February 16, 2019

New Ubin Seafood's New Outlet At Zhongshan Park. Still One Of The Best "Tze Char" Places In Singapore.



From Sin Ming to Hillview, CHIJMES, and most recently Zhongshan Park, I've made efforts to visit New Ubin Seafood whenever the family-runned eatery relocates or opens a new outlet. No denying that I'm a fan.

There's this homely tze char element in their offerings that's so captivating. Though I must admit our experience last year at the CHIJMES outlet left us feeling underwhelmed for most parts. We blamed it on opening jitters maybe.

However, one bad experience doesn't wipe out all the good ones so it didn't deter me from checking out New Ubin at Zhongshan Park.


Opened last December, the 150-seater restaurant sits at the ground floor of four-star hotel Ramada by Wyndham Singapore at Zhongshan Park.

This marks the New Ubin's first hotel restaurant, and is the second outlet that the group has opened in 2018. First is the upscale restaurant that opened in CHIMES earlier in February 2018.

With locations getting less "ulu" and more accessible in Central Singapore plus the ever-increasing operating costs in our local F&B scene, I expect the menu prices to go up. And in fact it did, by a little.


I will not harp on too much about the prices because it's not an unreasonable increase. Business need to survive before it can continue to bring us quality food. Agree?

On that note, I happily tucked into the Foie Gras Egg Special ($10.50 per serving), a spin on the traditional Singaporean breakfast of soft-boiled eggs, decadently accompanied by chunks of foie gras and sprinkles of truffle salt.

Still as enjoyable as I remembered it to be.


Those pieces of crispy deep-fried chicken mid-wings coated with shrimp paste batter or Har Cheong Gai ($18 for 6pcs) are also not to be missed, and I would also recommend you to order the Crispy Pork Jowl ($14 for 125g) paired with miso gula melaka sauce.

It may look deceivingly pedestrian but magic happens once you pop a slice into your mouth. The pork cut has a wonderful mix of lean meat and fats, and yielded a very flavorful bite. Tasty enough even on its own without any sauce.

The superbly fresh Carabinero Prawns ($22 per pc) are best savored sashimi-style, and its prawn head can be deep-fried upon request.


Our group shared many other dishes that evening, including Hong Kong Kai Lan Special ($15 small) prepared in two ways, and caramelised crisp-thin Brinjal Delight ($15 small).

The Fish Roe with Sambal Chinchalok & Petai Beans ($25 for 250gm) is those kind of dishes which you either like it, or you don't. I still haven't learn to appreciate its beauty oops. The advice from those who love the dish is to pair its spicy, sour, and tangy goodness with a simple bowl of white rice.

Another dish that calls for white rice is the Smoked Pork Curry ($29). Using pork belly, the cut is smoked in-house and cooked with eggplant, cabbage, lady's finger, lemongrass, curry leaves, and fried beancurd. Flavours are intense with an highly-appetizing taste.


Perhaps the most iconic item from New Ubin is their USDA Black Angus 'Choice' Ribeye ($16 per 100g) with 'Heart Attack' Fried Rice.

The ribeye is grilled over coals to a perfect medium rare and smoky char. It is then cubed for easy sharing, and served with caramelised onion, Idaho potato wedges, house-smoked sea salt flakes, and rice that's caramelised with beef drippings from the ribeye.

Though I've experienced inconsistency in the execution of this dish across New Ubin's various outlets, it was still delicious most of the time. Glad to say this one at Zhongshan Park captured my heart once again.


My heart is also full of love for the Boss Bee Hoon ($12 for small), and Hokkein Mee Special ($15 for small). Passionately kissed by the fiery wok, both noodle dishes had that distinctive wok hei or breath of wok aroma. Totally intoxicating.

Never mind that the bee hoon has only three basic ingredients - rice vermicelli, egg, and chye sim. It is actually a recipe done accordingly to the founder family's preference, and proved that not every dish have to be loaded with ingredients to be winning.

But if you still need your proteins, the hokkein mee would be an excellent option with prawns, pork belly, baby squid, clams, yellow noodles and thick bee hoon steeped in a luscious pork and prawn broth.


We were already in semi-food coma state by this time but the arrival of Garlic-baked Live Mud Crabs (from $48 for 500gm), and Chilli Crab with Deep-fried Mantou (from $48 for 500gm) | $4 for 3 mantous) at our table made our eyes lit up once again.

Despite its name, the chilli crab is more tomato-ish in taste rather than spicy. Its sweet and savoury sauce is perfect for dunking those pieces of deep-fried buns in.

While the garlic-baked crab was meaty and delicious, our chopsticks also went non-stop for the cloves of garlic that's roasted to smoky-sweet perfection. Garlic breath can be so so so wonderful too hehee.


I've never tried the desserts at New Ubin despite my numerous visits, and am glad I finally did.

The Kaya on Toasted Baguette ($8) is "atas-ly" paired with French butter which is known for its richer taste. Lovely but it felt kind of weird to be having the baguette after a heavy meal. Would definitely want to have it for breakfast or tea break though.

Those sweet and sticky slices of Banana caramelised with Gula Melaka ($10) served with house-made coconut made a more suitable choice as dessert.


As with all New Ubin outlets, New Ubin Zhongshan Park will continue to welcome guests who bring at their own wines and spirits to enjoy with their meal at no corkage charge. High quality Riedel stemware is even provided.

Looks like New Ubin is in good hands under the second generation leadership of chef & CEO Alexander Pang, alongside founder & COO Pang Seng Meng, and the Pang family.


New Ubin Seafood @ Zhongshan Park
Address: Ramada by Wyndham Singapore at Zhongshan Park, 16 Ah Hood Road, Singapore 329982
Contact: +65 9740 6870 (Call/SMS/WhatsApp)
Website: http://www.newubinseafood.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newubinzhongshanpark/
Opening Hours: Lunch Mon-Sun 12pm-3pm| Dinner Mon-Thu 6pm–10.30pm | Dinner Fri-Sun 5.30pm-11pm

Prices are (1) Stated in Singapore dollars (2) Subject to 10% service charge & 7% GST (3) Correct at point of published date.

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