Crab Seafood Restaurant, Dataran Sunway
It was a warm (really warm), cozy moonlit night. I was wondering around Dataran Sunway hunting for a decent place to have my dinner. I was not really that hungry after a late and lousy lunch at Winter Warmers, where i figured that the only thing the chef there knows about food seasoning is black pepper and black pepper. Nothing was great and that left a bad taste in my mouth. It didnt help that it was after watching the 'Shrek Forever After' movie where Ogres were binging on chocolate coated bugs and slimy insects ..their version of good gourmet s**t. Mind you, the movie was fantastic and hilarious especially with the antics of Donkey and Puss in Boots. Puss was classic at best with all the charisma of a fat adorable self indulgent pussy cat.
Determined to wash away my memory of the forgettable lunch, i drove around the square covering almost every single block looking out for a restaurant that would catch my attention. For a moment i felt like a police car on patrol looking out for food criminal who waste food and doesn’t finish their beers. I came across Pakka restaurant and it looked interesting but i was hoping for another option. Suddenly, i drove pass an aptly named restaurant called Crab, which is a few blocks away from the packed DU Hokkien Mee restaurant which i would check out soon.
I went for it with a bit of a hesitation, hoping that it would still be called Crab after i am done with my visit and not Crap !!! I was greeted by the staff there who gave me a brief overview of the packages that is available and also the various types of crab they serve. Sounded quite interesting, so i switched on my 'food critic' mode and ordered away !
The Food
We ordered two types of crabs, their house specialty Chilli Crab and the other Egg Yolk Baked Crabs. We also ordered the Steamed Siakap with Nyonya Sauce, Seafood Winter Melon Soup, Kampung Otak Otak Tofu (Beancurd), Baby French Bean with Garlic and dried chilli and of course beers to wash everything down this thirsty throat.
The crab was nicely done and not overcooked. The meat was fresh and moist. Normally we would order some buns to soak up the sauce from the plate but in this case, we didnt like the sauce. Well, sauce to many people is quite a subjective thing. You might like it but i didnt. We were given special 'tools' to crack open those giant claws and scavenge every single bits of crab meat. So it was quite a breeze tackling those claws. 
However, if you are a serious crab lover, then i suggest you get hold of an additional tool (below) to make your crab eating experience complete. This would substitute the 'not so suitable' fork to scrape crab meat from the nook and corners of the claws. Very useful tool indeed !
Next, we had the crab cooked with salted duck eggs. This dish has got a deep flavour and too over powering for the natural essence of the crab. It was a bit dry compared to the chilli crab and we felt that the salted egg coating was a wee bit too 'grainy' for our liking. You could try their crab cooked in other styles like the 'kam heong' (dry shrimps and dry chilli paste) and just simply steam crab. To me the steam crab would be the best option if you want to savour the real natural flavour of the crab meat. Usually, the crab is steamed with an egg base and ginger with a dash of chinese cooking wine.
The crab comes in portions for 2 at about RM38. However, we realized that they topped up our portion with an additional claw for both the crab dishes. That's nice for having a crab with 3 claws !
Steam Siakap with Nyonya Sauce
By the time we had the fish in nyonya sauce, we were getting really thirsty. Well, i guess i made a mistake by ordering too many strong flavoured dishes. We didnt order steam rice to go with the dishes. It would have been better so that you can 'spread out' the saltiness and the spiceness of these dishes with the rice. The fish was steamed to perfection and the nyonya sauce with ladies finger would go well with steam rice instead of having it 'as is'. The fish comes in standard size capped at RM38.
For the so called side dishes, we have this lovely seafood soup with winter melon and served in the winter melon shell itself. A wee bit salty because of the different flavours infused by the dried seafood like sea cucumber, mushroom, fish maw, mini abalone, bundled vermicelli, dried wolfberries (kei chi) and pieces of winter melon.
Refreshing at the beginning but as we dugged deeper into our meals, we started to experience the 'law of diminishing returns'. Obviously, we over ordered a liitle and the overwhelming flavours sort of over powered our taste buds and i must say , we could have given more credit to the dishes had we not over ate and ended up feeling like a stuffed duck.
The baby french beans with garlic and dried chilli is a no brainer...nice and crunchy with a right balance of salt and oil and garlic.
The otak otak tofu is quite unique in its taste and it would come good as a starter dish that you could wash down with beers while you wait for your other dishes to arrive. Subtle taste of the otak otak or fish paste flavoured tofu is deep fried to give it that crispy coating with soft texture on the inside. Nice.
Ambience
They have an indoor section and a spacious outdoor. It is nice to get a sit outdoor which is actually a side lane separating the blocks.
Special Guest
For this review, my special guest happens to be a victim of my indulgence. I think if they could talk, they will probably say “ I am best served in simple steam style cooking if you really want to taste a fresh crab like me and retain the natural flavour. Please don’t drench me in heavy and pungent sauce unless I am not all that fresh and you need to disguise my body odour ! “
Verdict
Overall, it was a pleasant experience in terms of the out door atmosphere on a warm night. The flavours of the dishes are quite decent and with the dishes we ordered, it would helped if we had at least one more companion to 'spread the load' so i dont have to end up feeling like Puss in Boots ...all fat and lazy and couldnt even manouvre to scratch and lick myself.
Apart from whispering "momento, momento... let me gather myself first " to my dinner companion when she asked me to have some more crabs, it was quite an ok experience. However, having tried the crabs there, i would consider returning only if i have a sudden craving for crabs and don't want to travel more than 3 km from home. It didnt quite hit the spot for me. You should give it a try and let me know what you think.
Location
Address:
No.23-1 & 23-3, Jalan PJU 5/9,
Dataran Sunway
Kota Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya
Selangor.
Tel: 03-61482232
Business Hrs:
11:30am - 3:00pm
6:00pm - 12:00midnight
