New Harbour Cafe and Bar, Tanjong Pagar

While clinging in the dawn of dusk (wtf! lol) slightly past seven on a Thursday evening, New Harbour Cafe (New Harbour Cafe & Bar, 114 Tanjong Pagar Rd, tel : 6226 2657) was brimming with people for drinks and dinner. Was glad reservations were made. I first noticed this place some time back on a couple of occasions when I visited Chen Li Yuan and Buko Nero along the same row of shophouses at Duxton. I then realised that this wasn't the just the regular watering hole that merely served un-nutritious and greasy bar snacks. They too have un-nutritious and greasy proper meals. There's a full menu of food to be had and despite the grazing mention regarding nutrition, it's rather decent food and a stop worth a second look for an evening pitstop.

The edibles here are a mixture of local western (read Hainanese originated western), bar food and  a smattering of local-ish fare. Hell there's even sashimi though I admit to being extremely apprehensive at ordering those in a place like this. One generally does not walk into a place like this looking for food that requires finesse to prepare. Ahem!

crispy pork with apple sauce

monster burger

cumi bakar (grilled squids)

The food's saltish, greasy and makes you want to drink. I thought the crispy pork belly wasn't too bad. I had expected bigger portions and it really wasn't that much despite appearances. The pork belly did come with very crispy skin and wasn't ladened with too much blood curdling fat. Would definitely have appreciated a more generous helping of that apple sauce. We had to ask for extras as it was merely a small dollop for all that pork belly. How does that even work out? The monster burger wasn't close to anywhere as impressive as the name might have implied. It's a basic bar burgers topped with some ham, cheese, sautéed mushrooms and an egg. There was definitely too much fillers in the patty which I didn't like. For the price of $18.50, one would definitely start to make comparisons. Squid was just passable. I definitely expected more char from being grilled instead of being limp, however the "kick in the face" spicy sambal paste and sweet sauce did help. Seriously, watch out for the sambal.