Brussels Sprouts – Big Splash

Absolutely wonderful place to dine. The variety of mussels we had (of the 4 I liked Thai the best) and the endless fries were great. The onion rings were huge and crispy, and the clam chowder was tasty. The atmosphere was open and bright. Looking forward to eating there again.

Stumbled upon this place by accident in our bike trip. Good beer, good muscles, good vibe. What else could one ask for… Maybe a little nap before getting on the bike again?
Please note that 1-​for-​1 does not really mean ‘buy one get one free’ it means ‘buy one, get second of the same free’ per person. So with two of us ordering different beer we did not get one for free but rather got second glass of each one for free — hence the need for nap after))) enjoy.

Was fairly good a few years ago. Now the portions are small and mussels are tiny most of the time. Extremely over priced. In fact I am pretty sure they cheat you on weight. There is no way those tiny mussels and their massive shells can weigh 750 gr when the bucket they come in is not even fully filled. Definitely stay away!

Enjoyed a late Saturday lunch with some friends and thought the food and location were fantastic. We went with four different sample sizes of the mussels and all of them were very tasty (I especially liked the laksa and the Thai options). The clam chowder was top shelf as well. We had several starters — the onion rings were out of this world.
Four of us ate to our fill, had several ice cold beers and enjoyed the view of East Coast Park on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. We were childless but several families were there and there is a nice kids play area. We got out of there for just over $ 200 and have a new favourite spot on the East Coast — highly recommended!

It really depends on what day you are here, if your expecting a quiet date with your girfriend dont go on a weekend that includes friday.
No doubt it is a nice layout and scenery by the beach. But when there is too many in the party with your date it kinda spoils the fun. Food is exceptionally good, i love the mussels with cream mushroom which its of course the highlight of the menu.
Service wasnt so bad, i believe it could get alot worse on a weekend. Its not the best place ive been and definetly not the worst!

Love this place. Ambience is lovely especially at night when you get a view of the sea through the trees. It’s not bad during the day either. Since I’m allergic to seafood, I proceeded to order and eat every thing I could find non-​seafood-​side of the menu:
Service: Always excellent
Chicken wings: battered heaven and ton of them for 14 dollars — definitely must try
Steak: awesome! Great blue cheese sauce — perfectly done not too sharp.
Fish and chips: The first time I tried it it was excellent. The batter was thin and crispy and the fish tasted excellent and fresh. The second time, the fish was super mushy and silmy. So depends on the cook, I guess.
my dining companions had:
The crab parmentier: Didn’t enjoy it as the crab wasn’t dressed.
The king crab salad: Didn’t enjoy since the crab tasted fishy
The last time I was there, they had a balloon artist which is great for kids. They have like a tiny playground area too which I thought was nice too.

I can’t remember all the different Belgian beers we tried but they were tasty and each one was unique. The featured dish of mussels, however, are below average. They aren’t that fresh (this is Singapore, after all, and far from any country that has fresh mussels) and they are overlooked and puny — quite expensive for what you get. How can anyone really complain, though, when you’re sitting next to the beach on a cool September evening with your kids happily playing on the grass lawn next to the restaurant?

Service sucks monkey balls. So bad I need to find a new word for that new level of low. No smile nothing. Can’t even open their mouths when they head to the table to take the order. Just head movements. Silent movie or are they obsess with indie movies and the head shake?

Brussels Sprouts
I’ve always wanted to try Brussels Sprout as the reviews have been good for their mussels. Till today, I crave for the beautiful mussels I had in Normandy and nothing I’ve eaten locally comes close. So for my best friend’s birthday, we got a HUGE table with too many children and ordered like crazy! I’ll shared what I know:
1) Brussel Sprouts Special — birthday girl had this and she said it’s too much peppercorn thus too spicy in not that good a way. The broth was just too overpowered by the peppercorns.
2) 4 Cheese Cream Sauce — hub ordered this and he said it’s ok. Not bad.
3) Ostendaise Sauce — I had this as it’s really a fancy name for lobster bisque as sauce. I ordered this personally and found the sauce slightly salty but perhaps it was needed to boost the taste of the mussels. The mussels themselves were also very juicy so good job with the control of cooking time. Only gripe is that I still find the French ones sweeter and tastier. *sigh*
4) Pink Sauce Pasta (Kids Meal) — my girls had that and couldn’t finish so mummy dearest happily ate the leftovers. I thought the sauce was very nice and though there was no ingredients in the pasta, it’s tasty enough to eat it on its own.
They have a children’s corner at the side of the restaurant but very few toys to play with. So the kids didn’t find the corner engaging at all. But on weekends, they get a balloon guy to go from table to table to create something your kid desires from scratch! He is amazing just to watch! He blows the skinny balloons up by his breath alone — no pump! OMG!!! What lungs!?!
Anyway, it’s a good place at night but lunch was a little too hot with the glass panels as roof, they have cloth banners that try to offer some shade but Singapore sun is not funny so late afternoons and nights are recommended. Plus the kids can go onto the paths of East Coast tracks to amuse themselves while the adults chat over food.
The kids eat for free on weekends so total cost wasn’t too bad.

