Boston Seafood Shack

Boston Seafood Shack
1 Vista Exchange Green
#01-16 The Star Vista

1 Kim Seng Promenade
#03-31 Great World City

4 Tampines Central 5
#B1-02 Tampines Mall

http://www.facebook.com/BostonSeafoodShack

http://www.bostonseafoodshack.com.sg/


Fast Food Quality, Restaurant Prices

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 6
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 5
Service: 7
Value for Money: 6
Spent about SGD $25 per person.

Boston Seafood Shack, located in The Star Vista Cultural Centre And Mall next to Buona Vista MRT, is styled like an American beach front diner.

Ambience at the Boston Seafood Shack is casual, with nautical and marine themed elements like boats, anchors, and fish. Seating is plentiful, although the seats within the enclosed air-conditioned area is somewhat limited.

Service at Boston Seafood Shack is fast food style. Everything is self service, you simply place your order and make payment at the cashier, and you'll be given a buzzer that sounds when your food is ready for collection. Staff are friendly though, and when I got a bottled drink with a faulty cap, the staff allowed me to exchange for another. Thumbs up for that!

I did have some issues with the food at Boston Seafood Shack. While seafood, and especially lobster, are considered premium ingredients, I felt the portion sizes aren't really value for money. Most main dishes on the menu cost between SGD $10 - $15. For this price, the portions are somewhat small. Also, I experienced some inconsistency in the freshness of the fish.

On a positive note, the soups at Boston Seafood Shack are well worth trying. They're thick and rich, with deep, full flavours. Very tasty and satisfying. Also, thumbs up to Boston Seafood Shack for attempting to introduce classic dishes from Boston and Maine to Singapore, done in an (almost) authentic manner.

Having only opened for less than a month at the time of this writing, Boston Seafood Shack may take some time to find their footing. As it stands now, you're paying restaurant prices for fast food quality. I'll probably only recommend Boston Seafood Shack for novelty visits, or if you really miss Boston / Maine fast food.




The place is styled like a maritime / beach sea shack!

Boston Seafood Shack

Drinks are somewhat expensive here. The Bickford's line of bottled drinks cost SGD $4.50 each. You may opt to get a Value Meal with any main dish, but it costs SGD $2.50 for 1 can of soft drink and 1 cookie.

Bickford's Ginger Beer

Bickford's Lemon Lime & Bitters

Evervess Ginger Ale

Yes, it's 'Lobstah'. A traditional Boston lobster roll is topped with mayonnaise, but Boston Seafood Shack has opted for a healthier avocado spread instead. With their Boston Premium Lobstah Roll (SGD $18), the hot dog bun is nicely grilled, and the lobster meat is very fresh, though not densely packed. A little more meat for the price would have been nice.

Boston Premium Lobstah Roll 01

Boston Premium Lobstah Roll 02

The soups were really excellent. The Boston Clam Chowder (SGD $7.50) had chunks of vegetables and clams, and was thick, almost like a stew. The Maine Lobstah Bisque (SGD $8), while lacking any lobster meat, was also thick and the essence of crustaceans was very strong. Tasty and satisfying! The Cream Of Potato (SGD $3) was decent, smooth and creamy, without any chunks of potato, but still retaining a distinct potato taste.

Boston Clam Chowder

Maine Lobstah Bisque

Cream Of Potato

The Cod Fish N Chips (SGD $12.50) had 3 fillets of deep fried cod, though I felt the size of each fillet could have been bigger. The batter on the fish was tasty and crisp. The thick cut English style chips were a little limp though. However, my biggest issue was that only 2 of the 3 cod fillets were fresh, the last fillet wasn't fresh at all, which ruined this dish for me. For the price, I would at least expect fresh fish. I can only hope that this issue doesn't happen often at Boston Seafood Shack... Update Oct-2014: The price is now SGD $16, for a slightly larger portion, also, the quality is better, and it's consistently fresh. They also offer several other types of fish for the Fish N Chips, including Dory Fish N Chips.

Cod Fish N Chips

Dory Fish N Chips

Loved the Mussels In Spicy White Wine Broth (SGD $14)! The mussels, while rather small in size, were quite meaty, and though I did feel the pot was too tiny, there were 11 mussels packed inside. The Clams In Spicy White Wine Broth (SGD $14) were quite good as well, with 12 clams packed inside. I noticed that the picture in the menu looks different (smaller) than the actual serving, which is inexcusablely wrong in this day and age. Also, both the mussels and clams used were frozen, which made them lack the fresh seafood taste. Decent pricing, and the small pot made dipping the crisp garlic bread difficult without first removing the shells. Update Oct-2014: The price of both dishes is now SGD $13, for a slightly larger portion.

Mussels In Spicy White Wine Broth 01

Mussels In Spicy White Wine Broth 02

Clams In Spicy White Wine Broth 01

Clams In Spicy White Wine Broth 02

Was pleased that the Crab Cakes (SGD $9) mainly consisted of shredded crab instead of fillers like potatoes. However, this meant the Crab Cakes were quite loosely packed, and it falls apart easily when cut, making consuming this slightly messy. Also, the Crab Cakes had a slight lack of the natural seafood taste.

Crab Cakes 01

Crab Cakes 02

Crab Cakes 03

The Baked Dory With Boston BBQ Sauce (SGD $8) is a lunch only special, featuring fresh, firm, flaky dory fish, lightly steamed, and coated in a tangy, slightly sweet, slightly sour barbecue sauce. Served on a bed of raisin rice, with fresh broccoli, carrots, and corn, this is a light, yet satisfiying dish.

Baked Dory With Boston BBQ Sauce