Momma Kong’s Crab Shack

As today marks my one year anniversary of living in the little red dot I will review my favorite place to eat one of Singapore’s signature dishes: Crab!
I’ve tried Jumbo, No Signboard & Longbeach but this the place I take all my visiting friends to eat crab.
Momma Kong’s might not have the «authentic» feel of No Signboard in Geylang or the history of Longbeach but their service is great, the staff is super friendly so it means that I don’t have to deal with the grumpy, non-​English speaking, «I don’t wanna serve filipino helpers» auntie to enjoy my crab fix.
The crab dishes are on par or even better than the previously mentioned restaurants and I love their mantou, they must have the prettiest and fluffiest mantou of all.
Except for the chili crab, I’ve tried also tried the crab beehoon & pepper crab which are all good but my favorite is the steamed crab: this fantastic dish displays the freshness and glory of crab in all it’s simplicity. Yes, simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication!
Highly recommended!
**Additional bonus points are granted for the fact that they offer to de-​shell your crab (for 15 $ a pop) so little bananas like me don’t need to get their fingers dirty.

A trip to Singapore feels incomplete without having chilli crab. Most of the restaurants were busy with Chinese New Year in full swing so glad my friend was able to make a reservation at Momma Kong’s. For four of us, we ordered the 2 person set menu with black pepper and chilli crab with an additional side of tofu chips and crab congee. It was most than enough for the 4 of us. I thought we’d have to get a crab per person but they are so meaty that it really does fill you up especially with the sides.
The chilli crab was delicious! I don’t have too many other places I can compare it to but I really enjoyed it. The black pepper crab was definitely much spicier than the chilli crab but really good as well. I really enjoyed the grilled squid and the tofu chips were surprisingly good.
I tried a bit of the crab congee and it was good. I prefer my congee to be a bit more on the bland side but that’s more of personal preference as I usually have that when I’m not feeling too well.
When our food arrived, they took a photo of us — I think it was going on instagram but thought it was nice that they printed it for us and gave it to us when the check arrived. As a tourist, I really appreciated this!

The Chilli crab was dynamite. The Montou is required to sop up all the delicious sauce. The shrimp appetizer was fantastic. Service is top flight. Get there at 5 if you don’t have reservations. We will be back! The 3 Asahi for $ 30 is also a good deal.

I wanted to try chilli crab during my visit to Singapore, it being the national dish of the country and all. I wasn’t really sure where to go. Lonely Planet actually recommended this place and it wasn’t too far from where I was staying in Chinatown. This restaurant also has a new modern look to it, compared to some of the other places on the same street. And the staff is really young.
I was seated outside (which was disappointing cuz it’s hot outside and there are mosquitos!), but I didn’t have a reservation and they recommend that you do that in advance. They offer a lot on the menu — not just crab, but stingray and other plates as well. I ordered the chilli crab cuz that’s what I came for. I added on the steamed mantou too, since everybody recommended getting that to dip into the chilli sauce.
The crab was delicious! Some of the tastiest crab I’ve ever had. And the sauce was really good. It was spicy and had a nice kick to it, but it wasn’t overly spicy. Really good flavor. They provide you with a crab cracker tool, a little bucket, a little silver stick to help you scoop out more meat, and a moist towelette. All the things you could possibly need. More towelettes and napkins would’ve been nice though (I had to dig into my own supply; bring your own moist towelettes/​wet tissues with you if you can! Eating chilli crab is messy!). They also charged for the moist towelette. And they charged me for the little fish side dish they gave me, which I hardly touched.
Overall, delicious chilli crab! Yum!

Came here with foodie sister after her recommendations. Ordered bee hoon crab and decided to try something different with peranakan crab this time. Added a stingray and shanghai greens. Originally ordered a dou miao too but ad they totally forgot to place our second order, we decided to skip that.
My sis, mum and bro in law have been here a couple times and raved about the bee hoon crab and butter crab. According to them the chilli crab which was supposed to be their best seller was so so. They had a not so great experience with sotong last time so decided to give the stingray a try this time.
The bee hoon crab was cooked with bee hoon soup. Soup broth was milky and sweet. Very delicious. Crab was very fresh.
Peranakan crab was so so. Found the sauce to be aromatic but lacking in taste and a tad too oily. Crab tastes great.
Fried mantou was very good but slighlty oily.
Stingray was bad. Tasted like they steamed or boiled the stingray first and just grilled it a little in oven with leaf and chilli. The sambal was also very weak in taste. Worst sting ray i ever had. Stingray had a fishy smell. My bil who had blocked nose was only one who could eat it.
Shanghai greens was meh. Totally meh. Just fried with garlic and not enough salt.
Conclusion: they are only good with their crabs.
And honestly quite upset with their service as they missed out part 2 of our order which is the peranakan crab and veg and barely an apology.

