Mellben Seafood at Blk 232 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 - Birthday Celebration with G2 Stanley & Bob

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. 

 Manage to get a photo taken with Boss Sng Boon Chuan. 

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. 

The Mongolian Pork Ribs tastes simply great with a unique blend of sauce. 

The Scallops & Asparagus are stirred fried in Hae Bee Hiam. 

Mellben Seafood Pte Ltd at Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 Block 232 - Claypot Crab Bee Hoon Soup

The star attraction of the evening after a good thirty minutes' pining was our all time favourite - Mellben's Claypot Crab Bee Hoon Soup. In fact I was mentally rehearsing how to tuck into the juicy crab claw as Bob was driving into Block 232 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3.  

The key ingredient to making a great tasting Crab Bee Hoon Soup soup broth ? Freshness, freshness and nothing but freshness ! 

The soup is naturally sweet, in part due to the blended shells added to the soup base, plus lots of fresh spices & herbs - garlic, ginger, galangal, shallots, onions, white pepper, rice wine, Hua Tiao Jiu, fish sauce, scallion, butter, evaporated milk and  live crab. We always order the male crab as they are usually more meaty, the female crabs have roe that adds on to the weight. 

The crab meat is cooked thoroughly and infused with the spices and herbs used in the soup broth, and it in turns lend a seafood flavor to the soup. The evaporated milk thickens the soup broth, with the added ginger, shallots, garlic, rice wine, butter - gives a sweet buttery garlicky taste to the broth. I can confirm Mellben does not used MSG - they don't need to as the broth is already so deliciously sweet. It was perfect that the Crab Bee Hoon Soup was served piping hot in a claypot, and it was the claypot that keeps the soup broth warm whilst we devour the crab with much glee. 

Mellben Seafood Pte Ltd at Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 Block 232 - Scallops with Asparagus

Besides serving up great crab signatures at Mellben, the Mellben chefs do delicious seafood dishes as well. Bob & I ordered the Scallops with Asparagus - the scallops are stir fry with asparagus  with spicy rempah, and shreds of dried scallop bits. The asparagus are crunchy and sweet, the scallops are fresh and tender. 

Mellben Seafood Pte Ltd at Blk 232 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 - The Background

Mellben Seafood is owned & operated by Mr Sng Boon Chuan, age 59 at Ang Mo Kio Ave 3, Block 232. 

His brother Mr Soon Boon Leong, age 57, started the first seafood restaurant more than 30 years ago in a pre-war house in Alexandra Hill, but diverse into the construction industry just ten years on. 

Boon Chuan, seeing that there is a demand for seafood in Singapore, embarked on the seafood bandwagon and started Mellben Seafood at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 Block 232. The restaurant has since grown to occupy a sprawling space feeding more than 35 tables of hungry diners every evening from 5pm to 10 pm. 

To meet the huge demand for crabs these days, Boon Chuan gets his crabs from various sources : Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam. His crabs currently are priced at S$50 per kilo. Despite the high price compared to other coffee shop joints, his restaurant still see many loyal fans who love the Signature dish at Mellben : Crab. The crabs can be cooked in various flavors: Chilli, Claypot Bee Hoon Soup, Butter, Thai, Black Pepper, Curry, Salted Egg, etc, but the popular favourite flavours are : Butter Crab, Claypot Crab Bee Hoon Soup. 

His restaurant at Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 are well patronised by many famous celebrities. One corner of the restaurant are dedicated to display well preserved crab shells endorsed by many MediaCorp Celebrities who have visited his restaurant. 

To every successful restaurant belies a team of dedicated chefs & cooks who love and practise their craft. The next time you visit Mellben, do give your compliments to the unsung heroes who satisfy your hungry bowels. 

When Boon Chuan started Mellben Seafood, he hired some chefs to cook, and had Boon Leong referred some of his previous experience chefs to mentor them. Over the years the hired chefs at Mellben has mastered their craft and has since  helm the kitchen at Mellben, dishing out daily doses of omega rich crab meat oozing, freshness from the sea. 

It appears that seafood business runs in their blood. Whilst Mellben at Blk 232 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 is owned by Boon Chuan, his sister Kelly opens her Mellben outlet at Toa Payoh. Boon Leong operated his Uncle Leong Seafood at Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 Block 233 for many years but has since moved out of Ang Mo Kio.