We took a route that brought us through Seremban over the long weekend and decided to eat the famous baked crabs here. These delicious morsels of crustaceans are grilled (so maybe it should be called grilled crabs) with nothing more than a simple dressing, making it the perfect food for all seafood lovers.
The best place to have the baked crabs is apparently Seremban Seafood Village (Kedai Makanan Seremban). It looks like an unassuming stall that’s located by the roadside until you actually step in. The interior is surprisingly huge! There’s a set of stairs that you’ll have to walk down and it’s almost a cavern inside. There are lots of pictures of crabs so visitors wouldn’t miss what they’re all about.
Soup Lala (RM 15)
This is the clams people in Peninsula Malaysia love. It’s done in a “soup” (technically a light broth) so the molluscs can shine. I like how Seremban Seafood Village do the catch justice by applying light and easy cooking methods so as not to overpower the natural taste.
Salted Egg Fried Sotong (RM 25)
This is Chinese style calamari – the batter is mixed with salted egg so there’s a natural seasoning. We got this for the kids. I thought the batter didn’t stick very well to the squid but then this place is more known for their crabs.
Season Pea (RM 15)
I think a hungry person started grabbing at the shoots before my better half could take a photo. This is the obligatory vegetable dish.
Fried Soo Hoon (RM 15)
This is the carbohydrate to fill everyone up coz some people didn’t want to have rice. We had this in the late evening for an early dinner after lunch in Melaka and tea at Klebang Original Coconut Shake so we were still quite full.
Baked Crabs (RM 210)
This is the famous Seremban baked crabs! It costs RM 70/kg and we had 3 kilograms. This plate holds 2 kilograms alone. We started picking at the crabs and decided we wanted more so we ordered another 1 kg. Our hands were all sticky then so we didn’t take a photo of the second batch. You should always order smaller batches and add-on since it’s a lot nicer when it’s hot and turnaround is fast. The nice thing is that they try to serve the crabs looking like how they should – it’s just quartered and assembled back. The black stuff sticking to the crab is caramelized soy sauce and it goes very well with the fresh crabs.
The whole meal cost RM 330.10. I was a little surprised by the amount coz I didn’t have much cash on me but luckily it was enough to pay for the meal. The place also charges for incidentals like wet towels and “tidbits” (deep fried wonton skins served before the meal) but the actual price for the crabs is quite reasonable considering big head prawns are RM 200 per kg in some places. It’s good, I’ll go again for the baked crabs if I’m in Seremban.