The Occasion
To celebrate yours truly's birthday, the evening ended with Bob & I, G2 & Stanley heading for our yearly pilgrimage to Mellben Seafood at Blk 232 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 for Crab Bee Hoon Dinner.
The Owner
Sng Boon Chuan, 60, is the proud owner of Mellben Seafood, the key mastermind behind such a successful operation at the heart of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3. His winning formula : getting his crabs from various sources so he is not held hostage by any one particular supplier, and ensures he has a constant supply of crabs all year long, regardless of weather & seasonal changes that might affect the yield of crabs.
The Restaurant
Mellben Seafood has grown from a coffeeshop Zhi Char outfit over these 20 years with modest furnishings to the current fully furbished restaurant complete with al fresco dining, with seating capacity of about close to more than 180pax.
The Kitchen
Playing centre stage is this nucleus of main kitchen at Mellben Seafood comprising of an Executive Chef with his team of 5 sous chef generating out claypot & claypot load of fresh crabs cooked in a variety of flavors : Chili crab, Salted Egg crab, Butter crab, Black pepper crab, Curry crab, & their Signature Crab Bee Hoon (which happens to be my all time favorite). The Mellben Seafood kitchen here works like clockwork with each sous chef managing one specialty dish at his own station.
The crabs here are priced at a hefty $55 per kilogram, but many loyal die-hard fans do not mind the heavy price tag as they are certain to get their dose of omega & iodine rich crab - cooked ala minute, fresh & juicy. The Chef's tip when ordering crabs - choose male ones as they do not carry crab roe and are laden with lotsa crab meat.
The Ambience
This is only a weekday evening about 7pm and already Mellben Seafood is 100% occupied. Many diners are so busy cracking the crab shells they are completely oblivious to the fact that the weather is hot & Mellben Seafood has no air-conditioning. The fact is when the food is fresh, of good quality & the chef's culinary skills are great, the aesthetics & comfort are only secondary.
Proudly displayed on the walls are crab shells each endorsed by some famous celebrity who have visited Mellben Seafood at Blk 232 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 and loved to leave their trail behind.
Here comes our order for the evening.
Two male crabs each swimming in their rich bee hoon soup served hot in a claypot.
Two male crabs each swimming in their rich bee hoon soup served hot in a claypot.
The Mongolian Pork Ribs tastes simply great with a unique blend of sauce.
The Scallops & Asparagus are stirred fried in Hae Bee Hiam.
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