A Gastronomic Chronicle
Ubi, Singapore • December 2023
I. Introduction: A Name Spoken in Reverence
In the dense constellation of Singapore’s zi char landscape — that quintessentially local genre of communal cooking, where woks sing with fire and tables groan under shared plates — certain establishments achieve a gravitational pull that goes beyond mere reputation. Yang Ming Seafood is one such place. Its two outposts, in Bishan and Ubi, have earned a place in the city-state’s culinary consciousness not merely by virtue of their live seafood tanks, but through a commitment to inventive flavour-building that rewards the curious palate.
What sets Yang Ming apart is its willingness to subvert expectation. The chee cheong fun — those silken, yielding rice rolls ordinarily associated with dim sum trolleys and hawker breakfast counters — here become structural and flavour-absorbing elements in main-course seafood compositions. This is not gimmickry; it is considered engineering of the plate.
This review documents a comprehensive tasting at the Ubi outlet, located within Excalibur Centre, with attention to the full sensory spectrum of each dish: texture, hue, aroma, flavour architecture, and conceptual coherence.
II. Ambience & Setting
The Physical Environment
The Ubi branch of Yang Ming Seafood occupies a space that is honest in its intentions: it does not aspire to the hushed elegance of a fine-dining room, nor does it succumb to the spartan brightness of a hawker centre. Instead it occupies a productive middle register — a zi char restaurant confident in its food, measured in its décor, and warm in its atmosphere.
Upon arrival, the visitor encounters a bifurcated dining arrangement. The outdoor section, open to the ambient warmth and occasional breezes of equatorial Singapore, offers a convivial buzz — the clatter of woks audible from the kitchen, the fragrance of garlic and sesame drifting across tables. It is the kind of setting that primes the appetite.
The indoor section, however, is the recommended choice for the considered diner. Air conditioning tempers the tropical heat; the relative quietude permits conversation and contemplation. The lighting is neither harsh nor romantic — a practical brightness that allows one to properly observe the colours and textures of each dish as it arrives. The seating is comfortable without being luxurious, and tables are spaced with adequate generosity.
“A restaurant confident enough in its cooking to let the food speak without theatrical staging.”
Practical Considerations
The Ubi outlet is a seven-minute walk from Ubi MRT Station, making it accessible without the tyranny of parking. Indoor seating is notably limited, a consequence of the restaurant’s popularity and the relatively modest footprint of the dining room. Advanced reservation is strongly recommended, particularly for weekend dinners, when waits can extend considerably. The staff are attentive and knowledgeable — able to speak to the provenance and preparation of the live seafood with the easy fluency of those who know their product.
Yang Ming Seafood is not a halal-certified establishment. The menu reflects a traditional Chinese seafood-focused repertoire, with dishes calibrated for communal consumption across a table of four to six.
III. The Dishes: An In-Depth Analysis
The Andrew Lobster
Hues & Visual Presentation
The Andrew Lobster arrives as a chromatic statement. The bisected shell, lacquered in a deep amber-mahogany glaze, frames flesh of ivory-white suffused with the faintest coral blush — the living signature of a recently dispatched specimen. Beneath the crustacean, a bed of chee cheong fun glimmers in a sauce that pools in amber tones, darkening at the edges where it has caramelised against the heat of the wok. Fried garlic bits scattered across the surface lend flecks of pale gold, breaking the uniform sheen of the glaze and adding visual dimensionality.
Textures
The Boston lobster’s flesh registers with remarkable clarity on the palate. It is firm — offering genuine resistance without toughness — yet yields with a tenderness that speaks to minimal overexposure to heat. The interior remains moist, almost custardy in its deepest sections near the joint, where the meat is thickest and the sauce penetrates most thoroughly.
The chee cheong fun beneath is a study in textural contrast. Cut into sections roughly three centimetres in length, the rice rolls have absorbed the house sauce deeply, rendering their exterior slightly tacky and sauce-laden, while preserving an interior that remains supple, smooth, and distinctly silky. The juxtaposition — the structural firmness of lobster against the yielding softness of rice roll — is the conceptual and textural heart of the dish.
