Don Signature Crab

Sri Lankan mud crab: why size and weight matter

What we know about the crab, and what we have not been told.

Quick answer

A mud crab is a large, meaty crab, and the kitchen says its crab dishes use thoroughly cleaned Sri Lankan mud crabs delivered to it daily. Crab weight can mean live weight or cooked weight, and the two differ a lot. Our printed weights (350g to 800g for Regular to XL) do not say which, and the kitchen has not published its sourcing in more detail.

What is a mud crab?

A mud crab is a large crab with a heavy shell and thick claws, popular in Singapore for dishes such as chilli crab, black pepper crab and crab bee hoon. It is usually bought live, cooked whole and priced by size or weight. Our kitchen uses mud crab in all five of its whole-crab styles, from Regular to XL+.

What the kitchen says about its crab

We keep to what the kitchen has put in writing.

  • Its home page says its crab dishes are made from “thoroughly-cleaned Sri Lankan mud crabs which are delivered to us daily”.
  • Its product pages use the phrases “air-flown” and “top-grade”. Those are marketing words, and we do not repeat them as facts.
  • It has not told us whether it buys male or female crabs, how it stores them, or whether roe is guaranteed.

Reviewers have added their own details. SethLui wrote in December 2022 of “daily air-flown Sri Lankan crab” in a partnership post. Miss Tam Chiak, in a post hosted by the kitchen the same month, wrote that only Sri Lankan and Indian mud crabs are used, and that quantities are limited each day because the live crab arrives fresh. These are reports, and the kitchen has not repeated the second one on its own pages.

Why weight needs care

Crab weight sounds simple and is not. There are two common ways to quote it.

  • Live weight is the whole crab before cooking, shell included.
  • Cooked weight is the crab after cooking, and it is lower.

The difference is large. One delivery business, 8 Crabs, prints both on its product page, and its Regular crab is listed as 400g to 500g live and 240g to 300g cooked, about 60 per cent. A restaurant that prints only one number leaves you to guess which it is.

Our kitchen prints weight bands for Regular (350g to 400g), Medium (500g to 550g), Large (600g to 650g) and XL (700g to 800g), and none for XL+. It has not said whether the bands are live or cooked weights. Until it does, use them to compare our sizes with each other, not with another restaurant’s numbers. Sizes and portions explains the price steps.

What size means for you

A bigger crab costs more because there is more of it, and usually more meat. A smaller crab is easier to finish alone. A Regular is sold as a one-person portion, and a Large or XL is for sharing. We do not claim that a given price buys a given weight of meat, because the kitchen has not told us.

For how the broth works with the crab, see what is in the soup. To eat the crab properly, see how to eat crab bee hoon.

Questions to ask any crab seller

When you compare crab dishes, ask three plain questions. Is the weight live or cooked? Is the crab live-cooked to order, or cooked earlier and held? And is the price for the crab alone or for the whole dish with noodles? We have answered the first as far as we can, said what is unknown, and given the price per bowl rather than per kilogram. For the pricing side, read the dated price guide.

What we will update

If the kitchen tells us whether its weights are live or cooked, what XL+ weighs, or which crabs it uses beyond Sri Lankan mud crab, we will change this page and sizes and portions on the same day, and show the update date at the foot of each.

Questions people ask

Is your crab air-flown?

The kitchen's home page says its crabs are delivered daily. Its product pages and some reviewers use the word air-flown. We say delivered daily, because that is the more general wording.

Are the crabs female or male?

The kitchen has not said, and we do not know whether roe is guaranteed in any given crab.

Is it only Sri Lankan crab?

The kitchen says Sri Lankan mud crab. One reviewer (Miss Tam Chiak, December 2022) wrote that only Sri Lankan and Indian mud crabs are used. We use the kitchen's own wording.

What is the weight of the XL+ crab?

The kitchen has not published one. See sizes and portions.

Sources

Last updated: October 2026. Published by Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab. Prices and hours are as of October 2026; check the ordering site before you go.

Sizes and portionsHow to pick a size, with printed weights and prices.What is in the soupWhat the kitchen says is in the bowl, and what is not disclosed.Crab Bee Hoon SoupThe signature dish: sizes, price and what is in the bowl.How to eat crab bee hoonAn order of attack for a whole crab, with a cracker and napkins.