The Manhattan FISH MARKET: New and Bolder!

I'm sure you have all seen the teasers we have been leaving for you on our Facebook and Instagram pages right? Well, they have all been leading up to this!!

The Manhattan FISH MARKET launches 43 New and Bolder Sea-lections (see what they did there?) which means more tasty makan for us and a wider selection to choose from so that everyone can find something they'll like!

Yes. You read right. That's 43! FOUR-THREE!! Power right!!
The Halal Food Blog Team was honoured to be invited to take a sneak peak at the goodies that are in store for us! Let's take a look at some of them!!

Oyster Roulette ($7.95)

Image courtesy of The Manhattan FISH MARKET

In the appetizers department, all your oyster lovers are in for a treat!
They have a new appetizer called Oyster Roulette and the concept is interesting!

You guys know about Roulette right? Where it's a game of chance to see who's the 'lucky' one?
Well, you're served with 4 poached oyster shooters in a bed of ice. These poached oysters are bathing in a spicy chilli concoction. The catch - 3 of them are mild but 1 of them is the super spicy one!

Besides a great idea to spice up your dining experience with friends and family, the oysters are amazingly fresh too and the chilli 'sambal' here is pretty tasty too!

But for all you 'hantu chilli', not to worry. You can ask them to make all 4 the spicy type if you'd like or vice-versa if you don't feel like burning your mouth off. LOL

Onion Glory ($7.95)

One of my personal favourites of all the dished we tried that evening was something they called 'Onion Glory'. Seriously so good!

It's a big onion which has been individually peeled off slice by slice and then coated in a special crispy batter and then it achieves full deep-fried glory!

The outer coating is super crispy and tasty with some special seasoning! Maybe it's just me but I'm a sucker for this kind of thing but I'm sure all you onion lovers are gonna love this too. And don't worry about having 'onion breath' later this is a good quality white onion so you can enjoy the flavour without too much problems later on!

It's served with kind of like a ranch dip which goes perfectly with the deep-fried onion slices!
I could honestly finish off a serving all to myself!

Ocean Gems ($5.95)

If you're the type that likes to start with a salad before the big dishes arrive, then maybe you'll like the Ocean Gems which gives you a salad with a little bit of extra bite to get your meal started.

Nice crisp lettuce, cucumber, carrots, bell peppers and this is all mixed in with some prawns and also some plump and juicy scallops! The seasoning is on the tangy side which gets your tastebuds up and going and the fresh seafood give you a nice texture with the fresh veggies.

Okay? Ready for the mains? Here we go!

Curry Hill Seafood ($16.95)

So this is a curry dish inspired by Murray Hill (in Manhattan, New York) which apparently is the place to go to for Indian cuisine in that area.

You've got a slipper lobster, some fish slices and also some succulent mussels all cooked together in a curry which is sure to get some of you going for more and more. The curry is expectedly a fish curry since it IS a seafood dish and it has quite a zing to it too!

Oh they also have a Tiger Prawn version ($14.95) if you're a prawn person!

Served with some battered vegetable (kinda like a tempura style) and also some baguette for you to soak up all that curry!!

Ocean Perfect Perch ($15.95)

All you Sambal Fish lovers (like me) are gonna jump for joy with this dish.
One of the dishes I absolutely LOVE to order when I visit The Manhattan FISH MARKET is the Crispy Whole Barramundi which is a whole fish deep-fried and smothered with fiery spicy sambal.

Well, if you're not into digging into your fish and dodging the bones and such, this is a perfect choice for you because the Perch is already filleted and just just have to enjoy!

Served with some rice and some veggies to give you a perfect plate or rather a Perfect Perch!
PS yes the sambal has a spicy kick to it!!

Fishy Chicky Bang Bang ($13.95)

Okay now let me tell you about Fishy Chicky Bang Bang (which also happens to be my fave dish that evening by the way).

So after hearing the name, you're probably thinking "Is it Fish or is is Chicken?" and when I tell you it's actually BOTH FISH AND CHICKEN you're gonna go "No lah cannot be!!" right right?

Top layer Chicken, Bottom Layer Fish

So the top layer is actually a fried chicken fillet which was sheer perfection I tell you. The batter was crispy just the way we like it and the chicken meat so succulent! The bottom layer is dory fillet and these two are joined together in holy gastronomy by melted Cheddar cheese!!

Now if that doesn't get you I don't know what will because this was THE BOMB!!

And as if I wasn't impressed enough, they added this beautiful sunny side up egg resting in a nest of fried spaghetti! Talk about showing off some skill!

