Saturday 8 October 2005

The Great Crab Rush


WARNING: This entry contains materials which are detrimental to your state of mind especially when you are fasting. Read at your own risk and wipe keyboard soon after. I am not responsible for anyone breaking their fast.

They came from near and far
. They braved the evening rush and heavy traffic to get to west London. SMS’es were zooming in all directions. Word travelled fast that crab sambal was on the menu at Holiday Villa.

I was doing some work when I had a call from atok and I casually mentioned that we should meet up forberbuka . He was iffy about today and I suggested we meet up on a day Holiday Villa serves ketam sambal ketam, ketam kari masak lemak, anything as long as it has eight (or is it ten) legs. Atok has a direct line to the hotel’s kitchen and by the time he had the confirmation, I was doing some work in a studio in Soho. A very brief sms – “crab sambal today – meet at holiday villa”. Such was the urgency of the message that I had to act fast. I put on a very serious voice to phone the children to eat by themselves. I had cooked earlier and that somehow lessened the guilt. I even invited Taufiq, another ketam lover, over – but he declined. I even phoned ewok .

Urgent and important matters like this need fast and efficient execution. I too have a direct line to the manager and phoned him immediately. Apparently, more people got wind of the unfortunate delicious crabs still simmering in the sambal on the stove, but they had already made reservations...that sort of reduced my portion somewhat. So I booked a table for five...so did atok – such was the enthusiasm.

By 6.30, the restaurant of Holiday Villa was already packed and the queue to the buffet bar was already long. The rush was about to begin. Luckily I had ordered my Nescafe tarek before going to do my asar. The restaurant was unusually full – there’s a table booked by staff from the High Commission, the Tourism director and deputy and families were there, an old, old friend, Millie Danker from those good old days at the NST was also there with some friends of hers.Posted by Picasa

It was quite an occasion – and everyone had heard about the crab sambal and everyone forgot their table manners and ate crabs as they should be eaten – with fingers and mess all over the table.

Atok and family were still no where to be seen – apparently they were stuck on the A40, “terrible jam”, came the sms, “an accident at Slough!” Hmmm and the crab was fast going leaving legs and claws under the precious sambal. Chef Syawal kept some crab claws for Atok. Millie begged Syawal for some – “claws pun jadilah...anak saya nak datang!” – she pleaded. And she got her claws and one happy daughter.

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When Atok and Hazel, kakak and adik arrived, all the way from Oxford, they were happy to see the claws, which kakak promptly demolished. I played nanny and extracted crab meat from every possible hidden parts of the crab for kakak.

Actually I wouldn’t do justice if I didnt mention the other dishes that Holiday Villa served last night. There was kepah goreng sambal, which was just as yummy. Nasi minyak bercolour-colour, beehoon goreng, ayam goreng berempah, kari terung dengan labu, brocolli goreng dengan bawang putih and all the kerabus and ulams. The starter was soup ekor tom yam style. All these to wash down with air serbat and then good old fashion Malay kuehs. Throughout Ramadan, Holiday Villa offers these and many more - a different menu everyday! There's mee mamak on Thursday - by the way!
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Well, I did phone the children a few times to see that they were all right. Such a responsible mum, I was and I told Taufiq – "You didn’t miss much – the crab wasn’t as good", I said. "Mama pun tak makan banyak". White lies are sometimes necessary!

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

kak tehhhh...

Lapaaaaaaaaaaa a aaaa

Sunfloraa said...

Uikkk kakteh! You must put a warning that this is the sort of entry one should read after iftar hehehehe. Melilih air liur baca pasal the ketam and the menu!

Honeytar said...

Kak Teh: Adushhhhhh.... meleleh ayaq lioq... :)

Anonymous said...

no wonder my phone went senyap yesterday .. rupanya kakteh dok sebok dgn pak ketam, mak ketam and anak ketam. if only i'm 5 mins away from you, i'll be first in the queue :)

anggerik merah said...

Kak Teh....eee memang meleleh air liur...

Anonymous said...

Assalamualaikum Kak Teh......

Salam kenal dari bumi Indonesia..:)
Selamat berpuasa..jadikan ramadhan kali ini terindah dalam hidup kita:)

Bunda Shafiya

http://keluargazulkarnain.blogspot.com

Ni said...

sedap nyer... nasib baik baca blog kak teh dah lepaih bukak puasa, perut tgh kenyang, kalau baca t/hari tadi......

