Maggi Ketam?!? For real, Restoran Chilli’s Crab Seafood has this unusual dish and it’s not cheap. Maggi is one of the most popular instant noodles around and this place has paired it with a whole mud crab to produce a deluxe variant of Maggi Ketam (Crab Maggi Noodles) in a claypot!
This is located at Sunway Giza and I’ve seen the poster announcing their “extraordinary and must-try Maggi Ketam” a couple of times. I went there alone last week and had their Maggi Ketam in a claypot. My better half didn’t like the idea of Maggi instant noodles with crab so I embarked upon this culinary adventure myself.
Maggi Ketam Claypot (RM 38.80)
This is one (1) whole mud crab in the region of 500 grams cooked together with 2 packets of Maggi instant noodles in a claypot. You can opt for either Curry flavor or Tom Yam flavor – it really depends on which flavor of Maggi instant noodles you like. I went for the Curry version. I was told that it might be a little too big for a single person but I regularly eat 2-3 packets of Maggi anyway so I thought I could handle it.
I was right. It was just the right size for a big eater like myself. The novelty of this dish is the pairing of the proletariat Maggi noodles with a luxurious ingredient like crab. The Maggi instant noodles were cooked well and the broth was super thick! I suspect they put it a lot more than just 2 packets of soup powder.
The claypot Maggi Crab Noodles also had a whole mud crab inside. You’re given a crab cracker so you can get at the meat. I think the thick soup was perfect since it added flavor to the crab. There’s also a smattering of vegetables and whole chillis inside to spice up the dish so beware if you can’t take spicy food. I think it was pretty decent, but there are cheaper crab noodle places out there.
This place is very popular though – I saw two Chinese girls sharing a Maggi Ketam Claypot when I was there and that was around 3 pm in the afternoon. I went again over the weekend with my dear and the place was quite packed.
Crab Kam Heong Bee Hoon (RM 38.80)
Chilli’s Crab Seafood Restaurant also serves their signature crab with bee hoon. There are 3 such dishes – Crab Singapore Bee Hoon, Crab Kam Heong Bee Hoon and Crab Hokkien Bee Hoon. They’re all cooked in similar styles with one (1) whole crab per dish. My dear went for the Crab Kam Heong Bihun and it’s spicy dry fried rice vermicelli with a whole crab. The rice vermicelli is great and the crab is awesome.
Crab Hokkien Bihun (RM 38.80)
This is the other crab-in-a-noodle-dish option. The Hokkien style fried rice vermicelli is slightly wet and the crab essence goes into the gravy, which makes it taste much better than the dry fried options. The prices are standard since the crab size is standard (500 grams per plate) – I just wanted to try all their crab noodle dishes. Haha!
I thought the best dish at Chilli’s Crab Seafood is their Maggi Crab Noodles. The Maggi Ketam is like a guilty pleasure, something to indulge in once in a while. I know some people might think it’s not “worth it” and to them I say, do you know how little rice vermicelli costs? It’s the same thing. The prices here are admittedly higher at Mee Ketam KL (review coming up soon) but they only use mud crabs instead of flower crabs for more meat. The meal came up to RM 86.50 for the two of us the time I went with my better half, which is less than the price we usually pay for dinner anyway.
I was in that area last Friday night drinking away with friends at the pub next door till 2 am. That restaurant was packed at dinner hour till midnight which made me rather curious. Now you are sharing the whole bowl of crab maggi mee here. I am shocked that you could easily eat 2-3 packets of instant noodles! You are not even fat or obese and tell me how you stay so slim? You dig throats!! Wakakaka just kidding.
I might go and try that crab noodle when I go drinking in that area again. I am reluctant to drink too far from home again as there were police road blocks that night. Phew!
Yeah, I can easily eat 2-3 packets of Maggi! 🙂
Haha! No la, it’s actually not a lot. 4 packets is a lot. I feel like 2 packets + 2 eggs sometimes not enough, 3 is a little too much, but can finish. Yup, this place is very packed always, lots of people come to eat, they’re famous for their crabs. It’s open till late too.
