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Stir-fried Cereal Prawns

Singaporean Chili Crab

Live ammunition

Ming Kee Live Seafood showcases the fl avors of Singapore with a fresh bounty and lots of spice.

REVIEW BY SASHA LIM UY

The crab at Ming Kee is so fresh that it could have just crawled out of the water into the nest of thin rice noodles. This scenario is not at all far-fetched. The Singaporean franchise is acclaimed for their live-seafood transformations, with the fi rst fl oor of the fi vestory restaurant dedicated to dark aquariums and a kitchen where Singaporean chefs make a fi ery show with woks and chili.

Ming Kee isn’t coy when it comes to their favorite. The Triple-cooked Crab Beehoon is the chosen star, owning a full page on the menu. The crab is steamed, braised, and stir-fried, weaving a rather complex fl avor that could only be described as, well, wonderful. It isn’t particularly sweet, spicy, salty, or bold—the crab’s natural fl avor composes a delightfully delicate symphony, but with just as strong an impact.

The Singaporean Chili Crab writes an entirely different story. Heat lavishes attention on the fresh buttery notes, and there are pronouncements of tang and sweetness. Mantou buns extend the potential of the dish—use the fried pillows of bread to mop up all the delicious sauce.

It’s curious to see what Ming Kee can do with things that don’t swim. The stir-fried Chinese broccoli stalks create perhaps the most pleasing bitter fl avors, while the Guinness Beer Pork Spareribs is humba-esque bliss. One beef dish is a joy of thin slices of meat tossed into an assembly of celery, leeks, ginger, and onions. But it’s the seafood that dazzles, if not the crab then the other options from the by-weight category—from the fat shrimps that take to garlic so well, to the prawns that fi nd a second home in a sea of chili-fl ourished cereal, to the heavenly garoupa that’s simply steamed to perfection. They might be on the pricey side, but their powerful fl avors are worth it.

You’ll enjoy the pot of braised vegetables in oyster sauce, but it’s not what you’ll remember when you leave the stylish industrial-themed restaurant. You’ll remember the crab, the noodles, the Singaporean chili—all the fl avors that confound, stump, and amaze.

in a nutshell

MING KEE 7852 Makati Avenue, Makati City; tel. no.: 893-4533; mobile no.: 09178699546

MUST-TRIES Triplecooked Crab with Beehoon (about P2,500); S ingaporean Chili Crab or Lobster, Steamed Garoupa, Deep-fried Fish Skins (from P300); Braised Vegetables (from P300); Sir-fried Cereal Prawns (from P525); Ginger Onion Beef (from P380); Guinness Beer Pork Spareribs (from P380)

THUMBS UP The VIP room on the top fl oor is perfect for big parties.