Josh T.
Yelp
My mother and my best friend love crabs, so very often I end up eating with my mother, my best friend, and her husband at places that specialise or feature crabs.
JUMBO. More recently, Happy Crab. And this actually was the meal that inspired me to bring my best friend to Happy Crab... because this place really let us down.
We had high hopes because I had heard good things... so when we arrived we discovered they had a buy three get one free offer. DING. Four of us. FOUR CRABS. Done.
Chilli. Pepper. Fresh steamed. And Bee hoon soup. We had all four of their preparation styles. We also had their chili marinated top shell starter that was SUPER GENEROUS in terms of portion size, and a nice, spicy starter. Only I had to eat most of it because top shell wasn't too popular with the rest of the people at the table. A single portion shared amongst 6-8 people would be ideal though. It'd really whet your appetite.
The crabs. Now the bee hoon soup was... average, the fresh steamed incredibly unmemorable, the chili a bit too sweet, but the pepper was quite delicious. Not quite Eng Seng at Joo Chiat level, but good. Why was it so disappointing though?
a) Temperature: some of the crab pieces were actually a little cold. It seemed like all the crabs had been pre-cooked and then they're reheated and tossed in whichever sauce you order it in.
b) Freshness: the crabs didn't come across as very fresh. The flesh had that slightly mushy, waterlogged texture that comes from freezing, and it was especially noticeable in the legs where the meat was really almost unpleasant. One of the crabs we had, I think the steamed one, also had a rather unpleasant smell of... ammonia. It tasted okay, still sweet, and a little mushy, but it smelled really unpleasant.
Overall, the value was okay, but when I eat crabs, it's all about freshness. I'm sticking to Happy Crab at Pahang Street.
http://www.yelp.com.sg/biz/happy-crab-singapore
At least there the crabs are super fresh.