I was told Crab Generation is a branch of the famous Fei Fei Crabs in Kepong. I haven’t been to Fei Fei myself but I was also told it’s one of the most popular Chinese tai-chow kind of restaurants in that area and has been delighting crab fans for a good number of years.
So, anyway, when it comes to crabs, there is no destination too far and that was how we fought the famous Cheras traffic one Saturday evening to make our way to Crab Generation in Taman Len Sen. We were there early, before 6pm and yet there were already several tables occupied with happy diners.
We got down to business. Scanning their tattered menu, we spied various dishes exhorting the mighty crab and couldn’t quite decide on which ones. I mean, how do you decide between Peanut Butter Crabs, Sweet Corn Crabs, Milky Salt Egg Crabs, Honey Lemon Crabs, Coffee Cheese Crabs or even Spicy Cheese Crabs?
Finally, based on their recommendation, we had their new Oreo Cheese Crabs and HK-style Chilli Crabs. I had my reservations when I first saw the plate of crabs slathered with thick gooey cheese and sprinkled with Oreo cookie crumbs. I’m not a great fan of melted cheese on seafood (nope, not even lobster thermidor!) and with chocolate cookies too?
So I took a tentative bite and slowly savoured the sauce. To my surprise, I found the sauce to be pretty tasty and it kinda grew on you; meaning it actually tasted better after having more of it!
The crabs were fresh and sweet and although I usually prefer my crabs plainly grilled or steamed, the cheesy oreo sauce was actually not bad. Of course to all you cheesy fans, this would be a winner for you.
The HK-style Chilli Crabs were not so interesting by comparison. The dominant taste was just chilli hotness, some soya sauce and nothing else much. It was sadly lacking in character.
Prices of crabs are seasonal. When we were there, their XL-sized crabs were at RM98/kg.
We checked out some of their non-crab dishes as well. By now the crowd has swelled to full-house capacity in the restaurant! Lots of families and dining groups were keeping them extremely busy.
The Steamed Garoupa with Choy Poh (preserved radish) (RM48) was decent as the fish was fresh. The addition of choy poh gave it a deeper earthier taste that would go well with some plain rice.
We saw their Curry Seafood in Coconut (RM58) on several tables and gathered it must be one of their signature dishes. The huge coconut held a good portion of mixed seafood like prawns, squids and mussels accompanied by okra and tomatoes. While the seafood was decently fresh, the curry lacked “oomph” and fell rather flat on the palate. This definitely needed some fine-tuning.
Their BBQ Salad Spare Ribs (RM18) and Tofu with Faux Sharksfin (RM28) were just average and regular dishes you’d order for dinner in most tai-chow places.
We’d come back for the crab dishes and if you are crab fans as well, then there are plenty of crab dishes to choose from.
CRAB GENERATION RESTAURANT
蟹的传人
60-G Jalan 1
Taman Len Sen
Cheras
56000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 016-302 2989 / 016-614 0793
Business hours:
Daily 11am – 2.45pm; 5.30pm to 11pm
Good looking crabs, want!