The Place After trying to sell prawn noodles, the Michelin Bib Gourmand awardee One Prawn & Co is now venturing deeper into the sea. Their latest dinner concept from Chef Gwyneth and her team transforms the local prawn noodle restaurant in the day into a 12-course Seafood Grill experience after sunset. I visited One Prawn & Co previously for its prawn noodles and am curious about their new evening concept it has recently introduced.  

The Food At a fixed price of S$128++, the 12-course showcases a variety of seafood ranging from fresh oysters to charcoal-grilled turbot. Top up S$30++ for free-flow house pour Sake. 

The seafood ingredients are procured from different parts of the world such as Oysters from Hyogo, Japan; King scallop from Scotland; and Turbot from Denmark. Most of the dishes are grilled over charcoal. Here is what to expect from the 12-course Seafood Grill Menu: 

Amaebi – Sweet Shrimp, Avocado, Tomato, Rice Flower 
I love the fresh shrimp taste which has a natural sweetness. 

Next up is a series of four appetisers at one go:

Hyogo Oyster – Fresh Oyster, Mignonette Granita 

Amberjack – Cured Amberjack, Soy, Seaweed 

White Shrimp – Poached Shrimp, Coconut, Garam Masala 
The masala kills it here for me. The strong masala flavour woke my senses up in a good way. 

Soft Shell Crab – Tempura Soft Shell Crab, Kicap Manis, Baby Gem 
I like the light batter of the crisp tempura crab and it cuts it well with the vegetable. 

Maitake Mushroom – Grilled Maitake Mushroom, Burnt Barley Risotto, Chicken jus 
This course was quite a letdown as the risotto was quite dry and it was a pity that the Maitake mushroom was not put to good use. This is also a sharing dish for two people, where the portion is quite small. 

Squid – Squid Noodles, Salsa Verde, Black Olives 
A rather unique take on noodles which uses thinly shredded squid, the slightly spicy salsa verde sauce packed a punchy element to the dish. The portion is quite small for two people though. 

King Scallop – Scottish King Scallop, XO Chilli Jam 
The star element here is the XO chilli, otherwise it will be a rather ordinary scallop dish. 

Onglet – Hanging Tender Steak, Sunchoke Cream, Chives 

Turbot – Grilled Turbot, Garlic Brown Butter, Capers, Pickled Papaya 
To be fair, this is quite a huge piece of fish for two people to share (as opposed to the earlier squid and mushroom risotto dishes), there is a strong buttery taste from the turbot which could be too rich for the palate after awhile. Thankfully, there is the refreshing pickled papaya by the side to balance the rich flavours of the turbot. 

Abalone Poached Rice – Baby Abalone, Signature Prawn Bisque, Egg Floss 
The Abalone Poached Rice here is made with One Prawn & Co’s signature prawn broth, so you can expect a rich and robust broth flavour. It comes with crispy fried egg floss and the crispy rice bits are also served separately. My favourite dish of the meal.  

Seasonal Fruits – Specially curated from local marketplace 
The last course to end the meal, along with mini ice-cream cones.

Rants S$128++ per person for a 12-course chef menu in a coffeeshop is a bold move and idea, though I do not quite like the idea of sharing some of the courses like the scallop and squid noodles which felt awkward. And of course, do not expect air-conditioning but rather, an authentic Singaporean coffeeshop dining experience for the “restaurant” price tag. 

Will I Return Again? It was a rollercoaster experience for me in terms of the satisfaction level for the 12-course Seafood Grill – I like the starters, then it flattened quite abit from the Maitake Mushroom to the Onglet, before it got better for the Turbot and without surprise, the Abalone Poached Rice is one of the best dishes in this menu for me which features the Signature Prawn Bisque. Ultimately, the prawn broth is what makes One Prawn & Co famous, and I am just not sure if this 12-course dinner concept will take off well in a coffeeshop setting. 

This was an invited tasting, though all opinions expressed are our own.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 3.5/5
Hole in the pocket: 4/5
Ambience: 2/5
Overall Experience: 3.5/5

One Prawn & Co 
458 Macpherson Road 
Singapore 368176 

Opening Hours 
Tuesday to Sunday: 11am to 11pm; 6pm to 11pm 
Closed on Mondays 

Ranted by The Ranter