Hammer…

With a hammer at hand, I would have no problem at all eating crabs as I could hammer away to crack the hard shell and that is exactly what you will get…

…when you drop by here…

…for the crustaceans.

We happened to be in the vicinity that day and I asked my girl if she would like to have crabs for lunch. She was reluctant initially as she knew this place was never known to be cheap – they have the reputation of having the best crabs in town but at a price.

The last time we had it was when my brother in New Zealand was home in 2012 and I did have it again once with some relatives of mine in 2014! I told her not to worry as we seldom had crabs so we just threw caution to the wind and sat  down at a table…

…and placed our orders and waited.

This plate of sweet potato leaves, ching chao (fried plain)…

…came first and yes, it was very good, perfectly done with its nice wok hei fragrance.

We also ordered their deep-fried ikan bawal hitam/or chio (black pomfret)…

…and got a huge one but it did not matter one bit as it was very fresh and so very nice – we certainly enjoyed that very much! We asked for it plain so as to be sure it was gluten-free.

I asked for the crabs and I did not know what the guy meant when he said that because I was my father’s son and because I wanted it, they would have to cook it for us. Maybe they do not usually have it for lunch, just for dinner but since he said we could have it, so we did…

Oh my!!! There were TWO crabs, two BIG ones – I had expected just one to be shared among the three of us and I could not help thinking that this would cost quite a bit, over RM100, at least but never mind, we just ate and we really enjoyed ourselves to the fullest.

When we were done, absolutely satisfied and happy after that very delightful feast, I went to pay the bill…and I was so shocked when the old boss told me the total – only RM68.20 for all the dishes and three bowls of rice and our drinks. I paid him RM70.00 and he gave me RM3.00 back – never mind, he said. Goodness gracious me!!! That was so very cheap – almost as much as what I would have to pay at a lot of places elsewhere for nothing really special – no fish, no prawns, no crabs.

Looks like we will be back here again a lot more sooner now, not after around half a decade or so.

HAI BING SEAFOOD RESTAURANT is located right beside Eden Inn (2.285223, 111.831256), to the left, along Jalan Maju, right across the road from the Rejang Esplanade.