The location is beautiful, situated right next to the beach, but with other things, including food and service, I wasn’t impressed.
The brunch items we ordered (salads, sandwiches and crepes) were mediocre, and the rollmops sandwich left me feeling nauseous. The only thing the kids enjoyed were the frites. Perhaps we should revisit at night only and enjoy the bar scene — we would love to taste some Belgium beers.
The service was slow, and no one was able to direct us to the restroom in the back. When I finally got there, the door was locked despite (as confirmed later) being unoccupied. When the staff finally unlocked the door, he advised me not to use it because it hadn’t been cleaned since the night before.
SUM: Not my cup of tea.

Not that teeny edible buds that everyone’s knowing, but possibly linked to the capital of Belgium when one talks about Brussels — its largest city. During my trip to Brussels, I couldn’t recall eating these miniature cabbages which are seemingly popular and may have originated there since early 13^th Century. I have no chance to validate if naming this eatery «Brussels Sprouts» has anything to do with its origin since it offers Belgian cuisine, unless Emmanuel Stroobant stands before me.
Brussels Sprouts at Big Splash is the 2^nd outlet following its first at The Pier@ Robertson. It was a distance away from my usual arrival point — the defunct East Coast Park McDonald’s. I missed the area so much that I decided to stroll my way to the Big Splash. It was not effortless. I could feel that blow torch blistering my scalp after that 5 minutes’ walk but I continued.
The blazing heat was unbearable! The sun was beaming right into the restaurant — a greenhouse I am entering. Packed with families and couples, dining at Brussels Sprouts on a Sunday afternoon was full of elation. Didn’t want to sprout like a mung bean, I begged for high-​table seats next to the bar. It was so much cooler without that see-​through glass rooftop and well-​ventilated with sliding glass doors being pull apart. I would definitely appreciate its architecture during the night, not on a sunny day. It took a while before I no longer feel the heat. With more than 120 varieties of Belgian beer available, it is a common sight to see everyone gulping down a glass of icy cold Hoegaarden — mostly foreigners, while I am with my bubbling cola.
The food arrives. I had one of the Belgian classics — Moules Frites. The portion was larger than I expected, given a starter at 350 gram (S$ 20.00). The pot was filled with wedge-​shaped, blackish shells, half-​drowning in the broth. Each valves split opened fully, revealing its meat body soaking in that savory veal stock made peppery with paprika. The mussels taste fresh, a light ocean scent. Smaller breed, they are slightly chewy but easy to swallow. Perfect. It goes well with the diced chorizo in the broth. Overall, the pot of moules was good, though I find something lacking in the broth — more briny and requires a balanced flavour. Maybe I should just opt for the classic Brussels Sprouts version.
What is Moules-​Frites when mussels comes without fries? That basket of chunky cut fries is so dominating! Crisp on the exterior, meaty and soft in the middle — my weakness ever. To make it more evil, it was made refillable! Argh… put them to jail, stat! It reminds me of that tantalizing scent wafting from those thick & fluffy chips served in paper cone, which I happily eating away on the street of Amsterdam!
The Fish & Chips (Vis En Frites) going for S$ 24.00 was monstrous, just as they named it — «Big Eat». Who hasn’t eaten Fish & Chips in their life!!? I have a few tries in London which I find one that I didn’t quite enjoyed, with skin on. Then some in Europe and then in the United States, mediocre at best. But, this one I find it hard to resist though not at their prime. The batter covering the white fish was deep fried to golden crisp and I wonder if beer has been added to do the trick. When you forked into the nice crisp crust, what you get is a layer of soft, moist and fresh piece of fish meat. Not overly greasy is what I am attracted to. Don’t neglect the lemon wedge, give it a hard squeeze — it makes a different. A handful of hot fluffy chips were laid underneath the big slab of fried fish — dancing with gusto! Dip into any 3 condiment that comes along — hunter sauce, curry tomato, garlic saffron mayonnaise, each steak turned even more globby. A hearty late-​night supper treat & you can forget about your next day’s breakfast!
To complete the Belgian fare, I thought the Belgian Waffle is not to be missed. I am especially looking for a crispy outside and a creamier interior. I swear this is the first I had. Unlike other ice-​cream parlor that serves the American style, this Gauffre evolves between a Brussels and Liège version. Lightly crisp on its top crust, the cake is eggy than anywhere I have tried. It tastes sweeter, has a moist and dense structure. If you were to ask what it resembles, I have to say, very close to a muffin but less rich in taste. Even though the dough is sweet, it complements well with the accompanying vanilla ice-​cream which is surprisingly less sugary. If you enjoy sweet and soft masses, then this S$ 12.00 high grid cake may be your best pick.

