Macau Day 3 (Taipa Crab Porridge)

At 12pm sharp I plonked myself right outside Seng Cheong Restaurant. It was not a moment too soon. The crowd arrived in droves and by the time we were ushered upstairs, the restaurant was already half full.

We ordered a large bowl of the famous crab porridge. The porridge is made by simmering the rice with whole river crabs and crab roe, hence the light yellow tint. The rich taste of crab and roe is richly infused into the porridge and the crab retained its fresh sweetness despite being stewed in the porridge.

This eel dish was just plain weird. The eel was steamed in a wonderfully fragrant garlic and black bean sauce but it was tough, chewy and had the taste of river. It also had a tough skin that was difficult to remove.

I didn't take to the deep-fried fishballs either. Food reviewers described it as bouncy and fresh. When I excitedly took my first bite, it was like no fishball that I've ever tasted. The inside was grey and the fishballs were slimy. There was also a very strong, almost overwhelming fishy aftertaste.

Luckily, the Black Pepper Lala was spicy enough to wipe away the taste of the fishballs and eel. Cooked wih onions, capsicum and green chillis, the delectable little critters slipped right off their shells and into our tummies.

The deep fried prawns in salted egg yolk was right up there with the crab porridge. The prawns were slathered over with generous dollops of salted egg yolk and deep fried to a crisp. The combination of sweet prawns, crispy shell and salty yolk was a winning combination.

The deep fried squid with with chilli slices was another dish that I enjoyed very much. The batter was light and crispy and the squid retained a soft chewiness.

Seng Chong delivers what it promises. It's definitely a place that I'll return to (sans the eel and fishball)

Seng Cheong

30 Rua do Cunha, Taipa