Crab Party - Birthday Treat from My Family @ 100 Yio Chu Kang Road (Near Serangoon Stadium) [Singapore] #crabparty

When Jovyn was still in the tummy of my sister, Joyce would always crave for crabs and i remember driving past Crab Party when we were on our way to the nearby House of Seafood. The bulldog-cheeked baby is now in primary school and i am surprised to hear that Crab Party is still around as House of Seafood has expanded rather rapidly in the past seven years! 

Anyway, my family (specifically my sisters and i) has the habit of treating the birthday boy / girl and since it's my birthday in April, i was asked to choose a place. Knowing my mom adores crabs, i was given a list of seafood restaurants to choose from; for the sake of convenience, i eventually selected Crab Party.

It was the lunch peak at 1.00 pm but the restaurant was devoid of any customers! On one hand, the atmosphere felt like my family had reserved the entire place. On the other hand, i wondered if i had made the wrong decision (no customers often equate to not so good food). 

Nevertheless, we decided to stay and we were in fact looking forward to having a decent-sized crabs for the meal; the restaurant offered both extra large and double extra large crabs of the highly sought after Sri Lankan species. The rate was S$65 a kilo for a crab less than 1.3 kilograms and S$75 for anything heavier than 1.3 kg. 

Order list for the ten of us which included the two brats in the family, Alex and my younger sister's boyfriend (yes, she's finally attached)! By the way, Alex, the boyfriend and I are, coincidentally, all April babies.

Lemongrass Drink - by right, the fact that it's not as sweet should have been welcomed by me as i am trying to cut down on sugar intake.  However, the taste was weird and didn't exhibit that beloved familiarity i had with normal lemongrass drink.  

Acha - i often associate this Peranakan appetiser to the more famous kimchi; albeit with a crunchier texture and a nutty flavour. This one didn't disappoint although i would have preferred it less spicy and sweeter. 

Kampong White Bee Hoon - my family was rather obsessed with white bee hoon nowadays after the pretty good one from Hualong Fishhead Steamboat & Tze Char and it's a no brainer that we would order this at Crab Party, especially when it comes with a highly recommended sticker on the menu. 

It sure didn't disappoint with an intensely seafood-rich gravy that provided a good kick to the palates. Add on crispy pork lards and a touch of alcohol and you can imagine how addictive each mouthful was! Furthermore, there was so much liao (ingredients)! 

3-Egg Spinach - another family favourite! Okay, maybe more my personal favourite since i like eggs and love the myriad of contrasting flavours provided in this dish due to the salted, normal and century eggs! 

My initial review was that while it's good and in the soupy form i enjoy, it failed to overtake what i had at Hualong Fishhead Steamboat & Tze Char. However, i paid another visit to Hualong last evening and i don't know why; the dish tasted bland and the eggs didn't impress! In this regard, i thought this one at Crab Party was comparatively better. 

Yu Xiang Tofu - a must-order whenever the kids are around as they apparently can't do without tofu! The yu refers to the shredded yam on top which is honestly more an accessory for the dish which, unfortunately, didn't meet my expectations; the tofu didn't feature a soft, silky inside and i find the saucy minced meat to be a tad overwhelming. 

Marmite Sticky Pork Rib - the first bite elicited a wow from me as it was so rich in marmite but the subsequent chewing revealed the shallow infusion. Coupled with the rather tough meat texture, i am afraid this was hardly a dish i would reorder in the future. 

Chilli Crab - Singapore actually got pretty famous with chilli crabs until other variances like black pepper crabs, crab bee hoon and salted egg crabs came into the picture. Hence, we always make it a point to order chilli crab unless the dining establishment is famous for other crab dishes. 

Those who love chilli might like this better than i do as i found the spicy level to be beyond what i can take in order to enjoy it. To me, it's not the typical kind of tomato-chilli combination; tasted more like sambal chilli.

