April 11, 2007

mellben - its spelt with a double 'l'!

no prizes for guessing where we had dinner! promised my good friends carrie and nathan who travelled all the way from sydney that we'd head out for crabs and crabs was certainly what we had.

before i dive into raving about the dinner, i would like to add that this dinner was made all the more memorable just because carrie and nathan had, let's just say, a little trouble finding the place. i reserved a spot for us at the new branch of mellben over in toa payoh, and thought subconsciously that it should be easier to find then the main ang mo kio one. but unfortunately, they did get lost....i could so picture carrie frusing in the car and nathan trying to keep things under control *grin* in any case, it all worked out in the end with the food arriving just minutes before they eventually got there.

some people might think that the original amk branch is still the best, but i do beg to differ. the food at toa payoh was outstanding. i do apologise for my amateur photography skills...think these pics don't do the food the justice it deserves!

our crab feast consisted of guiness stout pork ribs, claypot tofu, the signature mellben crab bee hoon and not one, but two crabs cooked chilli style. yes, there were only four of us and i think we did really well with 4 dishes and 3 crabs!

we ordered the ribs as we remembered them to be yummy from before. it was one of mellben's specialty and they tasted as good as the first time i had them. the ribs were tender and roasted pretty much to perfection, leaving a crispy outer shell that tasted of guinness. for those who think guinness should remain a drink, take a chance and try these ribs if you get a chance. the synergy of the guinness and the ribs produce a taste that is truly unique. you will not be disappointed i guarantee!

the tofu was a nice change from our usual order of the home style fried tofu. but i guess the main highlight for me would still be the crabs. never mind that i just got my nails done, i still managed to plough through 2 pincers and one crab body with only slight dings in my thumb and fore finger nails! pretty much nothing stood in between me and the crab and bee hoon soup. lemak scali the soup...not too creamy and lemak, and infused with the sweetness of one huge sri lankan crab.

i was already quite stuffed after two bowls of bee hoon soup but one spoonful of the chilli crab sauce had me reaching for man tou after man tou to soak into the delicious gravy. again, just the right amount of chilli, tanginess and egginess to create the right consistency and sweetness. the crabs were big and very fresh, with the meat coming off the shells pretty much all in one piece! yum!

just writing this post is already making me hungry! and i've made a mental note to have mellben crabs again soon....5 out of 5 scoopies!!

mellben seafood
block 211 lorong 8 toa payoh
#01-11-15

(65) 6353 3120

2 comments:

Jo said...

dia, thanks for letting us know about the toa payoh branch. hope don't have to wait for 2 hours for the food like at AMK. btw, next time u must order the butter crab!! every time we have that, we literally drink up the butter gravy and lick the plate! ;)

Unknown said...

Hello DIa! Great blog!! yes I remember the wonderful food that night. Nath reckons the chilli crab was the nicest crab he had the whole trip. Next time tho, we'll catch a cab!