Kak Teh said...

bukannya apa - kak teh cuma nak uji setakat mana kuatnya iman masing-masing - itu saja! hehehe! nasib baik tak enlarge gambar tu!

AuntyN said...

Hantu ketam lah ni hehehe. OK OK nanti kita try pi pekena nasi ketam Juru kalau ada masa no..

pssst kak teh, nasi minyak bercolor-color tu bukan depa panggei nasi hujan panaih ka? hehehe

Anonymous said...

weh mana ada Villa Milla kat sini nih. jin bertendang ada la

hmmmm wonder if there's any ahmad albab around

Kak Teh said...

adiejin, ketam kat malaysia best!! besark2. Nanti balik mesti dah cari mamak nasi kandark.
AuntyN- memang hantu ketam - seisi rumah hantu ketam!
rojakbuah - baca masa dah buka ke belum?
atn- haha - tu lah, mai dok london, macam2 ada!

Atok said...

kak teh,
xillion thanks for keeping aside some of those yummy ketam. i guess, i need to buy some and masak sendirilah... boleh la nak makan sebakul pun, hehe.

dulu, komuniti msia di sini selalu ke Billingsgate Market, cam sebulan sekali gitu. Beli and kongsi2. Once, a friend bought se-tong ketam, hah tu dia... berbulan dok makan ketam je. Jalan pun jadi sideways :)

Ewok said...

Wuuaaaaa..... you phoned me? when? I didn't get any call pun. Aiyaaaaaa rugi lor... saya sudah miss itu ketam

Anonymous said...

me hantu ketam. but fuh sib baik kak z, tak terliur sangat baca nieh tho those photos are quite tempting as it is. but since just had some recently, bley tahan nafsu sket. heh.

does anyone knows, kalau nak beli ketam, jangan beli time full moon? apparently tak banyak isi. I didn't believe it at first, but bila dah selalu jadi tukang beli, i do notice it is true.

-rafthah-

Justiffa said...

Waaaa KT kita menu sama ah semalam lol.... ketam, ketam, ketam !!!! because i was such a 'sweetheart' (read: pengampu.... heheh) n washed D'Abe's car, the whole ging bang was treated to berbuka kat luar... buffet ramadhan @ KSAS. yay, tak yah masak :)

But my no. 1 fav was the BBQ kambing.. yummy!!

Anonymous said...

Kak Teh, tsk tsk tsk, wicked wicked. "Mama pun tak makan banyak" was a nice finishing touch....:-)

miniME said...

uwaaaa!!! baru plan nak buka puasa maggi hari ni...isk isk...kene masak le nampaknye today..hehe

Anonymous said...

adus..dah raya sakan la kak teh ni yek?

Anonymous said...

sedapnya.....



kakngah
anjakan realiti

Ordinary Superhero said...

Aduuus, sedapnya (wiping my keyboard).
It's another 10 mins to buka puasa. Alaah dah tak sempat nak pegi cari ketammm.

Tapi tak pe, hari ni wife dah beli nak kerabu. heh he..

Kak Teh said...

atok, Taufiq bangun today with the azam (sorry abt the pun) to have crab sambal. he has phoned up his friends to make a journey to southall or alperton to get them and nak jugak2 sambal ketam. nampaknya raya ketam lagi lah malam ni!
ewok, memang u rugi!!
raftah - no, u must buy masa bulan penuh!! and then isi pun penuh!
redkebaya - kak teh tak ada siapa nak mengampu - tapi nasib baik semalam ada invite to another malaysian hotel in london, for berbuka! ada lamb chop grilled! and cucork udang!
eliza - memang sedap and a must go again!

