Mar

Penang Restaurant - Cai Xiang Seafood (Crab Claypot Rice)

Posted by: CK Lam in Chinese, Penang Mainland, Penang Restaurant, Seafood

As a newbie to an area, I would usually choose to patronize the restaurant that is recommended by word of mouth or through the blogs. This time around I chose the Cia Xiang Seafood Restaurant in Bukit Tambun for our family weekend makan outing. This restaurant is nearby the Bukit Tambun Interchange of the North South Highway and the area is dotted with a lot of seafood restaurants, with each close by.

Their signature dish is the Claypot Crab Rice. We were recommended to have two crabs for the claypot. We waited for around twenty minutes for our order.

When the lid was opened, you could smell the fragrance of the crab. The two big crabs were laid on top of the pot of rice garnished with chopped spring onions with myriad of ingredients, such as dried shrimps, mushroom and Chinese sausages.

The crabs were very fresh and were cooked to the right timing, with the flesh easily detachable from the shell. They were comparable to the other delicious baked crab that I had in Teluk Kumbar. The rice was puffy and flavorful with the burnt rice crust on the bottom of the claypot. The layer of crust is chewy and simply irresistible. For once, I love the rice more than the crab. This delicious pot of crab rice cost RM40 and the serving was enough for the three of us.

The other excellent seafood dish we ordered at Cai Xiang was the steamed fish with ‘hor fun’ and ‘chai pou’ @RM18. I had doubts that the chai pou might not go well with the fish. Surprisingly it turns out to be a very good combination in taste. The not too salty chai pou fried with lots of garlic and some chili padi gave a lot of flavour to this dish.

I find the hor fun much tastier if left in the gravy longer as it tends to absorb the gravy more. This dish is highly recommended.

Besides seafood, we had the Stew Pork Trotter with steam man tou. This is the first time I come across Pork Trotter stewed and served in a bag, quite unusual.

The well marinated pork trotter was stewed with mushroom, dates and Chinese chestnuts.

The final dish was the Guinness Stout Spare Ribs @RM8. The ribs were packed with lots of flavor and served on a bed of vegetable.

The sticky sweet gravy gives the spare ribs a delicious taste.

This is our first visit and definitely will be back for more of its delicious food. Thanks to my reader, Rebecca Lee for introducing this restaurant to me. For other review, do hop over to Ginna’s blog to have a look.

After existing the Bukit Tambun toll, drive on till you reach the roundabout, take the three o’clock turn and keep left (do not go up the flyover). Take the first turn on your left. Immediately after the turn into Jalan Paboi, you will see the restaurant on your right. Click here for the Map Location.

Cia Xiang Seafood Restaurant
1663 Jalan Paboi
Pathau, Bukit Tambun
14100 Simpang Empat
S.P.S. Pulau Pinang

H/P No : 016 504 1815

GPS Coordinates : N05 16.441 E100 27.462

Tags: Array, Baked Crab, Bukit Tambun, Chinese Chestnut, Chinese Chestnuts, Chinese Sausages, Chopped Spring Onions, Claypot Crab, Cooked Rice, Crabs, Delicious Food, Fifteen Minutes, Fish Lovers, Flavour, Fried Onions, Good Combination, Gravy, Meat Dish, Meat Dishes, O Clock, Penang Restaurant, Pou, Rice Crust, Seafood Dish, Seafood Restaurant, Seafood Restaurants, Signature Dish, Spare Ribs, Steam Man, Tambun, Tambun 1, Teluk Kumbar, Tender Pieces, Trotter, Word Of Mouth

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 11:41 pm and is filed under Chinese, Penang Mainland, Penang Restaurant, Seafood. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

27 comments so far

One Big Mouth

What a lovely crab dish. all the juices soaked into the rice … I want!!!
Pig trotter … the West newly discovered elixir of youth …. well the Chinese knew about it for thousands years. Apparently it provides lots of collagen which is good for the skin and joints. Google it! Sssshhh or else Fung Wei and the Nibong Tebal place prices will rocket.

March 27th, 2009 at 1:04 am

FoOd PaRaDiSe

All the foods look delicious. Gonna mark this few dish down in my book. Thanks for sharing!

FoOd PaRaDiSe´s last blog post..Zealand Seafood @ Gurney Drive, Penang

March 27th, 2009 at 7:48 am

New Kid On The Blog

wah!! all the way to Simpang Empat!?? I really salute you!!
New Kid On The Blog´s last blog post..Wang Chau Jun ?????????

March 27th, 2009 at 8:03 am

rebeccalee

hahaha .. dont thank me CK
I was dying to try it out myself but couldnt get my time organized!! Thanks for blogging this out .. my calendars are locked and I’m heading there next week .. Cia Xiang .. here I come !!!

March 27th, 2009 at 8:33 am

SimpleGirl

wow, i love claypot rice with crab…looks nice..the steamfish with hor fun is something new to me haha…over here, we never practise that…the spareribs looks very good, i am sure it’s super tasty with the well marinated thick gravy

SimpleGirl´s last blog post..Little Seoul@Nilai

March 27th, 2009 at 9:06 am

Little Inbox

I heard that the crab rice will have to pre-order, is it true?

Little Inbox´s last blog post..English Gourd Soup With Soy Beans, Dried Cuttle Fish & Pork Ribs

March 27th, 2009 at 10:24 am

foodbin

pig trotter in bag-must be flavorful.
clay pot with one crab in KL-rm50/-two for rm40/ so cheap.

foodbin´s last blog post..FONG LYE RESTAURANT

March 27th, 2009 at 10:27 am

allie

I always like steamed fish with cai bo! And now some hor fun is added, it’s definitely great!
The claypot crab rice make me drool!

allie´s last blog post..Penang Food | New Recipe Frog Porridge

March 27th, 2009 at 10:42 am

CK Lam

One Big Mouth - Do mark this place, it is worth visiting…and nice of you for sharing the info.

