Food Review:Manhattan Fish Market

This blog is currently undergoing an identity crisis,it does not know if it should be about parenthood,food or just past reflections.Oh well..it should'nt really matter.Just an amateurish blog at its best so must include all three,lah.Last Friday,my female companion(wife lah, of course) and I went to The Manhattan Fish Market to sample their fare.

The Manhattan Fish Market is a quaint looking restaurant that is supposed to remind one of being at the pier, even while you're in the midst of a mall. Checkered table cloths, deep brown wooden chairs and wall decorations help create that casual seaside fish stand feel.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, with his National Day Rally emphasis on service, would have liked this. A waitress was prompt in attending to us the minute we showed interest in dining there. Throughout our meal, the waiters were also very responsive(I was given extra tartar sauce without even asking for it!)
The menu bears uncanny resemblance to that of Fish & Co.'s. Dishes are American styled, consisting mostly of fish that is baked, grilled or deep-fried. Favourite dishes have little fish symbols next to their names, so the undecided know what most other diners like. The waiter tells us that we get a choice of fish for certain dishes, like dory that has a more solid texture or Alaskan Pollock and hake that have flakier flesh because they come from cold countries. On top of that, you get a choice of chips or buttered garlic rice to go along with your seafood.
A popular dish is the Manhattan Seafood Platter for 2. Operations Manager William Tan made an interesting observation – Singaporeans like to share. Thus, they've catered for this through their choice of 2 platters for 2 that are priced at $29.90. The seafood platter for 2 serves up prawns, fish, oyster and fried calamari with chips and buttered garlic rice.
Other popular dishes include Garlic Lemon Mussels ($7.90), Baked Pacific Dory ($12.90), Fish and Chips ($9.90) and Flaming Platter for 1 ($16.90). William explains that Fish and Chips is a common item on restaurant menus, but it's the batter used that differs from one place to another. Theirs results in a thin and crispy outer covering on the fillet. We tried it for ourselves and found the taste only average.
The Flaming Platter for 1 consists of a large grilled catch of the day and their award winning flamed prawns, together with buttered garlic rice and chips. It's precisely their flamed prawns that set them apart from other restaurants, because the waiter comes up to your table and flames the prawns in front of you, then sets it down for your enjoyment. This technique, which tends to be demonstrated at upscale restaurants, is a nice touch that made us feel very special and is going to keep us talking about this fish market for a while.
Such attention to presentation was rightly complemented by the exquisite taste of each dish. The sauce that laced the prawns tasted like an unusual blend of mayonnaise, lemon and garlic. Yummy! The light and delicious grilled catch of the day (dory) was so mouth-watering that this writer just has to recommend it over the deep-fried hake.
For the health conscious, there's the Baked Fish in Garden Herbs ($12.90) that is heavily seasoned with coriander. It's cooked with olive oil, and wrapped in aluminium foil for baking so that the essence of the fish is retained.
As this is the first outlet in Singapore , Manhattan Fish Market is looking at plans to open another 2 to 3 outlets this year. The successful restaurant chain has its beginnings in Malaysia where it has 8 outlets, the first located at Mid Valley Megamall, according to The Star Online at kuali.com . The restaurant is named after a wholesale fish market on Fulton Street in the United States , because the seafood served is fresh, just like at the famous fish market.
At the moment, the menu you see at the Plaza Singapura outlet is about 70 percent of the Malaysian menu. But William says that that will change as they'll slowly increase the menu items. They've also been adjusted to suit Singaporeans' taste and culture. Comparing with Fish & Co. , he says that the portion of food served here is slightly smaller and that the fishes used are special imports. Some are from South Africa , while others are from the Asian region.
Looks like this ‘fishy' business is going to make a much bigger splash.
Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars (Still cannot beat Ciccerello's at Fremantle,leh!)
Price range: $9.90 to $29.90 for a main course. Top up with $4.90 for a soup of the day and iced tea.