Kak Teh said...

hari, thanks for visiting and I have linked you at sentraal station.
adiejin...aaah apa pasal tak cakap dulu buat service ke Billingsgate? Kak teh pernah juga pi dengan kawan2. we took turns to go and buy. one morning after the deliversies, went to a friend's place. anak dia jenguk and she shouted out to the father, 'apa, mak cik jual ikan dah sampai!"

thinktankgal, kak teh raya in Alor star. will email you my contact number.
anon: tu bohong sunat. but today, he is out searching for crabs and i have to cook crab sambala nd crab curry nenas and segal2nya crabs today. not that I am complaining..hehe.
minime...alahai kesiannya! suruh lah Kak M tu masak.
atiza - the weekend ni memang macam raya sebab berbuka di dua hotel malaysia! makan sakan.
kakngah - welcome to my blog ...alah kita dah dok jauh, kak ngah..semuanya sedap belaka.
ordinary superhero..hahaha! tu kan kak teh dah bagi warning - kena lap keyboard! kak teh tak makan kerabu..jadi tak terliur!

Anonymous said...

serius ah kak teh buy it time bulan penuh?

man, im confused now hahaahahaha

-rafthah-

Nadia said...

ya allah kak teh..jealousnye sayyyaaaaa......aiyaaa.....dreaming for restaurant melayu in U.S. maaaa

Anonymous said...

Uwaaaaaaa kak tehhh!!! Ketammm!! *droolll* Kat OZ ketam mahaii!!! Sedapnyaaa!!!

Tak sempat nak lap keybvoard kakteh..keybaord kyta dah jaaammed!! Ayaq liuq melilyhh!! Urhghhhh....

ibuVouge said...

kak teh
assalamualaikum..
kak teh sedapnya..sib baik tak meleleh air lioq..
selalu baca blog kakteh through MAk andeh, AuntyN.
sempat ka nak mkn cari ketam nak masak ari ni???..nyumnyum..

Ely said...

i COULD NOT complete reading this blog. one more hr til berbuka but the pictures and the description is making my tummy SORE!!!!!!!

Lollies said...

nasib baik saya dok malaysia. kurang sikit meleleh air liur.

Kak Teh said...

raftah - memang ya...bulan penuh, isi pun penuh lah kan? or am i wrong? some one help us here.
elisa, Insyaallah kak teh akan pergi ke blog elisa - bukannya kena tambang mahal2 kan?

nadia, buka restoran sendiri!! mesti laku..
em - tu lah siap dah bagi warning. semalam pun makan ketam lagi - taufiq beli tiga kotak.

mm - tu lah kak teh dah bagi warning tak dengark jugak! hehe - balik suruh MN cari ketam!
ibu vogue terima kasih kerana sudi melawat! kak teh pun dah buat lawatan balas.
ely, why lah torture yourself! kan dah ada warning?
lollies - ha nasib baik..and di sana boleh beli siap masak, kan?
zaireen - yes! and semalam, repeat performance! starring more ketam!

Unknown said...

adeh... tiba-tiba je rasa macam nak kena gastrik... ;)

Kak Teh said...

jiwa - gastric is a great excuse!!

Anonymous said...

kenapa kat london tu ada macam banyak tempat yg serve makanan BEST BEST??? kenapa kat perth nie takder yg macam tu?!!? kenapa??! kenapa?!?!!? kalau nak makan sedap2, jawabnya masak sendiri. *muka sedih sekali* KITA NAK BAZAAR ramadan MACAM KAT msia/singapore! NAK! heheheh..

Anonymous said...

which holiday villa...address pls

Kak Teh said...

fidah - tu lah pindah saja ke London
anon - its holiday villa london - 137 Leinster Gardens, Bayswater.

Kak Teh said...

jane, will call, will call! Hang in there , am off to rescue you!

Sidah Salleh said...

ooo... so this is the famous ketam...

Anonymous said...

alahai kak teh, tah tahan tgk gambo2 tuh..iiskk...anyway, macih singgah blog saya..:)

kaezrin said...

wahh hebat gillerrr...

5xmom.com said...

Kak Teh, Selamat Berpuasa.....I hari tu ada buat dedication kat Kak Teh tau? At Malaysiabest.net, I ambil gambar-gambar Pasar Ramadhan dengan segala kuih-muih, nasi and all the foods. Manatau, Kak Teh dah ada The Great Crab Rush di sini pulak.

Anonymous said...

kak teh,
alamak, now dah lapar lah after reading about ketam...

salam
alina

SimplyMas said...

Kak Teh! Bilalah kita boleh makan bersama? Sedapnyer???!!! Menjilat jari gerenti!!!! Sodap!!!