Salted Egg Crab - even though i love crabs in general, the cooking style i dig the best would be salted egg! The first time i had salted egg crab; i was absolutely blown over by the taste as i am the kind who dislikes salted egg and couldn't imagine it could have such a great impact! 

Depending on individuals, i prefer the salted egg crab to be creamy so that i can use the delicious as a dip for the fried buns (purchased separately) or pour it over plain white rice. The salted egg crab at Crab Party was decent enough to satisfy my craving; creamy with a tinge of chilli padi and speckles of crusted salted egg yolk. 

It was the crab that impressed me more; meaty and oh so satisfying! Sri Lankan crabs are just so much better compared to other crab species! 

Buns - the deep fried buns; necessary whenever we have crabs with sauce that would be perfect as a dip! So how did the buns fare? As i remember well, the bun that's the best so far came from forture seafood! 

Pillowy soft with a thin-crisp shell, the only major problem was that the taste was bland without the sauce from chilli crab or salted egg crab! Obviously not as good as the buns from forture seafood.

Mmmmmmm, much better! 

Knowing we were celebrating birthdays, the lady staff brought out a plate of longevity buns! Even though there's a generation gap (longevity buns were more popular with the older generations), we were still taken back by the kind gesture! 

Chockablock full of lotus paste! 

A final picture of my family to conclude the birthday lunch! p.s. we did ask the staff why there's no customer (we were the only customers throughout 1.5 hrs) and the response is that their customer base is mainly for dinner. 

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Location

100 Yio Chu Kang Rd, 

Singapore 545576

(near Serangoon Stadium)

Location Map

As above.

Operating Hours

Noon to 11.00 pm

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/crabparty/

Pricing

Acha - S$1.00 a serving

Lemongrass Drink - S$3.50 

Kampong White Bee Hoon (M) - S$18.00

3-Egg Spinach (M) - S$18.00

Yu Xiang Tofu (M) - S$18.00

Marmite Sticky Pork Rib (M) - S$20.00

Bun - S$1.00 each

Chilli Crab (1.2 kg) - S$78.00

Salted Egg Crab (1.2 kg) - S$78.00

(Subject to Service Charge)

Sapporo Streetcar - Vintage Tram (札幌市電,) @ Hokkaido [Japan] #sapporostreetcar

Frankly, i didn't plan to take the vintage electric tram for the Sapporo leg of my Hokkaido trip although i am very much aware of its existence; thought i would just snap a few pictures of the exterior and wouldn't go much into the details.

However, i did pencil in a visit to Mount Moiwa observatory and the fastest way to reach there with public transportation is via the Sapporo Streetcar (tram, that is)! The above is quite a familiar sight for local Singaporeans as it reminded me of a train carriage back home! 

I was expecting tons of tourists but the tram was amazingly filled with locals who treated it as a mere public transportation tool to get from point a to b. Should the tram be treated as a touristy activity, prices would likely shoot up and sustainability might be an issue in the long run. 

With 24 stops, the loop line covers 8.41 kilometers in both directions. Before the rise of motor vehicles and the opening of the subway, the network that started 1909 used to be 25 kilometers long at its peak in 1958. 

Frequency was comparable or even better than the bus services we have in Singapore; non-peak is about 7-8 minutes whereas peak is about 3 minutes. 

The ticket price for each adult is 200 yen; kid is half-priced. If you are a tram fanatic, you can opt for a day pass (known as Dosanko Pass) at 320 yen an adult and 160 yen per kid. Do your math; a two-way ticket would cost you more than a Dosanko Pass! 

As no change would be given, you may slot in your notes at the above machine and convert them into coins for ease of payment! What does this remind me of? Those token changer machines in game arcades! 

Old school buzzer to indicate your intention to stop at the next stop.

I refrain from labeling the stations as they looked more like bus stops to me! Aside from having no seats (mostly), the shelter was barely sufficient to shield us from the rain! 

