PETALING JAYA, Dec 25 — It’s a yearly affair; celebrating with crabs when my friends and I get together. Since crabs are labelled as high cholesterol, it’s reserved for special occasions like birthdays or that rare get-together.
Maybe because we tend to eat it not often, we’re always on the lookout for better places to enjoy this once-a-year indulgence. We had stumbled upon this newish branch of Fei Fei Crab at Damansara Jaya and decided to give it a try.
About eight years ago, Fei Fei Crab was started by their chef-owner Tan Nam Kun in Kepong. As told by Krystal Yen from the Damansara Jaya branch, Tan was originally involved in multimedia but he decided to pursue a career in the restaurant business since it was a more lucrative prospect.
Earlier on he had apprenticed in a restaurant that saw him picking up his cooking skills and experimenting with various new tastes especially for his crab dishes. This October, they expanded their operations to Petaling Jaya with the opening of this branch.
Together with other partners, Tan also has shares in two other restaurants — Crab B located in Puchong and Crab Generation in Cheras. Both restaurants also have their own signature crab dishes.
Fei Fei offers eight types of crab dishes. High on the order list is their most popular item, the claypot kam heong butter crab. Unlike the spicy fragrant kam heong version found in most restaurants, this version is slightly tempered with a butter sauce that produces a more mellow flavour.
Nevertheless the sauce still retains the signature aromas of dried shrimps, chillies, onions and curry leaves, making it just as delicious with the crabs.
Indulge in their creamy salted egg crab, a decadent dish. We guarantee you will be mopping up every bit of that creamy sauce with its salted egg yolk pieces. According to Yen, they only use the better quality salted egg yolks for the sauce to impart that savoury kick to balance out the richness of the sauce.
For the adventurous, there’s an Oreo cheese crab dish where a creamy cheese sauce is sprinkled with crushed Oreo biscuits to give a hint of chocolate to the dish. Try it and maybe you will love that unusual combination!
If you prefer a cleaner refreshing flavour, the honey lemon crab is a good choice. Here the crabs are cooked with a honey sauce that has tangy lemon juice mixed into it. It’s not overly sweet and one can really taste the sweetness of the crab meat with this slightly sticky sauce. Other choices include Marmite crab, hot & sour crab, creamy butter crab and white wine steamed crabs.
The restaurant serves two types of crabs. There’s the meatier Sri Lankan crabs and the roe-rich French crabs. The brownish coloured crabs are also known as “min pau” or bread in Chinese, since they resemble a pillow with their chunkier bodies.
Imported from a cold weather country, these crabs need to be kept chilled and are usually available all year around except for the months they are mating. Prices for the crabs are seasonal so it’s best to check with them before you order.
A minimum order is usually two crabs where there is a choice of sizes from XL to XXXL to choose from. Yen tells us that their crabs are all below one kilogram; if they are too big, the crab’s meat will be too hard after it is cooked. The crabs are cooked up by Fear Lo, their chef who has worked with them for five years. A deft hand in handling the wok, Fear trained at the Kepong restaurant before moving to this outpost.
Aside from crabs, there are many other dishes available on the menu to give variety to your meal here. A must-eat is the Thai-style sour steamed seafood. The simple dish has a mix of clams, sotong and prawns that is dressed in a wickedly addictive sauce.
The tangy, spicy and slightly sweetish flavours from the garlic chilli sauce will have you spewing up every drop of the sauce with the fresh seafood. You also have seafood tofu where their smooth homemade bean curd is paired with clams and prawns. It’s topped with crispy shredded kailan that gives it a nice contrast of textures.
Other dishes on the menu also include items like BBQ pork rib where you get a piece of fork tender long pork rib to yourself, hot plate cincalok seafood, hot and spicy steamed tiger grouper and Pattaya pork knuckle.
If you’re looking for a reasonable lunch meal, the restaurant also offers a value set lunch for RM9.90. The offer also includes a drink, ice cream and soup. You get a choice of dishes like Cantonese fried noodles, loh mee, claypot loh shee fun.
There’s also a long list of rice dishes, where cooked dishes are paired with plain rice. This includes their signature creamy salty sauce cooked with a choice of chicken, pork ribs or even mantis prawns. You also have two types of fried rice to choose from: a ginger golden version and the classic Yong Zhao version.
One important thing to note when dining here is the restaurant currently does not take reservations. As seating is rather limited, Yen advises that they practise a first come, first served policy here. Later there are plans to expand the restaurant upstairs which means they can take reservations.
Fei Fei Crab Restaurant
19, Jalan SS22/11, Damansara Jaya, PJ
Tel: 013-207 9978/010-270 9978
Open: 11am to 2.30pm, 5pm to 10.30pm.
Closed on Mondays.