The final main we have here features one of the signature trademarks of The Manhattan FISH MARKET and I'm taking about something that's sure to 'light' things up geddit geddit?
(Yeah I know I know enough of the lame jokes right? Okay let's go!)

Flaming Cheesy Baked Rice ($15.95)

All you baked rice lovers are gonna have a field day with this one.
Imagine a fresh Dory fillet that rests atop a bed of herb rice. And then imagine some cheese added to the mix there. And then we torch the bugger!!

The result is fantastic!! (Or as they say in these parts - FIN-tastic!)

Dig into a great steaming dish of deliciousness. Great flavours and you're gonna love this if you love cheese. And we can see it takes great skill to handle that torch okay one wrong move and it's toast but they obviously have the professionals over here because this was perfect!

So right about now you're probably thinking about dessert am I right?

Strawberry Flamin-go ($4.95)

Here's a dessert they actually use the torch on (for the marshmallows on top!)
You've got a chocolate sauce right at the bottom which you have to dig through some mango pudding for. You've got some fresh mangoes and strawberries in there too!

And of course, finish off with some marshmallows for a sweet finish!
And at that super price, this is a steal!!

Super Fruit Crumble ($4.95)

I actually quite preferred this one. Maybe I'm a sucker for ice-cream!

This is, to put it simply, an Apple Pie in a glass!
It's got the yummy crumble right at the bottom which like the apple pie crust and then you've got tasty apple sauce (with apples) all topped off with some cool Vanilla ice-cream.

Don't even let me start on how tasty this was. Apple pie and Vanilla ice-cream is one of the best combos ever and now you can have it all in this nifty little glass!

Lemongrass Cooler ($6.00)

I love Lemongrass aka Serai and absolutely don't mind it in a drink at all.
This is a refreshing beverage that gives you the great flavour of lemongrass infused with lychee, Camomile tea and even some Aloe vera in there too.

Super refreshing and a great beverage to go along with the food you're gonna enjoy.

To be honest, I had a hard time choosing which drink I was gonna have but this one won! In a close 2nd place was the delicious-sounding 'Melon Breeze' which is a strawberry, watermelon and lemon mocktail! Sounds good right?

Well, besides the dishes we have covered here, there are also some other items on the menu that are definitely interesting and tasty enough to have a mention.

Icy Hot Fish Bananas ($7.95)

You wanna talk interesting then you've gotta mention the Icy Hot Fish Bananas.
Oh yeah it's bananas coated with fish paste  and deep fried to perfection. Top that off with some Vanilla ice-cream and strawberries!

Definitely one that we're gonna try when we head back to The Manhattan FISH MARKET soon!

Volcano Island ($40.95)

We know how much you guys love your platters and here's one to reckon with!

The Volcano Island includes a serving of Curry Hill Seafood (choose from Slipper Lobster or Tiger Prawns), fried scallops, spicy poached Dory nuggets and Volcano Mussles served with Garlic Herb Rice and also some baguette too!

Great for sharing1 Especially if you were planning on trying the Curry Hill Seafood so now there's something for everyone at great value too!

Well, not only have they updated their menu, The Manhattan FISH MARKET has in fact added 43 new dishes to their menu which mean 43 new flavours for you to check out. We've only covered a few here and we're already counting the days til we visit again!

The new menu launches TODAY 12 November 2014 so makes plans and head down to The Manhattan FISH MARKET ASAP to enjoy their new delectable offerings!

A special shout-out to new friends we met while dining at !The Manhattan FISH MARKET!!
Big up to Swee Geok from Make Your Calories Count and Meiling from Universal Scribbles! Check out their blogs by clicking on their names there okay!!

The Manhattan FISH MARKET

16 outlets islandwide
www.manhattanfishmarket.com

Operating Hours:
Varies with different outlets

Toasties

As promised, here we are with our first review of Toasties!
We received 3 tip-offs within 12 hours and I actually went down that very evening but it was sooooo packo plus they had apparently run out of bread so I figured we'd come back another time.

The one thing we heard was that Toasties was the new 'Halal Subway'. To be honest we were not really expecting much because we had heard this claim a few times before with other makan places so we figured we'd better check it out before we get too excited.

So tell us if any of this sounds familiar to you okay :)

So when you get in the queue at Toasties, you have to first of all choose your order.
You can actually choose between bread, Cheese Oven Baked Rice, Salad, Wrap or even Pizza!
This was definitely looking promising!

