Crabs in Hot Soup!

Crab Beehoon Soup
Over the weekend, hubby and I discovered this new 'zhe-cha' coffee-shop in Ang Mo Kio that serves, in my opinion, one of the best crab beehoon soup that I have ever tasted. Be forewarned though, this place is so popular that you will need to wait between 45 minutes to an hour to get a table and be served. We were there at 6.30 p.m. and the crab made its entrance only at 7.20 p.m., but it was well worth the wait. The steaming claypot arrived with this beautiful crab perched on top of thick-round 'beehoon' (rice noodles) in an aromatic milky soup that had been imbued with a really sweet and fresh taste of crabs with a whole knob of ginger to give it the right robust touch. We chose a female crab and you can see the lovely crab roe peeking out from under the shell just waiting to be savoured.

Mongolian Pork Ribs Whilst waiting for the crab soup, we were served the 'Mongolian pork ribs' which were absolutely succulent and tender, fried and coated in this sweet, slightly salty sauce with lots of black pepper kick.

This coffee-shop is highly recommended, save for the waiting which is fairly excruciating as we see other tables being served and the wonderful aromas wafting over to poor us with the rumbling stomachs and active gastric juices. Advice: go very early (maybe 5 p.m.?) or very late (maybe 9 p.m., after the dinner crowd) but just keep in mind above picture of crab soup as you patiently wait for a table!

Mellben Seafood
Block 232 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 (St 22) #01-1222
Singapore 560232

Personal ratings: 7 out of 10 (for crab beehoon soup) - must try, and warrant repeat returns