Pince & Pints - Tanjong Pagar

Singapore 1st Lobster-only restaurant. Yes, Singapore, but not the world. If you have been to London, you probably have heard about Burger and Lobster, a famous chain that offers nice and affordable lobster set meals. At Pince & Pints, you will be able to find many similarities, such as a simple menu with 3 options. Even the pricing is also set at a similar level (S$48 vs £20). Am I complaining? Of course not. In fact, I love lobsters and am thrilled that I can enjoy a lobster meal without forking out money for expensive air ticket!

Pince & Pints does not take reservation and with limited seating capacity, this could mean a wait of more than an hour, depending on the number of people in your group. My advice is either you turn early or provide your phone number to the staff and have a drink elsewhere while waiting for your turn.

Once seated, you will be given a menu in a "lobster cage".

The first two items are the same as Burger and Lobster: Whole Lobster, steamed or grilled, as well as Lobster Roll. Instead of beef burger (I really wonder how many people actually chose beef burger at lobster restaurant), Pince & Pints offers a local twist, with Chilli Lobster as a third item.

The lobsters here are around 600g each and imported from Atlantic Coast, such as Boston. Pince & Pints is very particular about how these lobsters are sourced and only work with fisheries that adhere to certain rules and regulations to ensure sustainability. The wild-caught lobsters are air-flown here and kept in speically designed environment before transferring to the restaurant to maintain freshness.

Chilli Lobster is served in a claypot and is accompanied by a plate of 5 deep fried mantous (buns). The gravy is though nice, is not spicy enough for me. I found it more of ketchup than chilli. Maybe this is to cater to non-spicy eaters and perhaps a solution to this could be offering different levels of spiciness, as the preference differs widely from one diner to another. Given the size of the mantous, they are not enough to soak up all the gravy. Good that they do offer additional serving at S$3.50. Would like to caution here that things could get quite messy when handling lobster drenched in the gravy.

Also tried the Grilled Lobster, which I prefer over the Chilli Lobster as the chilli gravy tends to cover the natural sweetness of crustacean. The fragrant smoky taste attached to the succulent meat is well enhanced by the accompanied herbed butter sauce.

Overall, I will still put Burger and Lobster ahead of Pince & Pints based on taste and overall experience, but I would also say Pince & Pints is not far behind. Given time, I believe they will get better. Will definitely come back and try to Steamed Lobster and Lobster Roll.

Budget : $ $ $

Rating : 8 / 10

Burger and Lobster - London

The menu is simple - there are only 3 items, namely  burger, lobster and lobster roll. Sorry, these are not even listed on the menu itself, but rather on the board hanged on the wall. This is exactly what I like - straight to the specialty items, instead of making the customers ploughing through the long list of items on the menu.

Lobsters are what people are here for. Weighing about 1kg each, these lobsters are flown in from Nova Scotia, one of the Canada's three maritime provinces. The lobsters are generally dark bluish green to greenish brown, but will turn bright red when cooked. You can choose either grilled or steamed or roll with mayonnaise. I personally prefer the steamed version which retains much of the original sweetness of the lobster. Interestingly, the burger option comes with beef, instead of lobster meat.

Priced at £ 20 per set, it also comes with garlic lemon butter dipping which further enhance the taste, a salad with balsamic dressing and some nice fries (though a bit salty). It is really value for money, given the good quality and size of lobster. I am sure that it is difficult to find a competing alternative.

No wonder this Russian-owned chain (which also owns Goodman Steak restaurants) is opening more outlets in London - total of 6 branches at the point of writing. This place is definitely among my top recommended list. My advise is that either you make reservation or you turn up early, to avoid the long queue.

Budget : $ $

Rating : 8.75 / 10