Flavour Architecture
The house-made sauce is a carefully modulated composition. Its primary register is umami of considerable depth, likely derived from a reduction of shellfish stock, fermented elements, and aromatics. The garlic presence is pronounced but not aggressive — fried to the point where its raw pungency has given way to a rounder, more complex sweetness. There is a saline backbone, carefully controlled so as not to overwhelm the natural brininess of the lobster itself.
What elevates the dish beyond mere technical execution is the synergy between the sauce and the chee cheong fun. The rice rolls do not merely accompany — they transform. Saturated with the cooking liquid and lobster juices, they become carriers of flavour that in some moments rival the lobster itself in their depth of taste.
Price from $108. Recommended without reservation.
Golden Gravy Crab Chee Cheong Fun
Hues & Visual Presentation
The Golden Gravy Crab CCF announces itself with visual warmth: a pumpkin-coloured sauce of deep ochre and burnt sienna draped across segmented Sri Lankan crab and pale rice rolls. The colour palette suggests autumnal richness, a visual promise of depth and sweetness that the flavour, unfortunately, does not fully honour.
Textures & Structural Notes
The crab sections are butchered cleanly and the shells crack with satisfying resistance. The flesh within is plump and white, yielding to pressure with the characteristic springiness of a fresh specimen. Where this dish diverges from its lobster counterpart is in the chee cheong fun. Here, the rice rolls exhibit a noticeably thicker cross-section and a somewhat starchier, less refined texture — a consequence, perhaps, of differing preparation or longer holding time. The pleasant silkiness that distinguished the lobster version is absent; these rolls feel heavier on the tongue.
Flavour Architecture
The golden pumpkin-based gravy is the dish’s principal liability. Pumpkin, as a flavour vehicle, is inherently mild and sweet — it demands assertive secondary notes to carry it through a dish of this richness. Here, those secondary notes are insufficiently developed. The gravy reads as thin and one-dimensional, possessing sweetness without depth, body without complexity. It neither amplifies the crab’s natural sweetness nor cuts through it with contrasting acidity or umami. The net effect is a dilution of the crab’s qualities rather than their elevation.
Price from $95 per kilogram. An interesting concept that does not yet achieve its ambition.
Chao Tah Pig Trotter Chee Cheong Fun
Hues & Visual Presentation
Dark, almost monochromatic in its charred intensity — this dish arrives looking like a consequence of controlled fire. The rice sheets and eggs, fried to deep brown at their outer edges while retaining paler, silkier interiors, recall the visual vocabulary of a well-executed char kway teow or wok-fried bee hoon. The inspiration from Malaysian zi char tradition is legible in the visual grammar of the plate.
Textures
The textural execution of the rice sheets themselves is admirable. The caramelised outer surface provides genuine crunch and a slightly bitter, savoury edge, while the interior preserves the characteristic softness of chee cheong fun. This duality — crisp exterior, silken interior — is technically demanding and here executed with confidence.
Wok Hei & Conceptual Coherence
The wok hei is the dish’s greatest strength: that elusive, high-temperature smokiness that can only be achieved over ferocious heat with a practised hand. It permeates the egg and rice roll components with a lightly charred, almost caramelised fragrance. The conceptual problem, however, is structural: the pig trotter, which lends the dish its name and theoretical identity, is present in such minimal quantity and cut so small that it registers as a peripheral afterthought rather than a protagonist. A dish named after an ingredient ought to foreground it.
Price: $25. Recommended for the wok hei alone, with the caveat that pig trotter enthusiasts may feel misled.
Steamed Baby Sotong
Hues & Visual Presentation
Perhaps the most serene plate of the evening. The baby squid, pale ivory with translucent hints of purple-grey at the mantle edges, rest in a shallow pool of golden soy-based sauce punctuated by slices of ginger in warm buff tones and clusters of bronzed fried garlic. There is an unassuming elegance to this dish — it does not announce itself dramatically, but rewards close attention.
Textures
This is the textural triumph of the tasting. The squid have been steamed to a precise moment: their flesh offers a gentle resistance that yields cleanly — never rubbery, never yielding into mush. The tentacles are ever so slightly firmer than the mantle, providing micro-textural variation within a single bite. The fried garlic bits provide occasional crunch against the uniform softness of the squid.
