Scaled by Ah Hua Kelong 🐟

Hi folks!

Wow, I haven't been on here for ages... let's see if I still remember how to blog!

I visited Scaled by Ah Hua Kelong (nearest MRT: Lavender) twice - once in 2023 with my friends and once in 2024 with my family. 

These are photos taken by my sister:

We made a reservation (Dinner Timings available: 5:30pm/7pm/9pm) and were seated in this dramatic and edgy corner. There were also many other families and kids. My dad thought we were going to a zichar place because of the name of the restaurant, lmao.

BTW, if you are not familiar, a kelong is basically a floating fish farm. There aren't many left in Singapore. I once visited one when I was younger. I remember the intense midday heat that scorched my skin, dogs running around the platforms, guarding the kelong, and the owner throwing his cat into the sea to show us that 'cats can swim'. 😅 

Back to the main post today.

The starters were fabulous. Let's kick things off with Smoked Seabass Pate (with sourdough bread). Do not confuse this with the other carb option, Flatbread (with Shio Kombu Butter), which was not bad but kind of lacks the wow factor taste wise. 

Smoked Seafood Pate ($20) : Sourdough bread, caramelised onion, olive vegetables, pickled garlic shoots

This was so delicious! Mop up every bit of your pate with the bread - or if you run out, the remaining potatoes from the XOXO Potato ($12). The combination of fried-ness and umami from the potatoes was pretty much unbeatable too. So far, what a great start to dinner! 

XOXO Potato. Triple cooked potatoes for triple the yum.

We also had some fried calamari with sweet and spicy sauce for a bit of a Korean twist. This side was alright but not spectacular. Would probably skip it if I visit again.

Ojing Eo Gangjeong ($14)

The prawns are not to be missed, however.  It was recommended to us to have the prawns without the lemon first. Really enjoyed the char taste of this - the freshness and the sweetness of the prawns were able to shine through so well. No need for lemons indeed~!

Roasted Prawn ($22). Served with seaweed butter and braised kelp. 

BTW: The staff here will ask if you have dined here before. If you say no, they will introduce every dish that is served. It's a really nice touch although they tend to rattle off their script real fast because they need to get back to other pressing duties in the restaurant. 

Sidetrack story time: I worked part time at a chocolate place when I was younger and was asked which fondue I would recommend. I honestly could not share much because (a) I was a new (b) I have not tasted any of the chocolate products sold. (What a shame! Maybe some of the products were too pricey to be tasted by employees (?) I would have definitely benefitted from a training course that included tasting so I can make better recommendations, but I understand that they don't invest so much time and effort on temporary workers.) 

Anyway, my point is that the staff here will try to engage you and this helps to hype you up for the dishes. (Unless you were like my parents and did not listen to a single word the staff said 😂)

Let's get on to the mains. 

Seafood Glacé Risotto ($26)

I enjoyed the choice of barley, which had a nice 'QQ', chewy texture with a faint fragrance. Other than that, the sambal(? can't remember) chilli carried the whole dish.  I hate to say this but in my opinion this dish is truly 'mid', as the term goes. (Learnt this expression from my young students, lol. I believe it means 'average' or 'so so'. )

Next, we have the Black Bean Pomfret. As you guys may know, I enjoy grilled things so this was definitely up my alley, what with the grilled vegetables and all. As our server staff said, this was topped with 'everyone's favourite: coriander'.  Cue chuckles from the table (from whoever whom bothered listening to him). 

Black Bean Pomfret ($28)

Next, the Seafood Puttanesca, served with tagliatelle and some fun slices of star fruits. 

Seafood Puttanesca ($26)

This dish failed to fully capture any of our hearts, though the fish was fresh and delicious still.

Canton Grouper ($30)

The Canton Grouper was served with a light sweet broth that had a very Japanese feel to it. There were also sweet potato noodles. The sentiment was split for this dish - 2 of us enjoyed it while 3 judged it as 'ok only'. For me, I enjoyed the firmness of the fish and as a fan of noodles, I liked it! The sweet, light broth was also a nice complement to the other more 'roast'-y dishes we had. 

In conclusion, the starters and sides were pretty awesome, which made the main dishes feel more of a let down. The overall vibe and experience were still wonderful though! It's was hard to identify an absolute favourite though. Is it bad to say my favourite was the seafood pate + sourdough starter?

I'm also going to add a few notes here from My First Visit in 2023.

Two other dishes we ordered the other time was the Curry Mussels which came with fried mantou. Unfortunately the curry was neither rich, spicy or memorable. Though I do not remember the taste now, I remember my disappointment very acutely as a fan of curries and spicy broths like Laksa. 

Some fusion dishes like the LGM Mee Hoon Kueh served with chilli oil paste (lao gan ma?) also failed to deliver the punch that its interesting name suggests, therefore resulting in the impression that it is a gimmick. Oh well. Not my cup of tea (or mee hoon kueh).

TLDR: The main dishes tend to pale in comparison with the stellar starters and sides. Prices are not very wallet friendly but it's definitely a fun place to go to if you want to enjoy fusion food with lots of fresh, tasty fish. 

Website: https://www.scaled.sg/menu/

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Scaled by Ah Hua Kelong

8 Hamilton Road
Singapore 209179

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