Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Pince & Pints @ Duxton Road

Is lobster your kind of food?

If you are not allergic to them, or you personally prefer bigger prawns because you think the texture of prawns are superior to lobsters, or you think think bringing your date to a lobster place will give him/her higher expectations for future dates, then sorry this place is not for you.

If you like lobsters and you think a place that only sells only lobsters will be able to do it well, then you might want to consider this place to dine in.

Pince & Pints

Your feed on Facebook or Instagram would have been filled with lobster dishes from this place in the months of July and August. I hope the mad queue would have died down now, and posting this now is a good time, i.e., you don't have to wait too long for a place in this restaurant and bar.

This place has only 38 pax seating and 8 pax on the bar. So, you would expect to wait a while before you can get a place. Either that, go earlier! It opens from 5 pm to 9 pm, and a bird whispered to my ears that if you go before 6 pm or after 9 pm, your waiting time is acceptable.

Pince & Pints

Since there's a crowd outside, the menu has been kept to only 3 things, one which can be done in 2 styles. So, don't take too long to decide, order, eat and let others have a chance to come in!

The 3 things on the menu:
1) Live whole lobster: You can have it grilled or steamed.
2) Lobster roll: For those of you who think prying up a lobster is too tedious, this gives you 160gm of lobster meat all pealed out for you.
3) Chilli lobster: For those who think crabs are too tedious to eat and think lobsters are sexier.

All the three items have the same price. $48++
The lobsters here are from Boston, Maine or Canada, wild caught and flown in live.

Pince & Pints

The menu is actually made from a lobster cage. I must admit I haven't seen a real cage before and this was a first for me. I haven't also seen the word "dorsal view" since secondary school days when I did biology! I remember drawing specimens and naming them, but we were only drawing prawns!


Menu Item 1: Live Whole Lobster

Pince & Pints

Whole live lobsters. You can choose if you want them grilled or steamed. It's personal preference.

Grilling will slightly dry out the meat, so if you like them this way, and with a nice char aroma, order them grilled. If you want them really moist, have them steamed. Why don't you try it and let me know which one you prefer?



My dining companion is an expert in prying out lobster meat. Here's a video of it that I loaded up on Instagram.

Pince & Pints

I have been told the lobsters here weight around 600-650 grams when taken out of the tank. So with the shells off, you can get around 160 grams of lobster flesh.

Also, it's only when you place your order, is the lobster taken out of the holding tank to be cooked.

Pince & Pints

This sauce served with it is called herbed butter sauce in the menu.
It's melted butter, with some mayo below and with herbs on top. It's extremely sinful, but it taste rather good with the lobster.

The lobster that I had just nicely grilled. I enjoyed it the natural sweetness of it and I prefer this to the cold versions at some buffets. Comes with a salad and shoe string fries.


Menu Item 2: Lobster Roll

Pince & Pints

Lobster rolls have suddenly become so popular in Singapore. Suddenly so many places are serving it. I haven't tried them all, so I can't tell you the best place to have it. I can tell you what I know about the lobster roll at this place though.

Pince & Pints

The lobster is steamed, then simply marinated with mayo and salt. It's also a whole lobster (body and also the claw), around 160 grams of it. The bun is sourced from a traditional bakery, spread with butter than pan fried, so you get a crispy side. The lobster is then stuffed into the bun. It's then topped with some chopped chives.

Pince & Pints

I didn't arrange the chunks of lobster. It came like this and I just took multiple angles of it. Just too beautiful that I took so many shots of it. Here's the lobster roll, done New England style.

The rolls comes with a salad, shoe string fries and very addictive garlic aioli.


Menu Item 3: Chilli Lobster

Pince & Pints

If you like to spice things up, order the Chilli Lobster. Doesn't it just look tempting?

No, the 'kepo' inside me asked if it was cooked inside a claypot. Serving in a nice claypot keeps it warm a bit longer.  We usually see big woks used to cook chilli crabs. Yes, they use big woks too, you can see it for yourself if you want, it's an open concept kitchen here.

Pince & Pints

Fried carbo, I mean Mantou are served with the chilli lobsters. If you need more, you can see they are quite generous with the sauce, order another set of 5 for $3.50.

Pince & Pints

Tomato-ish tasting, with enough spice level to bring the shiokness out. It all depends on your tongue, as our spice tolerance will be different. I will say "I like lah....".


I tell you, just use your hands and eat it. Don't worry about being messy. I tell you pulling out the lobster meat with your fingers make it taste extra nice! See I really used my hands, I have to asked someone else to take photos for me!

They have L'occitane hand wash for you to wash your hands. Yes, I spotted that.


Pince & Pints

I have people asking me, saying: "wah, so expensive at $48++". I have this photo to help me answer it. I took this photo at a Fairprice Finest near my home. This is the same Maine Lobster they serve at Pince and Pints. A frozen version, not cooked yet, no sides, no service staff to hire, no rent to pay, it already costs $25.50. If you are Lennardy, maybe you can transform this into beautiful meal in your home kitchen. For most people, I think your $48++ can be spent here, just don't come during peak hours and get yourself angry waiting at the queue. ;-)

Oh, for the geeks and engineers who always love to read about engineering news, the water at their storage tanks for the lobsters are kept at 5 to 7 Celsius. I didn't get to see the setup, but probably it's a simple thermostat controller that regulates the chiller. Oh yes, 5000 plus lobsters comes in every month. The lobster don't spend more than 7 days in the holding tanks, as to keep them fresh.

Pince & Pints
32/33 Duxton Road
Singapore 089496

Hours: 5 pm to 11 pm
Tel: +65 6225 7558







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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is this halal bro?

Unknown said...

Hi Anon,

They sell alcohol, so can't be certified Halal.
It's seafood, so it should be OK for some people who have dietary requirements.

You can call or email them to confirm or tweet @halalsg to ask ;-)

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