No Signboard Seafood: Singapore white pepper crab in Geylang
Another hot item on my to-eat list during my trip to Singapore was the iconic Singapore chili crab. Our friends took us to No Signboard Seafood in the Geylang area to eat this dish.
Like many other popular spots in Singapore, No Signboard Seafood started off as a seafood hawker stall. They first started serving food back in the 1970s and has since been well known for their Singapore chili crab and the white pepper crab. They have 2 locations in Singapore – one in Geylang and one in Esplanade.
The vibe
No Signboard Seafood has a marketplace vibe to it. Most of the restaurant itself is completely outdoors, but there is still a roof over your head (just no walls) so it is totally fine if it starts raining. The ceiling has a ton of fans but I was still feeling pretty hot the day we went. They have one area/room where there is AC but apparently that is for VIP guests to sit.
There are a lot of large circular tables that can hold 8-10 people, but since we were only 4 people we were seated in a smaller table in the back. There are fish tanks everywhere with live seafood and lots of decorations and string lights, giving the place a festive atmosphere, but also super casual. You definitely don’t need to dress up to eat here, but maybe if you do you get to sit in the VIP area ๐.
Food and drinks review
Here is everything we ate between 4 people. Note that our friends were very generous and paid for the meal, so the prices used in this blog are from their Grab (food delivery app) shop. These prices may not be the same if you dine-in.
Prices are in SGD, but almost 1:1 to CAD and rounded to the nearest dollar.
Plum drink + Milk tea
Kelvin ordered a milk tea and I go this plum drink because the lemon tea was sold out. I found the plum drink to taste a lot like those preserved/dried plums, and it gave a strong sour taste. Overall, I wasn’t the biggest fan. The milk tea was sweeter than what I am used to.
Razor clams with vermicelli ($24)
On their Grab menu, they call this dish bamboo clam with vermicelli, but I am pretty sure these are razor clams. It is steamed with garlic and topped with some green onions and vermicelli noodles. We each got one full razor clam, and it was quite tasty because it was fresh and had that nice garlic sauce on it. The razor clam was also pretty big! Quite a lot of clam meat on it and easy to eat since it was sliced open in this way.
Braised yee fu noodles ($10-30) + Gai lan ($15)
For “sides”, we also order a plate of noodles. They have so many noodles to choose from, but I think we got yee fu noodles, which are kinda flat egg noodles made from wheat flour. The noodles had a simple soy sauce with some mushrooms and veggies.
The baby gai lan is like a Chinese broccoli and is also simply cooked in garlic. It had a nice crunch and it is a homey taste that I am familiar with.
White pepper crab ($96)
Finally the star of the show!
So we were kind of indecisive because the famous dish is the Singapore chili crab, which actually has a red sauce that tastes spicy and tangy. However, our friends recommended the white pepper crab to us instead because apparently No Signboard is more known for their white pepper crab vs. the chili crab, so we ended up going with the white pepper crab.
On Grab, they list the white pepper crab as $96 for 600-700g. I am not sure exactly how many g/how big of a crab we ordered or what the price ended up being.
They split up the legs so it is easier to eat and they also provide some plastic gloves because the sauce can get pretty messy and you will be eating with your hands.
I found the white pepper crab to be not that spicy but it still had a kick to it due to the peppery flavour. The crab meat was sweet as well, but I found the other parts of the crab to be a bit difficult to eat (hard to get the meat out). The legs that they prepared were easy to eat and delicious – I wish the other parts of the crab were just as easy to eat!
HK style steamed fish
Lastly, we order a whole steamed fish to end our dinner. I am not sure of the price or if this is even Hong Kong style, but it was steamed with soy sauce, ginger, and some cilantro. The flavours of the fish are not too far off from HK style steamed fish. The fish meat was soft and flaky, quite similar to the steamed fish we ate together back in Bali.
Recommended: Read my review of Bali Sentosa Seafood in Kuta, Bali.
Also, this fish was huge! Prices are probably market price/based on seasonality and also what type of fish you want and how large.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: โญโญโญโญ
We had a seafood feast at No Signboard Seafood in Geylang!
Before coming to eat here, we just came back from a really hot and sweaty day at Universal Studios Singapore, I was feeling a little gross. I wish the dining area was cooler but I feel like you can’t really ask for that in Singapore ๐ฅต. Heat aside, I liked how it felt like a seafood market – it felt very authentic. But I mostly took 1 star out because I was hot/gross and I don’t like getting my hands dirty when I eat, which here it was impossible not to get your hands dirty when eating the crab.
All the food was delicious, but I liked the crab and the razor clam the most. The fish is pretty good as well, but I think to come here you have to get the crab. Since we didn’t try the chili crab, I don’t know for sure which one is better, and Kelvin will now always wonder what the classic Singapore chili crab tastes like. But knowing that No Signboard Seafood kind of invented the white pepper crab, I felt like it was a better choice to try it and you can order the Singapore chili crab at another crab establishment.
The dinner was not cheap (especially when you compare to other food options in Singapore like hawkers where you can get a meal for $10), so be prepared to splurge a little on crab, clams, lobster or fish. I would recommend coming with 4 people or more so you can eat Chinese banquet dinner style and try lots of different items.
Sincerely, Loewe