For this week’s 美食鉴定团 outing, we went to a really ulu (remote) place for dinner — the Singapore Night Safari!
YES 933FM DJs Jiafa & Weibin
Built to re-create the charming ambience of an ethnic kampong (village), Ulu Ulu Safari Restaurant offers a wide culinary selection, from local cuisine like satay, laksa, and chili crab, to international favorites. There’s even an Indian-themed buffet after 8.45pm daily.
The Chief's Room
For this tasting session, we were hosted in The Chief’s Room, which is available for private bookings and can comfortably seat up to 16 people.
Antique radio!
See how the nostalgic theme extends to this tastefully-decorated room, adorned with specially-sourced artifacts like this antique radio.
A special degustation menu was put together for us to sample various Ulu Ulu signature dishes.
Ulu Ulu Satay with Condiments & Peanut Sauce
The satay was simply out of this world! All of us were raving over the gorgeously-marinated chicken and lamb satay. That has to be the best lamb satay I’ve ever tried. So tender and no gamey smell at all!
Even more unforgettable was the peanut gravy. It was so fragrant, smooth and chunky at the same time. We were asking if the peanut gravy was available in bottles. We wanted to buy some home!
Ulu Ulu BBQ Chicken Wing with Special Chilli Sauce
The BBQ chicken wings were also perfectly executed. The skin was lightly sweet and evenly crispy. Squeeze some lime and dip into the zingy chilli sauce. Yummy!
The chilli sauce –which is similar to the one for Hainanese chicken rice– was very shiok!
The ala carte version
This is the usual presentation if you order the ala carte BBQ chicken wing at the restaurant.
Trio Meats served with Fragrant Chicken Rice / Prawn Dumpling Soup
Ulu Ulu also serves international fare like Cantonese-style roast meats and Hong Kong-style shrimp wantons. This was our sampling portion.
Roast duck rice set (ala carte version)
The actual set looks like this.
Indian Fish Tikka with Garlic Naan Bread
Ulu Ulu has a native Indian chef who oversees the North Indian menu. They even have a proper tandoor oven.
Unlike most tikka meats we’ve tried, this fish tikka was relatively soft and moist. The garlic naan was also very nice! That green dip is probably a blend of green herbs, while the orange dip is curry.
Ulu Ulu Chilli Crab with Mantou
This is the ala carte serving for chilli crab. Such a huge platter!
Everyone got very crabby!
See how excited everyone was over the chilli crab. It’s one of Singapore national dishes, no wonder we’re so passionate about it!
Chilli crab - degustation style
Thankfully, for people like me who are too lazy to peel crab, our individual portions came with two peeled claws each.
Weibin can't wait to dig in!
The accompanying fried mantou was really scrumptious. It was crisp on the outside, soft and fluffy inside, and amazingly non-greasy. Perfect for dunking into the crabbi-licious gravy!
Ice Kachang in Sampler Cup
A refreshing cup of sweet ice kachang rounded off our magnificent feast.
Special dessert for Halloween
Wait! The chef says he has a surprise for us!
It’s a dessert specially created for this year’s Halloween menu. We’re so privileged to have a preview of this cheeky dessert — a “coffin” and “bone” in a pool of “blood”.
Sounds scary? That’s just chocolate hazelnut cake and meringue cookie in raspberry sauce! 
Chef Liew Kok Hian with DJ Lin Peifen
Here’s the hero behind tonight’s wonderful dinner — Chef Liew Kok Hian with special guest YES 93.3FM DJ Lin Peifen.
The lucky winners of last week's contest
Of course, other guests included four lucky winners from last week’s contest.
"Tell me, what's your relationship with Mr Messy?"
Here’s Jiafa and Weibin interviewing them for this week’s radio segment.
"He is my.......uncle! Really!"
After dinner, we were treated to a tram ride around the Night Safari. We saw lions, hyenas (!!!), capybaras (really huge rodents!), Malayan tapirs, and many more animals. Some free-ranging animals walked up to our tram. They were so close we could touch them, but of course we weren’t allowed to.
We also saw Chawang the elephant, who came to greet us! He’s so majestic!
It’s a totally different experience being at the zoo at night. Somehow, the darkness adds a sense of mystery and heightens one’s senses. Amazingly, the animals are rather active at night!
To hear more of what we have to say about our dinner and tram ride at the Singapore Night Safari, tune in to Y.E.S. 93.3FM‘s 综合娱乐城 on Wednesday, 12 May 2010 from 6pm to 7pm!
A BIG thank you to Jennifer, Liang Min, Chef Liew, and staff of the Singapore Night Safari for your gracious hospitality!
Hear Julia on radio every Thursday at 11:10am & 12:10pm as she shares a Foodie Lunch Pick on 938LIVE's Lunch Box with hosts Howie Lim and Desmond Wong. 