(Closed) Irvin’s Live Seafood House

 

I am always the one who decides where to eat for a family meal. Because I eat and write for a living, my family simply assumes that I have high expectations when it comes to food, and they just leave it to me, the youngest one, to decide.

 

I don’t really mind thinking of a place to eat but it can be quite challenging at times. I can’t bring the 7 others to a cze char place which is super humid and has no air con because my aunty will get a headache almost immediately. Neither can I bring them to a faraway place to eat because my Grandpa will complain about the hassle of travelling there. See, headache right?

 

So this time for your highness’s (which is me) birthday, I decided to try Irvin’s Live Seafood House. This famous Cze Char stall used to be located in River Valley Rd, but have relocated to Jalan Leban last December. I have never been to one at River Vallery Road but the waitress was telling me this was a much bigger and nicer restaurant with aircon and there are even two new VIP rooms for private dinings.

 

Coincidentally, the previous owner of this space was Ivins Nonya Restaurant and I thought they just underwent a revamp (actually my intention was to eat peranakan food). But then when I spell it carefully, I realised they have different spellings. One is “Ivins”, one is Irvin’s”. *blur me*

 

Fish Maw Soup ($18.80, medium) was overloaded with flavours and every mouthful you can taste the soft fish maw, mushrooms and crabmeat.

Crispy Butter Chicken ($20.80, large) was another of their signature dish. The chicken was deep fried till golden brown and coated with butter, which has a nice aroma.

Ok this is a MUST TRY in the restaurant. I wanted to have a fish dish so the waitress recommended Seabass with special sauce. Minutes later, they came back to me and said there was no seabass today and recommended me to try the Red Tilapia with the special sauce, so I half heartedly agreed.

 

And it turned out to be the favourite of the night (besides the crab)! Their special sauce is something like a homemade thai chilli sauce and it simply opens our palette. The red tilapia was very fresh. This is slightly less than 1kg, and cost about $32.

Another star of the night is the famous Irvin’s Salted Egg Crab ($33.90, medium). Covered with golden yellow sauce, the Sri Lanka crab was tender and the sauce has the curry leaves aroma. Not for those who prefers dry version of the salted egg sauce, but it was heavenly when I dip my deep fried mantou into the sauce.

 

Sadly, I didn’t order enough for the family of 8. But we didn’t want to wait for another crab dish to be cooked. I think they were quite happy eating the fish lah! By the way, their small portion costs $23.90 and I think it is very cheap!

My usual birthday cake is the durian mousse cake from Goodwood Hotel. I think I am quite easy to please. Every year just buy me my favourite durian cake and I will be happy. I don’t think I need to speak more about their durian goodness. Their airy and light sponge cake has thick D24 durian puree in between, and I can even taste the durian meat!

 

Here’s my family photo!

 

It was an enjoyable dinner and thank you to my family for this lovely treat and birthday cake. I will be back here to try their lunch buffet which is super cheap. $10.90 on weekdays and $12.90 on weekends and they change their menu daily.