The Naked Finn, Gillman Barracks

This was another place (Gillman Barracks, 41 Malan Road, tel : +65 6694 0807) that had been on my radar for a while and it's finally happened. The options they serve up here are focused, but was by no means limited. I certainly didn't remember the last place that offered nine options for crustaceans. In summary, the seafood was really well done with minimal seasoning that the quality spoke for itself.

We got a table by the bar. The reservations process is a little spotty. It took a while before my calls got through and they never pick up the phone if you call beyond their stipulated hours.

Sitting at the bar here simply means that you get to see the drinks being made. There is no open concept kitchen.

Watching them make drinks was however a rather pleasant distraction while waiting for orders to arrive. I saw my drink made at least.

I liked their Kyoho grape cocktail. Very unsophisticated and comes with chew from the bits of grape skin.

It all starts with a salad. It was okay, nothing very much to get excited about.

We were never really explained how the condiments were to be used, but the belachan and the Thai tasting sauce on the top left worked, and worked very well, with their chilled bee hoon.

First up was razor clams with hot shallot oil and fried shallots. As mentioned earlier, little in the way of condiments to distract. It was perfumed with the shallot oil and salt on the side was optional. This was actually very nice. The textures were good and the mild sweetness came through.

Then came the bee hoon which the server advised on going easy on. There's been some talk about this particular item. It's as good as those talks described. As easy going as we tried to be, it was addictive. Especially when one had to wait between courses. We had seconds eventually.

Then came the New Zealand littleneck clams. I think these were okay, nothing very much I could describe except that they tasted fresh. 

What was outstanding was their Indian baby squids. The aroma from the grill hit us as it was served. The char was present without being excessive.

Grilled Alantic scallops were chunky and again, had nothing but fried shallot and their oils. These, the squid and the bee hoon so far are good for returns.

The largest portioned items were some locally farmed barramundi that came with olive oil and salt. I don't generally order fish very often, so take this opinion with a pinch of salt (lol, pun intended!). Best damned barramundi I've had. The skin was pan fried to a light crisp and the flesh tasted tender and juicy like steamed fish. Very nice.

I think these were the Mozambique lobsters. These were also very nice. The flesh was so sweet and the heads, flavorful.

If anyone is wondering, I was forced to use my fingers.

A decent if not so remarkable crème brûlée to wrap up.

I like this place. The staff is friendly plus the seafood's was really pretty damned good. It's not too cheap, but I guess that's the way these things go for in this country. Would love to come back again, but the location's a pain to reach.