Flavour Architecture
The flavour profile is a lesson in restraint. The savoury soy base is well-seasoned but does not overwhelm; the ginger introduces a warm, slightly spicy counterpoint that lifts the squid’s inherent oceanic sweetness. The fried garlic contributes depth without aggression. Every element is calibrated to amplify the squid’s natural character rather than replace it.
Price from $20. The dish that perhaps best exemplifies the kitchen’s mastery when working with the inherent qualities of pristine seafood.
Umami Crab Seafood Pao Fan
Hues & Visual Presentation
The pao fan arrives in states of transformation: crispy fried rice grains, initially scattered across the surface in pale gold, begin their descent into the surrounding soup — a rich, mahogany-tinged broth of considerable depth. Crab sections in warm coral-orange tones and prawns of deep pink crown the bowl, their shells catching the light with a lacquered sheen. As the rice softens and expands, the colour palette deepens and unifies.
Textures — A Dynamic Study
What distinguishes pao fan as a dish is its temporal dimension: the textures change as one eats. Early in the meal, the crispy rice offers structural contrast to the silky broth. As minutes pass, the rice absorbs the soup, softening from crunch to a yielding, porridge-adjacent consistency that carries flavour throughout its now-expanded mass. To eat pao fan slowly is to experience a textural narrative. The crab and prawn, plump and fresh, provide the consistent structural anchors throughout this evolution.
Flavour Architecture & Technical Notes
The broth is the engine of this dish. Built from a reduction of prawn shells and crab, it achieves a sweetness-umami balance of genuine sophistication — oceanic, complex, with a lingering finish. The minor criticism lodged against the crab — slightly overcooked relative to the crab in other dishes — is valid: the flesh is less juicy and sweet than it might be. However, this is a marginal flaw in an otherwise exemplary composition.
Price: $138. A commanding finale to the meal and worth every dollar for a table of four or more.
IV. Recipes & Cooking Methodology
Andrew Lobster with Chee Cheong Fun
Conceptual Framework
The genius of this dish lies in the deliberate use of chee cheong fun as a sauce-absorbing substrate rather than a carbohydrate accompaniment. The rice rolls act similarly to pasta in an Italian braise: their starch content binds with the cooking liquid to create a cohesive flavour delivery system.
Approximate Recipe
Serves 2–3 as part of a shared meal.
For the Lobster:
1 Boston lobster, approximately 600–800g, dispatched and halved
2 tbsp neutral oil for wok
8 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
100ml shellfish stock or lobster head broth
1 tsp cornstarch slurry (1 tsp cornstarch, 2 tbsp water)
For the Chee Cheong Fun:
200g fresh chee cheong fun sheets, cut to 5cm sections
1 tsp sesame oil to finish
Cooking Instructions
Step 1 — Wok preparation: Heat wok over the highest available flame until smoking. Add oil and wait until shimmering — approximately 10–15 seconds. The temperature discipline here is non-negotiable: insufficient heat will result in steaming rather than searing, and the characteristic wok hei will be absent.
Step 2 — Garlic foundation: Add minced garlic and stir-fry for 30–45 seconds until fragrant and just beginning to colour. Do not allow it to brown fully at this stage; it will continue cooking with the lobster.
Step 3 — Sear the lobster: Place lobster halves cut-side down in the wok. Sear for 90 seconds without moving — this develops colour and seals in moisture. Turn and sear the shell side for a further 60 seconds.
Step 4 — Sauce construction: Add shellfish stock. Bring to a rapid simmer. Add oyster sauce and light soy sauce. Stir to combine. Simmer 2 minutes, basting the lobster continuously.
Step 5 — Chee cheong fun integration: Add the rice roll sections. Toss gently to coat. The rolls should absorb the sauce and become glossy and sauce-saturated — approximately 1–2 minutes. Do not over-agitate; the rolls are delicate.
Step 6 — Finishing: Add cornstarch slurry to tighten the sauce to a glossy, coating consistency. Drizzle sesame oil over the assembled dish. Plate the chee cheong fun first, arrange lobster halves above, and spoon remaining sauce over the entirety.
Step 7 — Service: Serve immediately. This dish does not hold; the textural integrity of both the lobster and the chee cheong fun degrades with delay.
“The wok is not merely a pan — it is a precision instrument that demands total temperature control.”
