Pelican replaces Pier Side at One Fullerton bringing with it a whole new experience - almost like a fisherman's wharf with the decor that featured luggages, sea shells, nets amongst the bits and bobs. I particularly like round tables that seat four so comfortably - so not a fan of tables that restrict movement or leave space for me to store the arm candies separately.
Spy the bird that the restaurant was named after.
Menus on luggages.
Artifacts from the long lost island of....?
Cushy interior.
Have a drink by the bar?
An envious library of drinks.
House Wine (Happy Hour Special 1-for-1)
This chilean wine was acidic to taste but had a surprisingly smooth finish.
Seaweed bread for a start, these smelt great and is an interesting flavour to include but the texture was too hard for comfort.
Old Fashioned Crabcakes ($22)
Pickled slaw
I love crabcakes, a good one especially. Theirs are lightly breaded and fair enough a decent amount of crab meat to make this meaty. The pickled slaw was a tangy take on achar with red peppers and onions - loves!
Red Bream Fillet ($42)
Anchovy jam
I would expect more from a seafood place and this was rather ordinary. The crispy edges soft fillet was achievable by most other places but I adored the mash that came with it.
Skate Wing Chop ($32)
Burnt lemon butter
Still riding on a fishy high, it is amazing how many fish dishes we ordered and I wonder why! This, like the rest of reviews say, is grilled stingray without belachan. I actually prefer the hawker version since it packs more spice. This was toned down in flavour and well, not spectacular by any regard. The fries accompanying this are no different from the Old Bay Fries we ordered earlier.
Line-caught Swordfish Steak ($36)
Fresh herb vinaigrette
The texture of swordfish is somewhat bouncy and rubbery - which is by no fault of the kitchen for churning out a dish like this. Pairing this with fresh herb vinaigrette also highlighted the seawater taste of this, not that it was fishy but it was hardly flavourful.
Baked Snapper Pie ($36)
Fish stew, vegetables, puff pastry
One dish that I made an order for almost immediately because of the 20-25 minute wait. Nonetheless, well worth it with the immensely aromatic buttercrust fragrance landing like an UFO the minute it was placed on the table. Slicing through the pie was sheer heaven, the fragrance that perfumed the table. This is a stunning dish, truth be told.
A generous chunk of snapper enclosed in a beautifully executed puff pastry - reminded me of the traditional british chicken pot pie but in a fish variation. I will return just for this and portions are most justifiable amongst all the mains attempted. I could not resist getting ketchup and chilli sauce to flavour though - my bad and bad habits die hard.
Cornflake Crusted Scallops ($48)
Sweet and sour shallots
I joked about the portions being puny and fair enough there were four scallops served - twelve buckeroos each. Cornflake crust was just a crust and it was a princely price to pay for the scallops.
Old Bay Fries ($12)
Parsley
I fall prey to fries so often, price is almost secondary. Logically this could get me enough fries at Mcdonalds to create a mountain and these were shoe string fries with their specialty of "Old Bay Seasoning" - yet what is old bay seasoning? Tastes like salt and ajinomoto (think maggie mee seasoning) or if Mcdonalds would like to claim - shaker fries.
Lemon Meringue 'Mess' ($14)
Fresh graham cracker
Hardly overly sweet like meringue nor tangy like lemon and the only mess created was sticking my spoon and trying to get a bit of everything in one bite. I was disappointed with the graham cracker that was tart and somewhat stale.
Double Chocolate Whoopie Pie ($16)
Extra whoopie
When Pique Nique at Takashimaya first introduced whoopie pies, I was bewildered by its texture since they look like macarons at first glance. Then came Podi with larger than life ones but I have yet to make my move on them. And here comes Pelican with a rich and chocolatey fiend - I could wave this off as two layers of moist brownies with chocolate cream but it is not as ordinary as that, it did cause the sin-scale in the mind to go on red alert but this was seriously good business. They finally nailed the second item right for the evening and I was proud of my suggestion.
It was a lovely dinner at Pelican but good enough for a return, I question. Maybe just the Snapper Pie and Whoopie Pie and I realise both are pies. As a fish specialty place - or at least that is what Pelicans are trained to do, this fell short of expectations somewhat.
Pelican Seafood Bar and Grill
One Fullerton
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