Food Paradise - You are most welcome. Good and tasty food are for sharing

New Kid On The Blog - My husband has more free time during the weekend and we do take the opportunity to travel further to the mainland for food.

rebeccalee - Thanks again for recommending this place to me. Happy eating at Cia Xiang for you.

SimpleGirl - Steam fish with hor fun is quite common in pg but is the first time I had it with cai bo. Do try out this restaurant should you be travelling around the area.

Little Inbox - It’s better to call to ensure that you get the food and it also help to cut down on the waiting time.

foodbin - The prices of the food is reasonable and the taste is good…worth travelling there.

allie - I never knew about steam fish with cai bo until I came to this restaurant. It was delicious.

March 27th, 2009 at 11:16 am

iamthewitch

Wow, I am suddenly hungry when I saw the crab meat claypot rice! I love claypot rice! And having crabs on top would make the dish heavenly.
iamthewitch´s last blog post..The ideal honeymoon

March 27th, 2009 at 11:41 am

Elin

Crab Claypot rice…yummy and I like that trotters in a bag dish…something different Hope to have a bite there one day :)))

Elin´s last blog post..Waldorf Salad

March 27th, 2009 at 2:27 pm

Life for Beginners

This is the first time I’ve heard of Claypot Crab Rice and it looks fabulous! Surely one of a kind?
Life for Beginners´s last blog post..The Most Happiest Girl in the World

March 27th, 2009 at 11:17 pm

I luv the claypot crab rice! and steamed fish with hor fun and chai pou. Both sounds interesting!

lk´s last blog post..Steamed lady fingers with chili shrimp sauce

March 28th, 2009 at 12:50 am

Sonny

I love crabs but I sure hate having to get the fingers dirty !

March 29th, 2009 at 3:34 am

New Kid On The Blog

Congratulations!!! You’re in today Guang Ming paper again!!!

New Kid On The Blog´s last blog post..Wang Chau Jun ?????????

March 29th, 2009 at 10:05 am

Criz Lai

Hmm… The fish looked like the Wang Chau Jun concept except for the preserved vegetables. It looked real delicious. Don’t they have something similar to this without the fish bones? I might bring my parents over here one day but my Mum is rather clumsy on bonely fish.
Criz Lai´s last blog post..EXPERIENCING THE INDIAN CUISINE OF KARAIKUDI

March 29th, 2009 at 12:59 pm

CK Lam

Iamthewitch - Sure is full of flavor…infact the rice taste better than the crab…haha

Elin - Good to mark down this place and best to make a call first.

Life for Beginners - The first time for me eating Claypot Crab Rice too but will not be the last as I am planning for another trip soon.

lk - Looks like there are plenty of food to try out in your pg food list.

Sonny - Try eating with your fingers and I bet you will do it again :)…just finger licking good.

New Kid On The Blog - Thanks for informing me. I got myself a copy of the newspaper too. All this is possible with everyone’s support.

Criz Lai - You could call them up. They have many other variety to choose from.

March 29th, 2009 at 6:51 pm

giNnA

Feel happy that can share the place with you and most important thing is you like and enjoy the food….

giNnA´s last blog post..????_??

March 29th, 2009 at 11:11 pm

rebeccalee

CK: Finally tried it out .. it was great. I cut off the waiting time by calling to order in advance, the second we reached, our food was served. The Guiness Pork Ribs were great .. really soft & juicy. Paid RM69 for 4 people for 2 Crabs in Claypot, Guiness Pork Ribs & Steamed Fish. Expected to pay around RM100. Saw a few tables having the Fried Octopus .. will go try it out next time with the Pork Trotters

March 30th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

bigboysoven

this one do look very appealing to me! yumyum, hahahah you will have to bring us on our next trip to Penang!
bigboysoven´s last blog post..

March 30th, 2009 at 9:06 pm

Lin

Exist Juru toll? I think should be Bukit Tambun toll , right?

May 10th, 2009 at 10:38 pm

CK Lam

Lin - Sorry for the mistake, have corrected it…thanks.

May 10th, 2009 at 10:45 pm

Tavy

i like the second photo so much. it looks so delicious. Too bad as i can’t eat crab~

May 19th, 2009 at 3:28 pm

jas

I went there with frens few weeks back.I think the crab claypot is normal, but I would love to go back for the hor fun fish with chai poh. Just yummy and special in a way. Thumbs uP!

Thanks for the great recommendation!

May 26th, 2009 at 8:14 pm

anna_cat

hi.. i went to tried on last thursday, the crab was not that fresh and the rice also seem like uncook. The crab was really small compare to what2seeonline here shown.

Got to mention also that girl who come to take order was really rude to us, we asked what good dishes to recommend and she said fish and prawn never tell us, didnt explain what cook better and etc, and her face look like we owe her a million dollar… FOR SURE, WILL NOT GO BACK AND RECOMMEND TO MY FRIENDS.

July 25th, 2009 at 9:02 am

Mark

CK, do you know what are the opening hours? Planning to go tmr. THanks

January 1st, 2010 at 3:03 pm

CK Lam

Mark - Must have missed that out. Anyway do give them a call to check out the time.

January 1st, 2010 at 8:24 pm

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