And thanks to the rain, i couldn't manage a decent picture of the outdoors and had to make do with dozens of photographs showing the interior of the tram. 

Tram depot - i read from this website that there were actually different models for trams (including one used during winter with snow-sweeping capability) and it's actually open for viewing at no extra charge! If you are going to Mount Moiwa, the depot is just a stop away and you may wish to check it out if you have time. 

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Website

I find this website pretty helpful. 

You may also check out the Wikipedia page here.

Streetcar Map

Please click here. 

For my 8 days, 7 nights' itinerary to Hokkaido during summertime, click here.

Suage + Soup Curry near Susukino Station - As Good As Claimed @ Sapporo [Hokkaido, Japan]

Most travellers are likely to focus on fresh seafood for all their meals in Hokkaido but not only would that burn a hole in your pocket, it's not exactly the ONLY representative where food is concerned.

Surprisingly, soup curry has taken root in Hokkaido's food arena and we are not even talking about the Japanese kind of curry commonly sold in Singapore! After that invigorating soup curry meal at Celan, let us now proceed to the restaurant claimed to be the best; Suage.

Even on TripAdvisor back in August, the Suage branch near Susukino subway station at Sapporo is ranked #01 out of 8,548 restaurants! As of today, it's ranked #03, which isn't a small feat considering the large number of dining establishments it's competing against.

Things to note when visiting the original Suage; restaurant is on level two but lift doesn't stop there, English menu is available, no smoking and payment is by CASH only.

For a restaurant with such a high ranking, i was shocked to find the place almost empty of hungry diners! The thought going through my mind was "is this the right place"? My google map confirmed it's correct though. Maybe i was thinking too much as i did visit during non-mealtime; i.e. before 5 pm.

Possibly the works of diners? Ordering was straightforward with five steps; choose the kind of curry, choose the kind of soup (basic or squid ink), choose the spicy level, (1-6 with 6 being the spiciest), choose the size of your rice (small at 150g, medium at 200g and large at 350g), and finally, do you want extra toppings and drinks.

No drinks for us as Japanese restaurants, like Korean restaurants, would always serve plain water and i guess i drink too much sugary beverages when i was young; prefer plain water nowadays.

Braised Furano Pork Kakuni - i can't resist pork when it's available and this included not just braised pork belly but also potato, carrot, pumpkin, eggplant, boiled egg and young corn; all swimming in a basic suage soup with a spice level of 2.

Can't recall whether i asked for 150 grams or 200 grams; however, both were served free while the larger size of 350 grams would require a charge of 100 yen. The 100 yen would be waived during lunch time from 11.30 am to 5.00 pm. In case you are wondering, they are mixed with wild rice. p.s. i think the wild rice refers to brown rice.

Time for me to indulge and compare the differences with Celan! Said to be stewed from sauteed onions and chicken, the broth was spicier for level two although i found the taste to be more wholesome with a flavourful touch that's a notch higher than Celan!

The Furano pork was thickly sliced and while it didn't command the same tenderness as Celan, there's a smoky aftertaste (thanks to the meat being flamed grilled) that marvelled my taste buds! There's one disappointment; i only had two slices in my bowl... I should have topped up 350 yen for extra pork... :(

Polished up everything!

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Location

Sapporo-shi Chuo-ku Minami 4-cha West 5-chome 

Toshinmatsu Building 2F (Norbesa southern),

Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

Location MapCheck out under the label for "Soup Curry Suage plus" under header "Sapporo (09 Aug)".

Operating Hours
11.30 am to 10.30 pm 

(Last order at 9.30 pm)

Menu

As above.

Pricing
Braised Furano Pork Kakuni - 1,150 yen

(inclusive of GST)

Additional Information

There are two other branches in Sapporo although i find this branch i went to is the most convenient as it is located near a subway station in a heart of Sapporo that's also near to Tanukikoji Shopping Street.

For my itinerary (8 days, 7 nights) to Hokkaido during summertime, click here.