I am a big fan of mussels and also love the concept of freeflow fries, but Brussel Sprouts, while usually a good place to dine, appears to have an issue with consistency.
On occasion, the mussels that arrive are measly and evidently of a different variety from the ones they usually receive. I wish I could be informed from the get-​go that this would be the case so that I’d have the choice to order something different, particularly since prices are a little steep.
Nevertheless, their outlet at East Coast is a great place to while away the afternoon, but I’m growing increasingly weary of the dropping quality standards.

I really like the ambience of this branch — open-​air, very breezy and familiar. A rather hard-​to-​get sort of vibe in Singapore. I know the one at Mohamud Sultan is more upmarket so I was glad to come down to this branch instead for a chill-​out night.
I had a Brussel Sprouts Platter which featured smoked duck, beer battered onion rings, fresh greens, slow braised pork, mussels, fish… a nice mix of introduction to their cuisine. I enjoyed the slight tartness of the mussels which was really fresh.
My company and I had mussels done differently — in white wine and in Tom Yum (yes, the Thai dish!). I thought the mussel could be a little more plump but they were done decently. Like dipped the fries which came with the mussels in the sauce — something in me is calling out for a chilli crab flavour.
The best part about Brussel Sprout which won me over (apart from the ambience) is the selection of beer. Wide in variety and the servers are always more than happy to help you decide. Try those on the taps, even a minimal beer drink like myself was slurping it up!

I love BS. I used to frequent it thrice a week but have now become more sane (or more poor), and now visit perhaps thrice a month. This also has to do with my favorite, and best manager in the world, Ian, moving to the Robertson Quay branch.
Whenever at BS, the must order is the Linderman fruit beer on tap. The flavors rotate monthly, and so far I’ve gone through all, perhaps thrice. Favourites are the peach, and apple. I usually muck around for the happy hour as well, when liquor is one for one. My poison of choice: tequila. Other yummy items are the moules and frites. The moules tend to vary a little, perhaps depending on whether it’s a fresh batch or if the chef is in a bad mood. I’ve had really plump, juicy mussels and some tiny, overcooked ones at different points in time. The fries, on the other hand, are to die for. Thick cut, freshly fried and dipped into cold mayonnaise accompanied with a cold beer — there are few things in life more pleasurable. The wings are great as well. Crisp, hot and juicy. Finger licking good without being drowned in oil, props to that.
Service is usually patchy, as BS is crowded most of the time. While I tend to step in only past 10pm, it still can be hard to get the attention of the staff. That said, I’ve since learnt to park myself at the bar, and get pally with the waitstaff and managers. Still, I miss Ian!

I’m going to be slightly biased towards Brussels Sprouts because of two reasons:
1. I went there on a date (good one).
2. It is set up by one of my favourite celebrity chefs Emmanuel Stroobant.
It’s a great place to go at night, given its atmosphere with the sea breeze and bustling vibe in the middle of East Coast Park.
The waiter who served us was one of the best I’ve seen — he had an easy sense of humour, was friendly and attentive, he made it feel like we were friends being invited to his house AND also gave us a quiet corner seat.
They had a full menu of bottled beers, most of the names I couldn’t tell if it was in Italian or English. The on-​going happy hour promotion made the beer prices reasonable.
Reading the food menu felt like it was Chef Stroobant reading to me. We opted for their signature Mussels and Fries, and also boulettes — meatballs braised in hunter sauce. The mussels were up to expectations, the fries beyond expectations (FREE-​FLOW somemore), the meatballs were so-​so. It was a little overpowering to have the consistent taste and texture of the meatballs after every bite.
There were TVs in the bar area along with high stools; it’s a place suited for soccer buddies to unwind with tons of beer over the weekend.
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For such a beautiful place and location, the food was slightly disappointing — I expected a lot more judging by the crowd on a sunday night.
The food was average, and the portions were soooooo tiny! For the ‘Cabillaud Roti’ (codfish) which costs $ 34++ and is ironically placed under ‘Big Eats’ in their menu, we got a palm sized piece of fish (I’ve uploaded the photo). For the price you’re paying, you can definately get better elsewhere.
Service wasn’t great either — the staff are polite, but lacked initiative. The number of times we had to wave around to attract their attention to ask for water to be topped up, sauce, the fries that were supposed to come with our mussels was actually quite tiring. So much so I had to get up and grab the water myself when no one seemed to stop and notice us trying to attract their attention although we were seated right in the middle of the restaurant.
And to top it all off, when we tried to pay, they told us that their system was down — so we ended up waiting about 20 mins for the bill to come.
Again however the restaurant is situated at a lovely place right by the sea, a great place for a beer after your evening walk — but don’t bother stopping for dinner.