Yet More Crab from Seafood Paradise

I solemnly promise that this shall be the last crab-related post for a while at least. The Paradise Group (Taste Paradise, Seafood Paradise, Paradise Inn) has built up quite a name for itself in recent years, banking on its reputation for fresh and well prepared seafood at affordable prices. E and I used to go to the Seafood Paradise outlet at Defu Industrial Park until the crowds started getting too big and our food took one hour to arrive on the table. We were also very impressed at the one time we ate at Taste Paradise back in 2006 when it had just opened - Chinese-style fine dining with prices to match too, but they do serve a mean claypot sharks fin.


So it was timely to visit the (relatively) new branch of Seafood Paradise at the Singapore Flyer when asked for suggestions on where to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday. There was nothing noteworthy about the restaurant decor - typical Chinese banquet style with tanks of live seafood displayed near the walls. We ordered the special August promotional set menu which came with 7 dishes including a geoduck (a very large clam found on the Pacific coast of North America) sashimi, poached australian blue clam in superior stock, and Seafood Paradise's signature creamy butter crab. Apart from the geoduck which was very crunchy and fresh tasting and the blue clams in superior stock, the rest of the dishes were only so-so.

Even the signature creamy butter crab didn't taste as good as I remembered from the Defu outlet (not that it was that spectacular to begin with), and left a strange sweetish aftertaste on the palate. Also with all that sauce smothered all over, it was kind of difficult to tell the quality of the crab meat. I always hope to be proven wrong but this is sadly yet another proof that popularity leads to complacency and a drop in standards.