Ellenborough market cafe: Crab Buffet!

July 1, 2009 | 16 Comments

Black pepper Sri lanka crab

Ginger Scallion flower crab

Fragrant Thai sauce crab

Nonya curry crab

Stir-fried slipper lobster in black bean sauce

Chili crab with deep-fried mantou

Oh man, She’s grabbing all the good stuff; the big pincers, the meatier crab legs, all gone! Everybody behind the woman, stared at her as she made away with the “goods”.

With the crab tong in hand, it was used to hammer the shell. The fellow diners on the same table immediately dispersed, “watch it! The crab gravy is flying everywhere!”

The lady eyed the seafood section, carefully choosing the biggest white fresh oysters on the bed of ice. She proceeded on to squeeze lemon wedges onto each of them, not wasting a single drop. Taking a fork, she slurped down five oysters, in one shot.

Wash your hands clean and crab-free in the lemon water, we are going for the second round!

The team of eight sat down at the table to discuss their plans, like true elite commando fashion; they attacked the crabs in the precise and deadly manner that they were known for.

“Mommy, I want that slice of very delicious-looking, oreo cheesecake!” The small girl told her mother, even though their stomachs are bursting from all the crabs.

* * *

(1) The commentaries were some of the conversation that I’ve overheard, and observed during the buffet, and I thought it would be interesting to write about this.

(2) I don’t like to eat crabs; I’m too lazy to dirty my hands shelling the crustaceans. And if I do, the chili crab will be my favourite; I love the thick, spicy chili gravy. And there’s the best company in the form of the deep fried mantou; I always poked a hole in the middle of the fried bun and poured lots of gravy inside. Then the soaking of the whole bun within the goodness of the gravy, they are oh, so-good! And I kept a bowl of chili gravy filled throughout the buffet, dipping everything in it.

(3) The crab buffet at Ellenborough market cafe is only available for dinner at $46++ per head, and will last for two weeks, starting from the 25th June. Singaporeans, love (read: love), their crabs, I went during the first day of the promotion and it was full house, on a weekday dinner! So if you are heading down, please remember to make reservations in advance. And my appreciation to Sok Hoon, the marketing communication manger for the invitation to the food tasting session.

(4) Just some more information about the buffet: There’s chefs-on-the-spot cooking crab risotto, frying mee goreng, and wrapping crab popiahs, the seafood area which has sashimi, prawns and seafood, the usual western/Asian cuisine selections, the omnipresent chocolate fondue, with a pretty decent choices of desserts ranging from cheesecake, to shooters, and their famous Durian Pengat. And I love having some Chinese desserts like tou suan with you tiao too!

Read my fellow floggers post on the crab extravaganza:
Camemberu here
& Aromacookery here

Ellenborough market cafe
20 Merchant road
GF Swissotel Merchant court
Tel: 6239 1847

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Comments

16 Responses to “Ellenborough market cafe: Crab Buffet!”

  1. Fen
    July 1st, 2009 @ 8:53 am

    Nice way of describing the buffet… I like the way you quote the other diners and can visualize the scene…

  2. food-4tots
    July 1st, 2009 @ 9:54 am

    I luv creamy butter crab. It goes well with deep-fried mantao. The desserts look so mouth-watering!

  3. Camemberu
    July 1st, 2009 @ 10:56 am

    Hey I’m glad you got to go for this! The crabs are delicious, aren’t they?

    Haha, fly-on-the-wall commentary, very apt. Sadly, we see too much of the “ugly Singaporean” at buffets. How much do they really enjoy if they have to rush, grab and gobble?

  4. His Food Blog
    July 1st, 2009 @ 11:19 am

    The Sri Lanka Crabs used in Chilli & Black Pepper looks small. The rest are just the cheaper flower crab.

    Doesn’t seem like value-for-money to me.

  5. Foodies Queen
    July 1st, 2009 @ 6:32 pm

    Actually when crabs are cooked in a big quantity, they don’t appeared tasty, agree? The lady slurped down 5 oysters in a go? Wow, Bravo. Claps* They seemed to eat like there is no tomorrow. Haha.

  6. Sugar Bean
    July 1st, 2009 @ 8:57 pm

    I like crabs too! But same as you, I hate to dirty my hands with it, but when eating, I still felt that it’s worth it to do so. The price seems fair. Reminded me that I haven’t had crabs for ages!

  7. adel
    July 1st, 2009 @ 10:12 pm

    darn, why wasn’t I there when there’s such fantastic crab buffet going on…Brad, u reckon this buffet will be back anytime soon?

  8. ladyironchef
    July 2nd, 2009 @ 9:35 am

    fen: hello yeah i managed to overhear some of their conversation and it was interesting to write them down. heh

    food-4tots: ahh.. never try creamy butter crab much, cos its always chilli, or black pepper u know. haha. but i think a salted egg version will taste good too :)

    Camemberu: haha my mom’s happier since she love crabs. yeah can’t be avoid la, there are really people who just attacks the crabs all the way leh, the table next to me, they didn’t eat anything else! everytime they come back, it’s a big plate full of crabs. lol!

    HFB: hello, if that’s what you think, then you can choose not to go : )

    Foodies Queen: that’s why they keep on replenishing the crabs, so in a way they aren’t really cooked in very big quantity. And the crabs keep on disappearing, so they have to keep cooking. I bet they use a few hundred kg of crabs a day! yeah man, i saw she took 5 oysters and eat everything!

    Sugar bean: I’m too lazy, so if nobody shell the crabs for me i dont eat. ROFL. Spoil brat :)

    adel: haha if i’m not wrong, ellenborough crab buffet is an annual event at Swissotel merchant court, when are u coming back? it’s only for two weeks, like tat u have to wait until next year? lol!

  9. Jo Ann
    July 5th, 2009 @ 2:05 am

    went to try the crab buffet today…very full !! my personal fav would be Chilli sauce and Fragrant Thai sauce crabs …others are so-so only.

    Agree on those crab attackers !! Everytime I walked and look around, I saw plates of mountain high crabs on the tables and nothing else…-.-”

    Also, the durian pengat and cempadak crumble are nice too !! love it ! but how come i never see any kuih dadar around? T__T

  10. ladyironchef
    July 5th, 2009 @ 10:42 pm

    Jo Ann: yeah i like the chilli one! hahahaha are you one of the crab attackers? heh. i think their desserts are rotated? but the signatures like the durian pengat will always be there.

  11. Jacelyn
    July 6th, 2009 @ 9:47 am

    Can’t believe I am reading this entry at this hour :D ~ The chilli crab looks FAB!

  12. fatkuraprincess
    July 6th, 2009 @ 12:58 pm

    So unfair! I went last yr n they din serve crab~!But i did eat like 10pc of crayfish to get my meal more value for $! And now their dessert look more appetizing lah~Unfair!

  13. ladyironchef
    July 6th, 2009 @ 7:25 pm

    jacelyn: haha ok ma, reading it at 10 in the morning is better than reading it during midnight. lol! go go, their promo ending soon :D

    Fatkuraprincess: no la, the crab buffet is an annual event, i think you went during the normal period so no crabs lor.

  14. Fatkuraprincess
    July 6th, 2009 @ 11:25 pm

    ROAR~~~~~~!!!

  15. Shayna
    July 16th, 2009 @ 2:24 am

    the crabs do not look appealing. they all seemed like those crabs with shells stick to the meat. i don’t like those.
    have you tried crab with salted egg? its yummy! ( :

  16. ladyironchef
    July 16th, 2009 @ 3:07 pm

    shayna: haha yeah i tried before, its either crabs or prawns with salted egg. Anything done with salted egg is super duper nice!

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