Long Beach Seafood Restaurant

This place is one of the better-known chili crab shops in Singapore, with multiple locations around the island, including the East Coast Seafood Centre, which is practically the mecca of chili crab restaurants (for those back home, Long Beach here does not mean Snoop Dogg's home turf, and East Coast does not mean New York). Indeed, I like the food here better than many other chili crab spots that I've been hitting up lately.

The main reason for this is because of the black pepper crab. It almost had a tinge of smokiness to it, thus adding to the flavor. The chili crab, which is always a distant second for me due to its sweetness, was nonetheless pretty spicy here (and certainly still rich and full of flavor). One thing I do love at these places though is the Teochew-style fish, which is steamed with some pickled vegetables, tofu, and ginger to create a very savory broth to go along with the fish. Sides like sambal kangkong, noodles, and even the chilled honeydew & canteloupe dessert further complement all of this.

Anyway, everyone seems to have their own preferences for subtle differences between each chili crab shop. I've gotta say that while most shops on the island are pretty good, I'll be drawn back here for the pepper crab.