder blended malt whisky with soda works fine for me.