The Boiler Seafood Bar and Beer

There are a few places in Singapore that serves seafood in a bag where diners are expected to dig in with their hands, whether or not the contents are poured onto tables covered with paper or plastic that will be thrown away after every meal. No placemats, crockeries and cutleries. The concept from Louisiana was started in 2012 by The Cajun Kings (it has since closed), followed by Crab in Da Bag in 2013 and Dancing Crab in 2014. Another who jumped on the bandwagon in the same year as the latter, was The Boiler Seafood Bar and Beer, located off MacPherson Road in an ulu industrial estate. Not where you will expect. As it continues to give a free Boston lobster to every birthday baby who orders a Boiler's Bombdiggity Bag, my dining companions and I decided to try it. This promotion must be selected when making reservations through its website or Facebook, or HungryGoWhere's website or mobile app.

Was surprised the place was almost packed for dinner on a weekday. We chose Garlic Butter over The Works, Peppa Butter and Sauce of the Month (Laksa) for Boiler's Bombdiggity Bag – crab, prawns, mussels, clams, sausages, corn and buns. Since The Works is its signature, we had the Mild version for the lobster and were glad we did not opt for Medium or Ragin' Hot. The crab was mildly sweet and prawns were mostly fresh. Could neither rave about the lobster and mussels nor fault the clams and buns. Both sauces were very oily and the garlic taste stuck with me 'til the next day. While we were given plastic bibs and Ziploc bags to keep our clothes and mobile phones respectively clean, gloves were not provided and we had a hard time washing the grease off our hands. Lemon would have been useful. Of the three Louisiana-style seafood places that I have tried, this was more value-for-money while Crab in Da Bag stood out for taste and Dancing Crab for freshness.

The Boiler Seafood Bar and Beer
18 Howard Rd #01-06, Novelty Bizcentre