Monday, August 16, 2010

Causeway Bay Crabs

What a difference one word makes. If it were not for the "BAY" there, and it was Causeway crabs, we might have thought it is was from the Johor Causeway, and would have fleed faster than a trollop in a JAKIM Raid. But of course, its from Causeway BAY, which is from Hong Kong, so of course, it sounded appealing.

Buildings mushroom up in the Mont Kiara/ Hartamas area faster than fungus in a humid lavatory. I had no idea when this multi storey building with basement car park sprang up, behind Souled Out. Easy location to find.

Invitation was courtesy of Ciki, who had also called Alilfatmonkey, and Chaokar.
Photobucket


Photobucket
Cumi and Ciki studying the menu intently, as they were given a free hand as to what to order.

Photobucket
Their signature garlic crab. Recent news of garlic shortage, and prices of garlic shooting up to RM 10 a kg could not possibly augur well for this dish, as it is drowned under a ton of garlic. The garlic is delicious, fried to a crisp, and really puts paid any plans for a night of long osculating. It really seems to be saying garlic with a hint of crab.

Photobucket
However, having said that, the crabs are mutantly huge. Priced by size, I think the one we had are approximately RM110 per crab. They come in RM60, RM90, ...something like that.

Photobucket
Just look at that claw, in relation to the soup spoon. Reminds me of the days of yore when Sri Lankan crabs were all the rage. Whatever happened to them Sri Lankans? Are they still available here?

Photobucket
Their chiew pai mee... the noodles themselves were adequately flavoursome and song, but those little shrimp are devoid of taste.

Photobucket
The other way of serving crab. Egg yolks...salted egg yolks, to be precise. Tons and tons of it. The statins companies must rejoice at the creation of this dish. The egg yolks are crispy, so in addition to yolks, crabs, its probably deep fried. The very epitome of health food...not...but oh so good.

Photobucket
Sweet and Sour pork. Well, it doesnt blow the mind away, but it is edible.


Photobucket
What delights await us on this platter? Duck's tongue!!! I wonder how many Donalds and Daisies had to sacrifice themselves for this dish. A quack quack here and a quack quack there.... I can't remember if I've ever had duck's tongue before, but I cant really say I am a fan. The texture is like a chewy tendon, unlike ox-tongue, which is melt in the mouth...

Photobucket
Check out the awesome roe within the crab shell.... why are all the unhealthiest things in life so delicious!

Scallops with garlic and rice noodle. Sweet and refreshing... swimming in a pleasantly clear broth.

Photobucket


Photobucket
Phoenix Claws, or less glamorously, Chicken Feet. It must have taken a brave or hungry man to discover that chicken feet are edible. I don't like them done this way, I prefer the dim sum way, which makes the skin soft; this version is a tad chewy. Kind of feels still alive....

Photobucket
We couldn't resist trying their version of Sang Har Mee. I personally like the noodles, all crispy, but the gravy was a bit to thick, and didn't seem to get less thick as we worked our way through.

Photobucket
To finish off, dessert of honey sea coconut, a refreshing concoction.

Photobucket
One guy and two monkeys....

I think the prices are yutt fun cheen yutt fun for..you get what you pay for. Those large crabs are not cheap. So carefully select your favourite method of cooking. You wouldn't want to waste those mothers of crab to some cooking style you do not like.

I'm now curious to taste the original Causeway Bay crabs in Hong Kong. Anyone heading there soon?



17 comments:

Paranoid Android said...

Ha ha ha! You used the word Trollop! Mwahaha.... Crabs looks obscenely delicious. I do recall the version in HK is quite spicy. Was it the same there?

qwazymonkey said...

Was the crab spicy? I don't remember it being spicy? Hmmm

Now, I've got to write mine. Sei Lor

qwazymonkey said...

btw, those hugely tasteless Sri Lankan crabs are still all the rage in Singapore now.

ai wei said...

i love their crabs, had the mild one and it was quite spicy. love them max :)

J said...

Pass on the duck tongue! EWWWW.
(Tried it before, many years ago... Not something I'd look forward to. That crab on the other hand - waaaah. Looks really yummy!)

KY said...

waaaa i wanna have some of that crab now!!

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

what a fabulous looking meal, tangechi. i can't imagine a crab dish that's buried deep in so much garlic...imagine the skeletons hidden within the tomb. How much do you reckon a meal like that would cost? Will I need to sell my firstborn?

Ciki said...

fleed faster than a trollop in a JAKIM Raid!!!!

trollops rule ohkayyyy. nice one!

btw, i like that chicken feet shot in a grim, gross, chainsaw massacre-rish manner that i find hard to explain..

fatboybakes said...

ciki, yalar hor there's something morbidly fascinating about those dead chicken feet.

thamby, we likened the garlic to sand, and the crab crawling out of the sand...not far off from your tomb analogy.

fatboybakes said...

chaokar, ya you're right, so it was...

KY, didnt you have crabs recently too? cis. how DO you tuck it all in and remain so svelte. its just not fair.

fatboybakes said...

J, i generally love tongue...but not duck.

ai wei, glad you enjoyed your experience at causeway bay.

fatboybakes said...

monkey boy, did i say the crabs were spicy??? did i did i???

ooops, you were referring to paranoidandroid's remark ka? duuhhh, i slow.

paranoid android, yup, i couldnt wait to use the word of the week...

jason said...

OMG, humongous crab! Did they inject the crab with something?? @_@

thule a.k.a leo said...

unmistakeably HK style of cooking :) planning to come here but not going to KL anytime soon due to the workload... can tapao for me ah??

vialentino said...

super big crab claw....lovin it...nice one

Kenny Mah said...

Hehe, you gotta remind me of these Causeway Bay crabs when Devil & I head to HK again next year for his birthday... Certainly missed out on this before the last time.

And ooh. All that garlic. I want, I want... :D

Rarebeet said...

Some crab with your garlic sir?

Doesn't the garlic overwhelm the taste of the crab? You know me, all about being subtle! :-)