Crab Shack

Don't be fooled by this place by day just because it resembles your typial kopitiam. By night, the tables will line the corridor and they'll look exactly like what you see here:
That quirky wooden table plaque has a different fast fact about crabs carved at the bottom. It reminded me of Snapple bottle caps...and rest assured, your table will also be stocked with all the crab-shelling tools you'll need for your meal!

Crab Shack has a very enticing menu in store for crab aficionados. The ONLY non-crab dish happens to be a Chef's Recommendation, and that would be their 1/2 dozen Gratinated Oysters ($8.90) - topped with mayonnaise & breadcrumbs then baked. However how was I to be tempted by that when I could order the Crab Au Gratin ($3.20) and the 6-pc Crab Croquettes ($2.95) amongst MANY MANY other mouth-watering steals?! The Crab Au Gratin was an interesting appetiser that consisted of flower crabmeat with creamy mayo, waterchestnut & cheese grilled to perfection. The grilled cheese formed a thin slightly crisp crust, juxtaposing the deliciously creamy centre within. Check it out in the picture below: Next up, their Crab Spaghetti ($7.50)! This dish didn't give me a good first impression. But we all know that first impressions hardly matter these days...and it turned out better than I expected taste-wise. What I didn't particularly like about the spaghetti sauce was that it was a tad too sweet, but great nonetheless because I'm a fan of sundried tomatoes. There were rather generous portions of crabmeat in the spaghetti too. If you have the chance, do give their 2-pc Softshell Crab ($5.80) a try: it's topped with chicken floss, a rather interesting combination I must say. For those who love their rice, tease your tastebuds with the Crab Baked Rice ($6.50).

At this point, I was flipping through the part of the menu where it all started to resemble a MacDonald's Value Meal selection, only better. Choose from an option of a 2-pc ($5.95), 3-pc ($7.95) or 8-pc ($21.95) value meal - complete with a selection of sides such as crinkle-cut fries, corn on a cob & baked beans. The 8-pc set comes with a choice of 2 sides + croquettes to boot. The picture below features their 3-pc set.
The crabs are indeed very sweet & fresh, steamed and drizzled with a hint of lemon to bring out the taste of the meat. Their self-made tangy-sweet chilli sauce will complement your value meal rather well in my opinion. Kudos to the owner Mr Elger Kua, 26, who catches the flower crabs for your dinner from a kelong off Pasir Ris Park, near Pulau Ubin every other day.

Go ahead, visit this place at least once. It's got my thumbs up.

The I-wanna-know[s]:

Taste - 8/10
Price - $$
Service - 6/10
Ambience - 7/10
Accessibility - 7/10

Legend:
[$]-cheap like peanuts
[$$]-average Jane
[$$$]-you might wanna tke tht card out..
[$$$$]-extremely exorbitant

Tel: +65 9451 9040

Address:
227 Upper Thomson Road

Opening hours:
Dinner only: 5 pm - 12 midnight daily

Dress code: casual
Buses: 162, 167, 410, 163...