Two little wolves went into Momma Kong’s for date night and had a thrillingly messy time.
Huff: Most of the time, it can be challenging for a duo, however dynamic, to take on two Sri Lankan crabs, but at Momma Kong’s, the crabs are around 600 grams, so it can be done!
Puff: While the crabs are good, none of them are the best versions of each that you’ll ever have, but the bee hoon and the butter are among my favorites at Momma Kong’s.
Huff: The Ikan Bilis starter is nice too, tends to be spicy, so order mild if you can’t take the heat!
Puff: Can’t go wrong with the garlic prawns either! Tender and flavorful!
And I’ll blow your house down! The most magnificent thing at Momma Kong’s is the fried buns… golden brown, gratuitously crispy and simply perfect for soaking up every drop of butter or chili sauce! Truly the best fried buns this little wolf has ever had, and I’ve had my share!
PARTING THOUGHT: bring a trio and order the special: 3 crabs (any style) for $ 118

My first and only Singaporean chili crab experience in Singapore and I’m sure glad it was here!
This place is quite popular and always has a wait so it’s best to make a reservation in advance. We requested to be seated indoors as outside seating was on a patio sidewalk and I wasn’t about to endure the hot humid weather while eating this spicy meal.
Our order included the crab, bread, and a scallop appetizer. I’d skip on the scallop and bacon appetizer as it wasn’t a great combo. Bacon is usually good on anything, just not on scallops. The bread was nothing like I had before! It had a crispy twisted exterior but when you break it open, steam releases and visible is this soft cloud-​like fluff! Whoa, I didn’t see that one coming! On to the crab, it’s not a huge one but the winner is the curry. The spice is really well balanced with the egg mixture and is manageable even for those who can’t handle too much kick.
This may be the beginning of a chili crab addiction.

Crab Crab Crab
We booked in here ahead of time after searching the internet and finding out you could pay extra to have the crab de-​shelled. BONUS! I hate de-​shelling.
We arrived early for our booking, but they happily seated us. Not long after, the restaurant was full.
Undecided, we opted for 3 crabs (between 2 of us). Red Chilli Crab, Black Pepper Crab and Butter Crab. With a side of greeen vegies. The waiter recommended we also get the steamed and fried buns.
As the meals arrived, we were able to sit back and eat the crab without having to de-​shell. Dipping the buns in the sauce to get a hit of flavour.
I think we did well to clear most of the crab.
De-​shelliing is $ 10 extra per crab (Oct-​2014) but well worth it in my opinion.
I would come back here on my next visit.

I enjoy a good dining experience and who I can only presume was the owner or manager of Moma Kongs delivered this, he had a really people personality too him when taking our order, ensuring he got photos of all the diners for his patrons for his ever growing marque, etc.
Staying in China town and wanting to enjoy chili crab a simple still away this seemed out best choice, best of all they took booking which made it the top of my list.
We had the three crab offering a big task for two people, we chose the chili and black pepper and were recommended the butter to even out the flavors; best of all for us tourists they offered de-​shelling service at a small (ish) extra so I could concentrate on eating an enjoying (sorry to any purists out there)
It went without saying that I found all the crabs enjoyable though I do not profess to be an expert at these things… The drinks menu was sufficiently stocked for a cantina style restaurant.
As you can tell I would recommend. This to other tourists like myself who want a simple and approachable way to enjoy one of Singapore’s most famous dishes!

I would say: it’s crap.
The only reason we stopped here was to have a quick drink and perhaps a quick snack.
We opted for the fried chicken chunks and fried calamari, not such an adventurous choice I admit.
The tonic water I ordered came garnished with a nice stick of cucumber (as often seen in Gin and Tonic). I nibbled on that one first only vaguely registering something odd. The I began to sip the drink and I realised it actually was a Gin and Tonic, even though I can still hear the waiter say: ‘one tonic water’. Quickly fixed. No hassle later with the check.
The crispy chicken chunks weren’t very crispy nor very chunky. They were actually not nice at all!
When we ordered I thought the calamari wouldn’t be nice but it turned out those actually were nice. More like thin and crispy tempura than a thick layer of tasteless batter.
I realise this place specialised in crab (which I haven’t tasted here), but I was not very pleased with their other offerings.

My mother and my best friend love crabs, so very often I end up eating with my mother, my best friend, and her husband at places that specialise or feature crabs.
JUMBO. More recently, Happy Crab. And this actually was the meal that inspired me to bring my best friend to Happy Crab… because this place really let us down.
We had high hopes because I had heard good things… so when we arrived we discovered they had a buy three get one free offer. DING. Four of us. FOUR CRABS. Done.
Chilli. Pepper. Fresh steamed. And Bee hoon soup. We had all four of their preparation styles. We also had their chili marinated top shell starter that was SUPER GENEROUS in terms of portion size, and a nice, spicy starter. Only I had to eat most of it because top shell wasn’t too popular with the rest of the people at the table. A single portion shared amongst 6 – 8 people would be ideal though. It’d really whet your appetite.
The crabs. Now the bee hoon soup was… average, the fresh steamed incredibly unmemorable, the chili a bit too sweet, but the pepper was quite delicious. Not quite Eng Seng at Joo Chiat level, but good. Why was it so disappointing though?
a) Temperature: some of the crab pieces were actually a little cold. It seemed like all the crabs had been pre-​cooked and then they’re reheated and tossed in whichever sauce you order it in.
b) Freshness: the crabs didn’t come across as very fresh. The flesh had that slightly mushy, waterlogged texture that comes from freezing, and it was especially noticeable in the legs where the meat was really almost unpleasant. One of the crabs we had, I think the steamed one, also had a rather unpleasant smell of… ammonia. It tasted okay, still sweet, and a little mushy, but it smelled really unpleasant.
Overall, the value was okay, but when I eat crabs, it’s all about freshness. I’m sticking to Happy Crab at Pahang Street.
At least there the crabs are super fresh.