Steamed Baby Sotong with Soy & Garlic
Approximate Recipe
Serves 2 as a shared dish.
Ingredients:
300–400g fresh baby squid, cleaned, with tentacles retained
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
2cm knob fresh ginger, finely sliced into julienne
6 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
3 tbsp neutral oil
1 tsp sesame oil
Cooking Instructions
Step 1 — Preparation of squid: Ensure the squid are immaculately fresh. The mantle should be firm and translucent; the eye should be bright and clear. Clean by removing the transparent gladius (quill) from the mantle and rinsing under cold water. Pat completely dry — surface moisture is the enemy of clean steaming.
Step 2 — Sauce preparation: Combine light soy sauce and sugar. Stir to dissolve. Taste: the sauce should register as pleasantly saline with a gentle sweetness underpinning it.
Step 3 — Steaming: Place squid in a single layer on a heatproof plate. Pour soy-sugar sauce over. Distribute ginger julienne across the top. Steam over vigorously boiling water for precisely 4–5 minutes. Do not exceed 6 minutes under any circumstance — the proteins in squid cross-link rapidly beyond this threshold, producing the rubbery texture that represents the cardinal failure mode of this dish.
Step 4 — Garlic oil: While the squid steams, heat neutral oil in a small saucepan until shimmering. Add sliced garlic. Fry over medium heat, stirring constantly, until golden brown and crispy — approximately 2–3 minutes. Immediate removal from heat is essential; residual heat will continue the cooking and can quickly result in bitterness.
Step 5 — Assembly & service: Remove squid from steamer. Drizzle sesame oil over the plate. Pour the hot garlic oil directly over the squid and ginger — the sizzle is both theatrically pleasing and functionally important, as it briefly infuses the surface of the squid with garlic fragrance. Serve immediately.
V. Critical Scorecard
The following assessment evaluates Yang Ming Seafood’s Ubi outlet across seven dimensions, each weighted equally in the composite score.
Category Score Notes
Freshness & Ingredient Quality 9.5 / 10 Live tanks, same-day harvest; impeccable
Flavour Complexity 8.0 / 10 Andrew Lobster excels; Golden Crab CCF disappoints
Textural Execution 8.5 / 10 CCF silkiness in lobster dish is superlative
Wok Hei & Technique 8.0 / 10 Chao Tah CCF shows strong fire control
Innovation & Concept 9.0 / 10 Chee cheong fun integration is genuinely novel
Value Proposition 7.5 / 10 Premium pricing; justified for signature dishes
Ambience & Service 7.5 / 10 Comfortable but utilitarian; warm staff
Overall 7.5 / 10 A destination worth making
VI. Final Verdict
Yang Ming Seafood is, at its finest, a restaurant of genuine creative distinction. The Andrew Lobster is not merely a good dish — it is a concept executed with the kind of confidence that suggests a kitchen fully in command of its vision. The Steamed Baby Sotong demonstrates that technical mastery and simplicity are not opposing values but complementary ones. The Umami Crab Seafood Paofan, despite a minor lapse in crab cookery, is a broth of real depth that lingers in the memory.
Where the restaurant falls short is in the inconsistency of its newer, outlet-exclusive dishes. The Golden Gravy Crab CCF possesses structural promise but lacks the flavour scaffolding to fulfil it. The Chao Tah Pig Trotter CCF, while technically adept in its wok hei execution, commits the not-insignificant error of marginalising its own protagonist ingredient.
These are the growing pains of a restaurant continuing to evolve its creative vocabulary. They are worth noting, and worth returning to resolve. For the zi char enthusiast, the seafood devotee, and the curious gastronome alike, Yang Ming Seafood remains a worthwhile destination — one that occupies, with increasing confidence, a space between tradition and invention.
“Not every dish is a triumph, but the triumphant ones are extraordinary.”
Restaurant Information
Address: 71 Ubi Crescent, #01-05, Excalibur Centre, Singapore 408571
Opening Hours: Tuesday–Saturday 11:00–14:30, 16:30–22:30 | Sunday–Monday 11:00–14:00, 16:30–22:30
Telephone: 8028 2230
Note: Yang Ming Seafood is not halal-certified.
Overall Rating: 7.5 / 10