There’s always a roadblock here, parallel to Encorp Strand Mall. It’s always at the same place, so to avoid it, you should go down the next road (in front of Giant Kota Damansara) and then cut back at the next traffic light so you can skip the entire road block.
I would like to try the maggi ketam claypot but I cannot take spicy so I guess I would have to try the Crab Hokkien Bihun instead. Is the bihun those soft or very springy type? I prefer soft because I find the very springy type hard to chew.
You can ask them to hold the chillis! 🙂
There’s a Tom Yam version too, if you don’t like Maggi Curry. The bee hoon crab is really good too, I’ll recommend the Hokkien bee hoon since it has gravy and the gravy tastes good with the crab. Hmm…it’s kinda halfway in terms of firmness? It’s not the chewy type but not the soft type either.
Crab does not come cheap so anything with crabs or giant prawns, I would not expect it to come cheap. I do think frying it dry like that will not get the flavours out of the crustacean so much, better with soup or gravy…but of course, one can still enjoy eating it.
Yeah, the Hokkien bee hoon is quite good! 🙂
I like the crabs here but it’s actually a little more expensive than a similar outlet called Mee Ketam KL that’s located in Shah Alam. That’s a lot further away though, while this is just opposite my place. Mee Ketam KL is also more transparent – they weigh the crabs in front of you with a scale when you choose it.
that’s a lot of crabs! i like how you managed to try different recipes in these two sittings … i’m tempted by the thought of maggi curry too, and yeah, i could finish it on my own too, even though it looks quite a princely portion with very thick broth! hmmm maybe for their next speciality, they could do crab ramen 😀
Yup, I wanted to try every single crab dish on their menu! 🙂
I succeeded with all the whole crab dishes (or most anyway) – there’s technically a Singapore style mee hoon I haven’t tried but it’s dry fried like the kam heong style crab mee hoon. I’ll go back for the Maggi Ketam again though, it’s actually quite good, just feel a little bad paying RM 40 for Maggi. Haha.
That Maggi Crab looks fiery hot! Looks tempting but too bad I can’t tolerate spiciness.
What a shame 🙁
Yup, it’s really good! 🙂
I’ll go back for the Crab Maggi again.
I love Maggi Laksa very much can easily polish off 2 packets in one serving..not a crab person but eager to try the ketam claypot too..
Yup, me too! 🙂
You’ll love the Maggi Crab then, it’s delicious with a whole crab inside.
Maggi mee and crab sounds like a weird combination. The beehoon one looked good though.
I’ve heard of it for a long time, in drug rehab of all places! 🙂
One of the fellow inmates told me how they would catch a crab (flower crab) from the sea and just chop it in half and cook it with a packet of Maggi Chicken. Since it’s not filling and these people are quite poor (they live in a slum that’s above water in stilts in KK) they’ll cook rice and eat it with the Maggi and crab. I had rice + Maggi in rehab too. Haha.
40 ringgit for maggi? That’s too much. I know it has crab but still very expensive. I can cook at home. ^^
Yeah, it feels a little expensive to pay RM 38.80 for Maggi! 🙂
But then again, technically Maggi is more expensive than bee hoon. The per packet price is a lot more. Haha. I think you’re paying for the crab more actually and it’s (about) market price.
The fried mee hoon look good with lots of “wok hei”, it’s rarely seen in a Malay restaurant though~
2-3 pkts instant noodle in 1 meal is quite a lot! I’ve tried to have 2 pkts & I ended up very stuffed! =.=”
Yup, this is a wholly Bumiputra owned business! 🙂
I was surprised to learn that too, would have guessed Chinese-Muslim but they’re all Malays. They just cook Chinese style food. The people there are very friendly too, it’s just located opposite where I live – Sunway Giza. The only problem is, parking is ALWAYS a pain on weekdays, even after office hours. Sunway Giza has a severe shortage of parking spaces.
OMG! This is a mouth watering post. I begin to drool by looking at the maggi mee. haha…
Price quite reasonable, judging that it include a whole crab in it.