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.




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


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.


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.


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?


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


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.


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



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...


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.





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....


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.


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


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?

Siu Siu, At The End of The Runway

Years ago, Godma Jean introduced us to this quaint little "shack", located in the innards of Robson Heights, on a road that leads to the Chinese Cemetery, which can look really spooky at night, that serves rather good and reasonably priced food. The place, Siu Siu. Eating there, you could literally forget you're in KL, as you're surrounded by the lush greenery and sounds of crickets making love. It's like eating in a rainforest.

Anyway, like my waistline, they have obviously expanded, and now have a spanking new premise at the end of the runway, of the old airport (now the TUDM Sg Besi Base), along the SMART/ KL Seremban highway. As you descend the flyover that brings you down to the left turn that leads to Jln Istana, you feel like an aeroplane yourself, as you can see the runway, from an almost aerial view, and the restaurant Siu Siu at the end of it. There's something about restaurants at the end of a runway. Like Subang. There are rows of seafood places at the end of that runway. Weird right? What's the correlation between runways and seafood?

Well, last Monday, (goodness, my updates seem to have a 1 week time lag), some friends and us went to check out the new Siu Siu at the end of the runway. The set up is nice and airy, alas, cant smell any aeroplane fuel. (see 6 weird things about me post). Well, since it was a week ago, I can hardly recall what we had now. Okay, there was a fish, very very large one, (Free Willy comes to mind), that was deep fried. The texture was good, and I love the crispy bits associated with fried fish.


The pork knuckle was rather delectable with its crispy skin. This pig probably went to the gym, coz there wasn't much fat in its arms. How is that possible!!! That's a minus point, when it comes to pigs. Thin pigs are like 38C bras for men.... completely useless. However, I recall the taste was good, and the crackling divine.


I remember loathing brinjal and lady's finger as a child. But they are my favourites now. Throw in some petai, and this simple dish is just heavenly. And I don't mean in a cake sense. It's just wholesome goodness on a plate, and tastes delicious too. Reminds me of a lame joke: How do you tenderise meat? Ans: Papaya. How do you harden meat? Ans: Lady's finger.



Taufu with chee yoke soi. Well, tofu is tofu. Would take a real dungu to screw this dish up.


Another okra brinjal combo, in a curry claypot. I honestly have NOOOO recollection of this taste.....maybe the single malt whiskies I was imbibing had deleted some brain cells.



The piece the resistance, crabbies. Yummy. I lurve crabs. We had two varieties, butter crab in claypot and the salted egg crab, which seems to be the rage these days. I swear, there's a conspiracy afoot by major drug companies selling lipitor and zocor (cholesterol medication), to come up with the MOST UNHEALTHY food combos. Salted egg yolks and crab. How much worse can it get. Butter and crabs? It's a conspiracy, I tell you. Why not just shoot us and save us the misery?


The total bill, for 8 of us, came up to approximately RM320. I only remember coz it was RM40 per head. Quite reasonable, considering the amount of food we had.

Meanwhile, last Saturday, I had the most shockingly bad bad bad buffet dinner ever. I am still wondering if I should write about it, lest I be sued for defamation.