Next step is to choose your bread.
They have Crunchy, Honey Oats, Oregano Parmesan and Premium. In case you were wondering, YES THEY MAKE THEIR OWN BREAD! 

And of course you have to choose if you want a 6-inch or a Footlong.

And then of course, you have to choose your filling.

They divide their menu into different categories for easy selection and pricing.

Choose from the Premium (Italian Trio, Chicken Bacon or Beef Pastrami), the Classic (Egg Mayo, Tuna Mayo, Turkey Ham or Garden Delight) or Special (Smoked Chicken Breast, Grilled Chicken, Grilled Beef or Beef Ham).

And of course you can choose what veggies you would like to have as well.

And lo and behold they toast up your sandwich for you and after you choose your veggies, choose from a variety of sauces to zest up your sandwich!

I'd say that so far things look promising but how was the food?

Italian Trio aka 'The Manwich' ($6.90)

So the Italian Trio is made up of Beef Salami, Beef Pepperoni and Beef Bacon (or least that's what I gather from my expert analysis lol).

Somehow (as you can see from the picture above) we were left feeling a little bit underwhelmed.
When something is dubbed 'The Manwich', I have the impression that it's such a massive or at least a massively packed sandwich that it's really gonna be a mouthful. But in this case, it seems like it's really really lacking in meat leh...

And just to let you know I'm not complaining as a guy who is a big eater... This was actually ordered by my Darling Wife and even she was left feeling like she could do with a bit more before she gets full...

Anyways, just for the record, she chose the Crunchy bread which has a nice crisp on the outside once it was toasted. The meat was not bad other than the fact that there was too little of it. Beef Bacon was a bit tough but I guess that's pretty normal.

Sauces she chose were the Honey Mustard and the Mayo. Oh, and they'd run out of onions.

Grilled Beef ($6.40)

I had actually decided to go for the Beef Pastrami but they told me they'd run out. Pfffttt...
So I decided to go with the Grilled Beef because we all know I'm 'The Meat Guy' right?

Well, it turns out that the 'Grilled Beef' was actually a burger patty. I'm not sure if it was a Ramly Burger patty or not but I have to say it was seasoned really well. Just the meat on its own was pretty tasty. I went with just the Honey Mustard which gave a nice tang.

I went with the Oregano Parmesan bread which I normally quite like but this was a little strong on the Oregano seasoning. I didn't get a chance to ask them if they baked their own bread because the queue was super long by the time we were done with out food but I think overall the bread we had was actually quite nice.

And I'm not sure if it was because I removed the juicy veggies like tomatoes but I found my sandwich to be a bit dry. A little hard to swallow after awhile without a gulp of drink even though there was sauce in the sandwich.

You actually have the option of making your meal a set with either Nachos or Cheesy Sausages plus a drink for an additional $2.90. They also have soups like Clam Chowder or Mushroom oup for $2.90 as well. That means you should prepare to fork out at least $10 or more when you go for the works.

Anyways, if you wanna add more meat or double meat or more cheese, there's always that option but of course please be prepared to top-up accordingly.

Adam's Verdict:
Grilled Beef 3.5/5 -- Italian Trio 2/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Italian Trio 3/5

Well, if the aim was to give the people a 'Halal Subway' then I think this is definitely the closest you'll get to it so far here in Singapore. Prices are bit on the high side but what can I say. And I guess maybe because they just opened so they have a few teething issues here and there (e.g. running out of bread, ingredients etc) but I'm sure they'll pick up in time.

Definitely plan on heading down again and hopefully this time we can get what we intended.
But it's really great that they make their own bread! Nice and fresh!

And if the good people at Toasties are reading this somehow, a little feedback if you don't mind.
Get a Facebook page or Instagram or something cos you guys could be huge. In the meantime, hope this review helps spread the word for you.

Salam Readers,

When The Halal Food Blog first visited Toasties, we spoke directly to the management and was informed that they had submitted their application for Halal certification and was pending approval.

Toasties Management has now clarified their stance and the situation still remains that Toasties is still pending approval for Halal certification. We do not know what name the application will be submitted under.

The Halal Food Blog Team acted based on information provided by the Toasties management which was deemed accurate at the time of posting. We apologize for any confusion this has caused and look forward to updating when the certificate from MUIS has been issued to Toasties.

Thank you.

Adam Shah
The Halal Food Blog

***UPDATE***
TOASTIES HAS BEEN CERTIFIED HALAL BY MUIS AS OF NOVEMBER 2014

Toasties

Blk 201D Tampines Street 21 #01-1171


Operating Hours:
8am til Midnight Daily