Melben Seafood, AMK Ave 1

This is definitely one dining venue that I had wanted in my blog for awhile now. I have been here numerous times but those were my pre-blogging days. So, since my sisters were visiting and they wanted a seafood dinner where else could I bring them. : )

Melben, is definitely making money... On Fridays and weekend, it is so full that you have to queue. In the past, the use to provide chairs. Now, you just form a line. They had recently renovated. Must have negotiated out a few other tenants and had the whole space for themselves. Must say that it looks nicer now. Kitchen is enclosed and they now have a proper drinks section and cashiering area. The rojak and chicken wings shop is still there. Good idea, since you normally have to wait at least half an hour for your meal. I also like the way Melben manages customers expectations i.e. you will be given an indication of how long you have to wait to be served your meal when they take your order at the queue. Normally they will buffer the time a bit and they had delivered so far, for me at least.  

This time I ordered the mango prawns, sambal spinach, chilly crab and crab bee hoon. The mango prawn was good - prawns were of good size, light on the batter and mango sauce was made from mango puree and not some cordial. The sambal spinach was alright, not much to comment about that. The crab bee hoon was great. Make sure you ask for the bigger crab. They will normally let you know if they run out of bigger ones. The soup is fantastic. They add some brandy in the milky soup which is fantastic with the crab flavour.

The chilly crab was a bit disappointing for me. I remember when I was here a few months ago, I thought it was pretty good and so I ordered it again just to confirm. The sauce somehow was not quite there. It was a bit too starchy. Melben, really needs to get this right. The key is to ensure the consistency of the sauce - not too eggy, not too starchy... 

Despite that, Melben is still one of my favorite seafood go-to places.