Maggi Ketam Pauh Sembilan

As Salam..

Never judge a book by its cover. Curiously, this adage is applicable with eateries. When not equipped with a guidebook, or hearsays from locals of a really delectable eatery, consider the number of cars or motorcycles in front of the eatery to guide you to a good one. The hypothesis is, the more cars or motorcycles parked in front of an eatery, the better the food will taste. That was way too hard. Just seeing the shear number of people filling a place should give you a rough idea on the level of popularity of the delicacy in that place.

OBH has been asking me to try this "maggie ketam" in Bachok, in fact, twice. Maggi is actually a brand of an instant noodle in Malaysia. Ketam means crab. This instant noodle, where one can easily prepare it at home must be very special! Why, there are crab meat in it, something exotic and rare for town folks. Not to let him down by turning down the offer, we headed for this place on our gastronomic journey right after he landed at the airport. 

He warned me, "it is in the middle of nowhere" and "don't expect it to be grand and expensive looking". I understood. This is Malaysia. As long as the food taste great, unusual, and have nuances of being special in it, forget about how the diner may look like. 

Not being anticlimactic, I was once brought to a place in KL, supposedly offering the best food in town, where it is always full with diners, nightly. I was told, even though the price was slightly pricey, it was worth the amount and the taste. Better, customers can even request for a slight modification to suite their preferences. I was shocked when brought there. The place was not even in a proper shape to say the least. It looks makeshift, old rudimentary brown wooden stall with chairs and tables laid around it, alfresco, encroaching the main road. The plastic chairs and tables had creases which were already blackened with dirt and mold. The drain was blocked with old stale food with layers of grease coming from the kitchen of this "famous" stall. The stench was unbearable - to me at least. Taking a look at the kitchen, the cob web could be clearly seen intertwining the corners of the shack. The zinc roof above where the meals were prepared, were grimy and rusty. The place too was not lit up well. I can't help but wonder how patrons could see what they were eating. Yet, my hosts were enjoying away on their Mee Kepah, untroubled by the stench emanating from the drain below. Sordid. Not displaying my utter pejoratives, I can't help but helping myself to the meal. That would be my last meal in that squalor premise. Future invitations will be a no no.

Surely, we need to be selective in choosing the proper place to eat. Cleanliness comes first.

Back to our gastronomic adventure, this diner is located in Pauh Sembilan. If you come from the direction of Pulau Melaka, it is located just after the bridge. It can't be missed. The colourful flickering of the word "ketam" on the wooden building looks like fireflies arranging themselves to form alphabets in the darkness of the night.

 More pictures of the facade below.

Ketam is the main ingredient here. Maggi ketam, mee goreng ketam, nasi goreng ketam, nasi padprik ketam; nothing is without ketam. Opting for a "healthier" dish, I chose Mee goreng ketam. Here it is. Interestingly, the crabs appear warrior like, guarding the noodle in the middle. It was garnished with sliced cucumber. Another plus point, the fried noodle was generously filled with thumb sized fresh prawns and squid.

The size of the crabs were whopping and it was quite fresh. I did not expect such huge portion to be served.

Mini sized mallet and clipper were provided to aid you to crack open the hard shells to get to the succulent flesh. Eating crabs is really hard work.

Back to the theory that we proposed earlier, probably, the types of vehicle too can be included as a factor to decide if the place will provide good food or not. We hypothesized that the flashier and the more expensive the types of vehicle parked at an eatery, the better the food is. On our way out, we saw a Merc and an Alphard parking at the side of the diner. The owners must be inside crabbing away.

It was a fulfilling dinner. The total price was RM 66.00 inclusive of 4 different types of drinks. Another hypothesis, since we were sticking out like a sore thumb, too obviously an orang luar, hence the pricey tag. A rough survey in other foodblogs, the Ketam noodle (be it maggi or mee) costs about RM17.00 to RM 25.00 per dish.

A rough guide, 8/10 for food, 7/10 for geniality and 6/10 for cleanliness. Will I come back in the future, I would say yes, unless there is another Maggi ketam nearer to my place. For OBH, this second visit of his says as much on his inclination to the place.


This place opens after the Isya' prayer.