BACK in the 1980s, Choon Seng was where I went for chilli crab and seafood mee goreng.

The non air-conditioned eatery at Punggol offered no frills and was not even at the water's edge, but it had great food.

The only interesting thing to watch was the sight of SBS buses making a three-point turn to get out of the dead-end road.

Today, the restaurant's main branch is located in a classy private estate in the Bukit Timah area. The place is air-conditioned and service is good.

During my visit last week, for example, we got one finger bowl per person and the waitress was quick to bring paper napkins and packs of wet towelettes when the chilli crab ($38 per kg) arrived at the table.

But the cooking was not what it used to be.

The gravy would have been pretty tasty if it had not been so watery. One could taste hints of its piquant spicy flavours only if one concentrated hard.

But I suspect it wasn't that the chef had intended to water down the gravy. The liquid quite likely came from the crab itself, which was not very big or meaty although its 0.9kg weight should have indicated otherwise.

Watery crabs are those that have recently moulted and have not had time to fatten up in their new shell yet.

I had loved those meaty Sri Lankan crabs from the Choon Seng of yore but this seemed a poor cousin.

And there wasn't any roe to be found in the dish either.

The famous mee goreng ($10), too, was not the way I remembered it. The noodles were a bit hard and the taste was a little flat.

The chef was generous with the seafood though, with big prawns and pieces of succulent squid to make up for the poor noodles.

But the biggest disappointment was with the crispy baby squid ($20).

It was a huge plate, enough for four people at least, but the squid was more chewy than crispy. Which quite missed out the appeal of this dish.

Come here for comfort and good service, but there is better food to be found elsewhere.

Ponggol Choon Seng Seafood Restaurant (Greenwood)
14 Greenwood Avenue
(S) 289206
Tel: 6465-4621
Open: 11.30am to 3pm, 5.30 to 10.30pm.
Closed for lunch on Mondays
Food: **1/2
Service: ***1/2
Ambience: ***
Price: The three dishes plus a dish of sweet potato leaves cost $90.65, including taxes.