No sign, no soul

No Signboard Seafood Restaurant (Esplanade)
8 Raffles Avenue, The Esplanade Mall
#01-14/16
Singapore 039802
Tel: +65 6336 9959

I have always found it strange how it is only in Chinese restaurants that you get the large round tables of 10 or more people. It seems to me that the more reasonable method of handling large parties – either a long table or combining smaller tables lengthwise – may be more efficient space-wise. At the very least, this naturally creates smaller groups, or “pockets” – making dinner table conversation much easier and more intimate. If I am at a long table, or at one of many four-tops pulled together, I know who to talk to. When I am one of 12 people at a round table, it becomes a little more difficult to manage the conversation.

There are people who have learnt the art of holding court at a dinner table, and I admire them for it. I have seen the very best do this – engage everyone in hearty conversation, offer interesting opinions when it is time to be serious, and laugh when it is time not to be – all the while politely but subtly slipping their food into their mouths and never looking anything but graceful. I could never do it well; I was too interested in the food. In a strange way it was often people that prevented you from truly enjoying your food, except for the rare few that are as good as the food itself.

Britt came to visit Singapore this past weekend, and one of the places we took her to was No Signboard seafood restaurant, for that famous Singaporean classic – chilli crab. It was lovely to see her after so long, and it was a good thing that we had already spent the bulk of the day together – for she wound up sitting across from me at the large round table and we did not exchange a single word the entire time.

Chilli crab is, according to many, the unofficial “national” dish of Singapore and consists of hard-shelled crabs stir-fried in a tomato and chilli-based gravy – that is in turn usually laced with spices like galangal and turmeric as well as ribboned with beaten egg. Eating chilli crabs is as much adventure as it is dining, because of the efforts you have to go through to crack the crab shells and pick at, slurp on or suck out the meat. It is served with zha mantou – deep-fried sweet bread rolls with which to mop up the remainder of the gravy once you are done with the crabs.

The No Signboard restaurant chain is one of the success stories within Singaporean hawker fare. Started in 1981 at the Mattar Rd Hawker Centre – without a signboard – it remains a family-owned and run business with four locations in Singapore and several others overseas. Their latest offerings, at the Esplanade and Vivocity, are skewing more upmarket. As is somewhat inevitable when any organisation expands, they have sacrificed quality and market leadership for consistency and increased market reach. They may no longer be the best at making crabs, but to many are still a familiar, reliable and acceptable choice.

(I like Red House at East Coast Park for chilli crab, Eng Seng at Joo Chiat for black pepper crab, and Mellben in Ang Mo Kio for both plain and white pepper crab.)

We ordered some traditional zi char dishes to complement the chilli crabs, which was undoubtedly the main draw of the night. The gu lu yoke (sweet and sour pork) was very disappointing – the batter was not crispy enough and the tomato sauce did not have enough of a sour tang to it. The steamed Soon Hock was actually done quite well and drew rave reviews from Britt, which is saying something because she apparently grew up eating a lot of seafood. The house-made tofu with ground pork - one of their specialties - was well made and well-flavoured. The sambal kangkong was decent, but fell short in that like most of the other dishes it did not have enough wok hei.

To explain: wok hei is a romanticised notion of the flavour, or “essence”, imparted onto the food cooked in a wok at very high heat. True wok hei is a combination of the scientific – Maillard reactions, caramelisation and combustion levels only possible at high heat, increased moisture retention of the ingredients due to the short flash-frying time; and that which is not so tangible – the speed and the skill of the chef in exposing all the ingredients to the heat and to the sauces and flavourings, and the alleged ability of cast iron to retain and impart flavour. It is wok hei that gives wok-cooked food that smokiness, and amplifies its flavour while retaining its lightness.

The bright note was that the bamboo clams were excellently prepared – lightly seasoned with soy sauce, garlic, ginger and chillies – as well as being meaty and succulent. These are also called razor clams, and I had eaten them only once before but made a mental note to always ask about their availability when eating seafood in the future.

The chilli crabs took a while to arrive, by which time we had almost filled up on the other dishes. But when they came we all wordlessly agreed that it looked worth the wait for, and tucked in heartily. I was slightly disappointed – the chilli gravy needed a little more heft and spice – but the crabs themselves were fresh and juicy and an absolute joy to slurp on. I defy anybody with dining table etiquette to look graceful while eating crabs. It may be possible, but then you would not be getting the most out of the meal.


For a chain that has its roots in hawker centre and zi char cuisine – in which wok hei is paramount for the distinctive and soul-satisfying flavour of the food – No Signboard’s fancier locations have really fallen far from grace. Sure, this location is air-conditioned, overlooks Marina Bay and has the feel of a proper Chinese restaurant; but I would trade all that in an instant to be sucking down on chilli crabs on a stiff-backed stool, in a stuffy shack on the beach.