The Attraction of the Fish Tank

Had not published this post for 1 whole month, for the embarrassing reason that most of the pictures I've taken in the restaurant were out of focus!!! I had seriously considered abandoning the post, but as hubby reminded me, it was the quietest Chinese restaurant we've ever dined in, definitely worth a recommendation to those who wants to enjoy typical Singaporean Chinese seafood cuisine in a peaceful setting. So do bear with the lousy photos!!!

We had ended up in Greenwood Ave as hubby got fed up trying to find the nearest carpark to the dining places in Turf City. I was heartily worried we would end up feeding Sam fish & chips again, as the good eating places I know of in Greenwood Ave are all Western restaurants. So we were surprised to find a 'new' (to us) Jap buffet restaurant & Chinese seafood restaurant there.

While we were pursuing the menus to decide which place to have dinner in, Sam made the decision for us by entering the Chinese restaurant to gush at the fish tank, which was right smack in the middle of the small restaurant, in full view of the main entrance.

Well, the fish tank certainly kept Sam entertained while we placed our orders & waited for the food to arrive. I had to remind the little guy frequently NOT to knock on the glass to attract the attention of the fish!

The deco of the Old Ponggol Choon Seng Seafood restaurant was obviously Chinese, but it appeared to be more like what a foreigner's idea of a Chinese-Asian setting. Everything was obviously Chinese - wooden furniture, bright tablecloths, Chinese cutlery - yet with a modern feel that you wouldn't find in a usual Chinese restaurant. I'm afraid I'm not very good at describing..........well, overall feeling is still quite pleasant, if you can deduce what I'm trying to say. They even have 2 tables along the corridor outside for alfresco dining, obviously to cater to the clientele of the area.

The most impressive thing about the restaurant was the service. The staff were friendly and speak Mandarin (not Cantonese as in most such eating places), and they went to great lengths to make Sam comfortable. While Sam was tall enough to sit on the adult wooden chairs and had no use of the baby chairs, and the restaurant's utensils were already white plastic affairs that I can safely let Sam handle by himself, the waitress went out of her way to prepare the drink for the little boy.

We had ordered hot Chrysanthemum Tea ($1.30) for all, and since Sam doesn't like his drink hot, I asked for some ice in his plastic transparent glass to cool down the drink. The waitress and I then spent the next 2 minutes determining the suitable amount of drink to be in the glass for Sam to handle easily, and the number of ice cubes to be added so that the drink wouldn't be too hot or cold. What a relief to be able to go down to such details as though I'm preparing the stuff at home!!

For the food, we ordered the chef's recommendations, as my usual practice when eating for the 1st time in a Chinese restaurant. After all, if you don't even like the restaurant's famous dishes, there's usually no point in trying the other stuff, right??

So we had the Mee Goreng ($10) and Crispy Baby Squid ($18), the Prawn Pancake ($18) and the Red Wine Pork ($18). The Prawn Pancake came first: it's basically deep fried prawn cake, done to a crisp, and was quite good, compared to the rather average ngoh hiang 五香 that was served on the same dish. Sam polished off half his bowl of rice with this!

I quite like the Mee Goreng, which hubby said was very typical Singaporean style, though he much prefer it cooked with chili. We had asked for the dish without chilli as both Sam and I don't take spicy food, so while the 2 of us enjoyed the slight ketchup taste of the noodles, hubby had to add sambal chili to his.


The Baby Squid and Red Wine Ribs would actually go much better with rice, than with the noodles. The Squid was quite crispy and sweet - Sam liked it though it was a bit too hard for him; the ribs, on the other hand, was way too sweet and had no taste of wine whatsoever. Don't understand how that came to be a recommended dish.

We had also ordered Fried Vegetables with Garlic, Nai Bai Cai 奶白菜 ($12), upon waitress's recommendation of the freshest available that day. The freshness of the vegetables was certainly evident, though the dish was a trifle too oily for my taste.

Thoughout the dinner, the restaurant was only half full. Other tables came and went, and we were conscious of being the noisiest table in the little place. How quietly the other diners ate! I had thought such silence only belonged to the more high-end French restaurants! Even the Crystal Jade Golden Palace wasn't so quiet on a weekday lunch!

As hubby commented, definitely a place to go if we wanted a quiet Chinese meal!


Old Ponggol Choon Seng Seafood Restaurant
14 Greenwood Ave, Hillcrest Park
Tel: 6465-4621

Another branch in Changi Chalets locality,
tel: 6546-5251