Bleu

It’s exciting times ahead whenever a new specialty grocer opens, and even more so when it’s one that’s bringing in hard-to-find seafood. With gourmet seafood grocery Bleu that’s right along Joo Chiat Road, we can now stock our pantries with the likes of live lobster and dry-aged Ora King salmon – quality produce that we can’t find in the aisles of our regular supermarkets.

At Bleu, it’s a clean, modern space – one that’s thoughtfully designed in ocean-inspired tones of blues and whites. Interestingly, the grocer is flanked by one of the infamous Hotel 81 branches, massage parlours, and some of the best Vietnamese restaurants. But like many other Joo Chiat joints that’ve recently opened up along this stretch, it all adds to the charm. 

It’s a new-age seafood market of sorts, fully stocked with a range of seafood. What we’re most interested in is its sashimi-grade dry-aged fish – they have a special dry-ager fridge where temperature and humidity levels are controlled. Fresh fish, descaled and gutted, are stored here from five to 30 days for a more intense flavour. 

Dry-ageing is getting more common in restaurants these days, from specialty seafood bars like Estuary to the culinary techniques of Edomae-style sushi restaurants. You can either have dry-aged fish raw or seared lightly over a hot pan, to best bring out its firm texture. 

Choose from dry-aged fish like ora King Salmon (from $12/100g) and samegarei (roughscale flounder, $12/100g), or live seafood like live Boston lobster (from $40) and live Alaskan king crab (from $138/1kg). There’ll also be wild-caught threadfin (from $7/100g) and oysters (from $30 for six). Besides seafood, Bleu also carries a range of meats including poulet chicken (from $20), A5 Wagyu (from $25), and USDA prime striploin (from $9.30). 

What we like most is that you can also opt for anything you buy to be handily divided into ready-to-use portions. But if you’re having an easy fuss-free home party, you can simply pick up one of the seafood platters ($128) which comes with Boston lobster, tiger prawns, and oysters.