Entree Kibbles: Restoran Tong Sheng - The Amazing Fresh Milk Crab @ Melaka in Malaysia

I love crabs in all cooking styles although our Singapore chilli version had always been my favorite! My elder sister begged to differ and every time we had crabs in Singapore, she would comment, dismissively, that nothing beats the one in Melaka.

That's frustrating for someone who loves his crabs and I decided to make a trip down to the UNESCO Malaysian city, with the primary objective of checking out this particular restaurant that my sister, and brother in law, had been raving about; Restoran Tong Sheng!

It was said to be so popular nowadays, especially after the pandemic, that reservation was strongly recommended. My sister did, but there wasn't a line when we arrived at 5.34 pm!

A different scene within the air-conditioned restaurant; it was almost full house and I understand from my elder sister there was a second floor with more tables and chairs, which I didn't manage to take photos of as access was via tap card from a staff.

Wall of fame - photographs of celebrities patronizing the restaurant, which started operations only in 2008 but have gained much fame in less than 15 years.

Restoran Tong Sheng had also won an award by World Gourmet; I run a check and it appeared to be for dining establishments within Malaysia. There's also an equivalent for Singapore that had the same name.

Whatever the case, I need to remain focus; award or not, my purpose was to see if Restoran Tong Sheng was as amazing as my sister claimed it to be. p.s. above condom looking pack contained a pair of plastic gloves.

Tea - required nowadays for my family as the de facto drink although I am okay with any so long there is no sugar. Hence, I am also acceptable to beverages like plain water, oolong canned tea, teh o kosong limau iced etc.

Fried Fresh Squid with Garlic - with a signature logo next to its picture on the menu, I am surprised that this cost just RM 11.00 (about S$3.20) as fresh seafood in Singapore would usually have a price premium. I realized I was wrong when we paid; it was RM 11.00 per 100 grams!

However, it's worthy of its signature tag. Batter was thin, crisp and the fragrance of fried garlic was irresistible! Add the fresh crunchiness of the squid and the yummy chilli mayo; this shall be your perfect fried squid!

Four Kings - literally the vegetable dish to make us feel less guilty from this over the top sinful meal. Frankly, I didn't understand the four kings tag. The vegetables, brinjal, french beans, ladyfingers, holland beans, were just lightly fried. You know what's worse? The pork lards tasted stale!

Crispy Honey Sauce Pork - another "signature" dish; I drew familiarity with char siew and bak kwa! These were literally deep fried, thinly sliced char siew with a touch of spiciness! Given my love for char siew, and texture, this was a clear winner.

Cheesy Prawn Meehun - said to be the original signature dish for Restoran Tong Sheng said to be a better version of the one in Hong Kong. I had something quite similar at Nic & Tom Eatery back when they operated from Serangoon Garden. Let's see if this was better.

To be frank, the flavor was more milky than cheesy and this was unexpected as I was so looking forward to a cheesier experience. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the appetizing taste of the milky sauce and love the addition of cabbage that provided texture in every bite. It also helped that the prawns were fresh!

Fresh Milk Crab - now coming to the star of our meal! Visually, this appeared more like the creamy butter style than the milk style, which I had once in Bangkok, and utterly hated it.

Differing from the creamy butter style in Singapore were the green stuff dotted all over the gravy. Turned out they were cut, green chilli! That's novel and I must admit, this style was better than the chilli style in Singapore; the flavor was uniquely interesting and was a palatable mish mash of being buttery, sweet, sour and spicy! The restaurant should have called it signature sauce crab, instead of fresh milk crab.

Crab was also fresh and meaty although I still couldn't get away from the fact that the gravy made a huge difference. The green chilli strangely lost its spiciness when you eat it with the gravy. What's the logic for that?!

Gravy was so addictive that we literally cleaned it up! I kid you not, we were drinking it by the spoonful and I was totally stuffed! But, but, but, it was so, so good!

Golden Buns - a bit small but like many others in the market, these were soft and pillowy on the inside and featured a thin crisp skin. Nonetheless, it was delightful eating them after soaking them in the green chilli gravy from the fresh milk crabs.

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Was I impressed? Damn I was, and to the extent I would really just visit Melaka, a 3-hour journey by car, just to have this fresh milk crab from Restoran Tong Sheng again! p.s blurring my sister's face so that I don't get killed.