5 Senses Bistro has quietly updated & overhauled its menu since the last time I’ve been there. One of the new dishes on the menu is this White Seafood Crabmeat Pasta ($14.90++), which sees crab meat (duh), squid, shrimp & mussels stewing in a wonderful white seafood soup.

Apparently, 5 Senses takes the old adage that ‘you eat with your eyes first’ very seriously, as they serve this piquant pasta in a cute ceramic crab bowl. It is a little annoying to get all that brilliant broth out with all the tiny nooks inside the bowl, but there’s no denying that the presentation is bang-on beautiful.

5 Senses has always been a stellar soup maker even though they don’t specialise in soups, and their white seafood soup is utterly umami. It’s rich, briny, wondrously wholesome, and is undoubtedly hearty. The angel hair pasta is competently cooked to al dente perfection and absorbs that sapid soup well.

The seafood was pleasantly fresh, with the mussels tasting nice and clean and the crab with just a little hint of sweetness in it. The weird thing about squid is that it must be cooked just right, or it must be thoroughly overcooked in order to qualify as perfectly cooked squid. 5 Senses’ squid is definitely at the latter end, with the squid being soft and easy to bite into, with just a little bit of resistance and snap. The shrimp within ain’t much, but they’re fresh, slightly sweet & satisfyingly snappy.

Believe me folks, 5 Senses’ White Seafood Crabmeat Pasta is a tremendous treat for all 5 senses. No bullcrab here, only honest to goodness seafood soup.