Food Singapore

Crab at Bay – Crabtivatingly Delicious Crab Bee Hoon at Macpherson Road

Mr HoseyJun 23, 2018001766

Tucked along MacPherson Road, Crab at Bay is a zi char restaurant known for their crab bee hoon. Aside from the usual zi char fare such as kangkong sambal, Crab at Bay also serves unique dishes developed by their chefs.

A good starter to try would be their deep fish skin coated with salted egg yolk. The crisp fish skin cracked audibly as we bit into it, with the salted egg yolk taste quickly invading our tastebuds. Surprisingly, the salted egg yolk taste was distinct, yet not overpowering, and blended well with the taste of the fish skin, as well as other spices used.

Double Platter

We also tried their Guinness Pork Ribs, which – as its name suggests – uses Guinness Stout as a marinade. It’s also used as a glaze for the pork ribs. The Guinness Stout gives the ribs a slightly bitter, though not unpleasant aftertaste, almost like coffee ribs.

For a more satisfying experience, use your fingers to pick up and eat the ribs, and not your cutlery. Some of the glaze will remain on them, which you can lick the glaze off from if you’re not put off by the idea.

Their Steamed Butter Garlic Sotong came in a savoury broth, topped with generous servings of garlic and butter. The baby squid were firm and bouncy. Having absorbed the flavour of the garlic butter and broth, the baby sotong burst with their flavour as we bit into it. Eat this dish with rice if you find the garlic taste too overpowering.

Finally, the highlight of their menu: crab bee hoon. The dish is usually cooked in two styles: either in a claypot with seafood broth, milk, and white rice vermicelli, or fried in a wok with Chinese vermicelli. Crab at Bay is better known for the latter.

A hallmark of good, quality crab would be seeing its thick, juicy flesh sliding out of its shell easily without much prying. The crabs at Crab at Bay hits all these checkboxes. Large chunks of crab roe could also be seen mixed with the bee hoon. Overall, the flavour of the crab, together with the roe and seafood stock, infused the dish with a savoury umami taste that left us going back for seconds.

You should give Crab at Bay a try if you’re a fan of crabs and want to try something beyond your usual zi char fare. With reasonably-priced dishes, this is a place worth going to with a group of friends so you can order more food (and further split the bill to avoid burning a hole in your pocket).