Waterfront Feast

Man, being a Blog Awards finalist is bad for my waistline! After our dessert extravaganza at 1-Caramel on Wednesday, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to eat for a week. But on Saturday afternoon, I put on my stretchy pants and Bryan and I headed out for the Waterfront Feast at Riverside Point, part of an event called Let the Feast Begin, sponsored by OMY.

Over the course of several hours, we would have tastings at four restaurants at Riverside Point. Bryan and I arrived early and walked around funky Clarke Quay for awhile before heading to our first restaurant.

Buildings in Clarke Quay look like illustrations from a Dr. Seuss book!

In front of the scenic Riverside Point

Our first stop of the day was Jumbo Seafood, where we met up with other bloggers from OMY. I joked that I'd brought Bryan along as my substitute palate, since I expected that, as a vegetarian, I wouldn't be able to eat anything there (honestly, I was kind of grateful for an excuse to decline food. We were going to be eating at four restaurants in four hours!) At Jumbo, we were served two dishes: salted egg golden prawns and their renowned chili crab. Bryan isn't much of a food critic, but I could tell by the speed with which his prawns disappeared that he must have liked them!

This is the full portion, the tasting portion was about 2/3 this size

I was most impressed by the head chef, who came out to describe our dishes to us. Executive Chef Ng spoke in Mandarin, but others translated for those of us (*ahem*) who are pitifully monolingual. He clearly takes great pride in his work, and it's no wonder. He is one of the select few who knows the recipe for Jumbo Seafood's Chili Crab, which won "Singapore's Best Chili Crab" at the 2006 Singapore Food Festival. That may not sound too exciting to my American readers, but if you ever come to S'pore you'll understand why it's such a big deal. Singaporeans are SERIOUS about their chili crab. One of my Singaporean friends once told me, with a perfectly straight face, that she could never live in the USA because Americans can't make chili crab.

One of Singapore's most well-known dishes

Tasting portion, with hot buns!

I didn't taste the crab, but I did eat the yummy little buns that come on the side. I was surprised to learn that the buns are deep-fried. No wonder they're so good! Bryan hasn't eaten much crab in his lifetime, so I had fun watching him struggle to get all the meat out. And it was funny to see everyone wearing bibs and eating with their hands in such a nice restaurant! Before we left, we were given sauce mixes so we could try to recreate chili crab and black pepper crab at home. I see black pepper tofu in my future!

Bryan thinking "How the heck do I eat this?!"

OMY coverage: "So what did you think of the crab? That bib looks great on you!"

The next stop on our movable feast was Cafe Iguana, where red snapper enchiladas and fancy margaritas were on the menu.

Cafe Iguana's bar- sit here and order one of over 100 tequilas!

Colorful chairs!

I'd been to Cafe Iguana before, in our endless quest for good Mexican food in Singapore, and I'd found that I really like their fajitas, so I was excited to try something more. The kitchen brought me a poblano chili and mushroom quesadilla, which was, seriously, awesome. I don't think I've had a poblano chili since I left New Mexico, and it was a happy reunion.

One good dang quesadilla and a tasty cocktail

As for the drink, I'm usually not a big fan of margaritas because I don't generally like tequila. I figured I'd politely sip mine until we moved on to the next place. But I took one sip and was pleasantly surprised. It was a really tasty. Not just tolerable, but actually good! It was made with Jose Cuervo Tradicional, which is probably the most expensive tequila I've ever had. Apparently if you spend a little extra on your tequila it doesn't taste like rubbing alcohol! Who knew?! Whereas I've found other margaritas to be  harsh and overly strong, this one was smooth and refreshing. I'd definitely order one again (and maybe I'll have to soon- these are the Margarita of the Month this month, so they're on special.)

The margarita that changed my mind about margaritas

Bryan also liked his red snapper enchiladas quite a bit. He went all Food Network on me and said, "Well, it seems that the snapper isn't a very fishy fish, so you can still taste the other spices and flavors, as they aren't overwhelmed by a fish taste." Perhaps he should have been a food critic!

