Pince & Pints’ success is the fruit of correct timing, location, great marketing efforts, and serving food which is in trend.
Foodies will remember the year when lobster roll was all in the rage, and Pince & Pints was one of the front runners of serving chunky lobsters on soft bread rolls.
Some say “over-rated” but the restaurant continue to attract long queues and wait, which I hear can be anything between 30 minutes to 2 hours. No reservations allowed, by the way.
Rather than selling everything under the sky, Pince & Pints’ main offering are just three items – Lobster Roll Grilled or Steamed Live Lobster, and Chili Lobster with Mantou, each priced at $48++. So my friends and I made the easy decision by ordering one of each.
It took me a while to finally want to go try it. So here’s our verdict:
The Lobster Roll
Our favourite item, perhaps also because we tried many ‘blah’ lobster rolls (usually because portions are stingy) offered by other casual restaurant.
The bread roll sourced from a local traditional bakery had this buttery-fragrance, a slight crisp after being pan-fried and was still soft and fluffy.
The lobster servings were generous, and you could taste the natural sweetness of the meat. I could have this anytime again, well, if not for the wait and price.
Grilled Lobster
Lobsters served here are flown in direct from Boston, Maine and Canada twice weekly. If you are the kind who just wants to appreciate the freshness, then go for this.
On the flipside, the meat was kind of flat-tasting, and felt needing some seasoning or a more varied side other than fries.
Chili Lobster with Mantou
My dining companions did not like this dish as much, only because sauce was too rich and tinted to the sweet side, which ‘covered’ the taste of the lobster. Plus, if you are comparing this to your local zhi char stalls, this Western-maybe-local dish lacked ‘wok hei’.
Still, I was still happily sweeping the bowl clean with the fried mantou. They gave a lot a lot of sauce.
The restaurant continues to offer festive specials, from the Lobster Thermidor during the Christmas season, to XO Lobster with Glass Noodles ($58++) specially created for the Lunar New Year.
Wild-caught lobster topped with glass noodles (tang hoon) that would soak up rich broth which made by stir-friing with homemade XO paste, then served with a bowl of fragrant rice and stir-fry broccoli, carrot, brown shimeji mushroom and celery.
Overall, a good meal. We were also pleasantly surprised with the attention service, and knowledge of the service staff who were able to answer our requests promptly.
Of course my friends sarcastically said, “Must be you. Next time I want to dine with you again. I seldom get such good service in Singapore.” Well, maybe. (In any case, Daniel’s Food Diary pays for meals reviewed, unless otherwise stated.)
Pince & Pints
32-33 Duxton Road, Singapore 089497
Opening Hours: 5pm – 11pm (Mon-Fri), 12pm -11pm (Sat), Closed Sun
No reservations allowed, walk-ins only
Other Related Entries
Portico (Alexandra Road)
Potato Head Folk (Keong Siak Street)
Le Cuisine (Chinatown)
Babette (Tyrwhitt Road)
Wild Rocket (Upper Wilkie Road)
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