celebrated by first-timers and revered by regulars, mellben seafood is an unassuming coffee shop resturant tucked away in the heartlands of ang mo kio. family and i decided to have dinner there after my dad's friend who stays in geylang recommended it to us. being upper thomson folks for a good part of our lives and having someone from the other end of the island enlighten us on such a place, just felt wrong- almost like an injustice to dismiss this nearby eatery.
the throngs of people and ever-clearing of tabletops a thursday night said it all. besides singaporeans love their food so much, the eatery gets away with a menu with prices spelt out in invisible ink. but apprehension aside, mum reasoned that most singaporeans suffer no fool when it comes to what goes into their tums and especially, their pockets.
we were warned that dinner would take roughly about an hour to be served- yes, on a thursday night thus dad ordered a rojak. rojak is a dish that brings out the worse in me. i normally do not crave for it but when put in front of me, i can go pea-nuts over it!
i love this crispy tofu dish- not withstanding the fact that a am a real tofu person.. on a hot plate.. mah po.. wrapped up in an omelette or just plain in pork soup.. tofu is my thing. so a drizzle of chicken rice chili and plum sauce over this crisp yet textured delight was enough to make me go for seconds.. and thirds..!
longevity noodles were next in line and i have no idea why the dish is named so since mee sua, a traditional 'longevity'- connotative ingredient was abesent. egg noodles were used instead and the heavy use of minced pork, vegetables and mushrooms complimented the texture of the noodles.
i had a hearty time with the mongolian pork ribs. throw in a different geographical and it suddenly sounds more exotic than sweet and sour pork? perhaps.. but stir-fried in sweet yet slightly savory sauce created a dish that was unapologetically chewwyyy and lip-smacking good. just take a look at how the colours of this picture literally jump at you!
but frankly, we came to mellben for this- crab bee-hoon in frothy milky soup and it was not difficult to measure its popularity by the sheer number of claypots that lay smugly on every table around us. deliriously tasty, the soup was accentuated by a layer of egg- which explains the yellow layer seen in the picture. and as i was too lazy to get my hands dirty, i did not try the crab though comments like 'fleshy' and 'sweet' gives good indication of satisfaction levels.
my kind of food!
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