After Cafe Iguana, our little group waddled off to our next stop, Harry's. In my mind, Harry's is something of a Singapore fixture. There are over 30 locations in Singapore, including one in Fusionopolis, where Bryan works, and another at Changi Airport. Harry's is popular with the expat crowd, and we've been there plenty of times. This time, we were served fish and chips and drinks. I like Harry's french fries, which are always fresh and hot, and Bryan liked their fish, eating a lot of it despite the fact that our stomachs were all pretty full at that point!

Hangin' at Harry's

The perfect bar food

Bryan was excited to find a cider on the menu that we've never had before, something called Bulmer's. Everyone was surprised by its orangeish hue, but it had a nice crisp taste. We had no idea it would come in such a huge bottle though! Bryan didn't even come close to finishing it, and I left my Jungle Juice unfinished too, knowing that we were heading on to Brewerkz and more adult beverages. Have to keep it classy!

Bulmer's and Jungle Juice.

By the time we got to Brewerkz, everyone was stuffed. When I got to the door, I was greeted by the PR person from Cafe Iguana, because Brewerkz is owned by the same company (Menu). She considerately remembered that I'm vegetarian, told me that they were serving Buffalo wings (Brewerkz's most popular appetizer), and asked if I'd like her to order me something from the kitchen. "OH PLEASE NO!" I practically shouted at her, hoping to get out of eating any more food. I love Brewerkz food, but I was so full! I was afraid that if I ate any more, I might roll right into the Singapore River!

Bloggers at Brewerkz

Eating at Brewerkz is always kind of special for Bryan and me, since it has some of the best American food we've found in Singapore. It's become a place we go when we're craving food from home - we even ate there on Thanksgiving one year! I always promise myself I'll try something new, but about half the time I end up ordering their macaroni and cheese and whatever fruit beer they are serving that month. I know it's a girly thing, but I love their Fruitbrewz, especially the dragonfruit one (yes, I know my dragonfruit obsession is a bit excessive).

Cheers to the Waterfront Feast!

Bryan was positively giddy when he found out we were having Buffalo wings, his all-time favorite, and a treat that's a bit hard to find in Singapore. There were three flavors: mild, hot, and suicide. Bryan likes his spicy, so he made a beeline for the suicide wings, and piled so many on his plate that some of the girls next to him giggled. We giggled back when we saw them eating their wings with a fork and knife, a practice unheard of in the US, where's it's a given that you'll dig in with your hands and make an absolute mess. But this wasn't the first time we were surprised by a Singaporean's immaculate table manners- Bryan came home one day and told me that he'd just seen his Singaporean friend eat a cheeseburger with a knife and fork!

After our stint in New Mexico we're used to spicy food, and Bryan said the suicide weren't as hot as he expected.

In addition to the wings, we had a tasting of three beers: Kölsch, Steam Beer, and a sneak preview of a beer called Scholar Red that should be available to the public next week. I enjoyed all three beers, but the Steam Beer was my favorite. The Scholar Red is very unusual- it's made with red sticky rice, and it has a flavor unlike any other beer I've ever had. I think it'll be popular once it's available. I enjoyed the beer, but I especially liked the promos for the beer. Brewerkz has an amazing graphic designer! Woah! I definitely think they should make t-shirts out of some of the beer ads, especially the one for Scholar Red!

Dear Brewerkz, We would like Scholar Red t-shirts from Santa this year. Thank you, Crystal and Bryan

Brewerkz was the last stop on our Waterfront Feast tour, so people started to drift away after tasting the beer and wings. Bryan and I stayed and hung out with some of the other bloggers for quite awhile, talking and digesting. There were lots of leftover wings, so our friend Moonberry did the American thing and asked Brewerkz to box them up for us, which they did. Bryan was very grateful, as he ate about three pounds of wings today for dinner!

Blog friends!

Phew! What a delicious afternoon!

P.S. In case any of this food looked especially good to you, all of the restaurants that participated in Let the Feast Begin (which includes this event and two others at different locations) are running special promotions until the end of July.

P.P.S. This post is part of a blogging challenge. The winning blogger gets $500 in vouchers to eat at Riverside Point (that's a LOT of mushroom and poblano quesadillas!), and voters can win prizes too. If you like this post, vote for me here!

Hi there! If you enjoy reading about our adventures, we'd love it if you'd vote for us in the Singapore Blog Awards! Voting ends July 3rd and you can vote daily until then! Thanks for your support!