Tag: crab

Ministry of Crab experience in Shanghai

Ministry of Crab, the famous Colombo’s restaurant, has started an international expansion and opened a branch in Shanghai in 2019. I visited it twice.

The visit(s)

Ministry of Crab set shop in the ground floor of Barbarossa, a Middle-Eastern themed lounge/restaurant located inside People’s Park. Getting to the restaurant may be a small adventure. Tip: enter the park from the entrance near the Shanghai History Museum to maximize your chances to find it quickly.

The restaurant is finely appointed and seating is comfortable. The menu, called “Amendments” to their “Constitution” showcases crabs and prawns imported from Sri Lanka (shipped live twice a week).

In my first visit my main dish was one of their large prawns (the largest available at the time of my visit, around 400 grams). You can choose the sauce: pepper (my choice), chili, curry, garlic chili.

I also had their clams.

And a prawn skewer (the prawns came already de-shelled, which was nice).

In my second visit I went for one of their famous crabs. I opted for the “large” one (around 900 grams). They have bigger ones. They showed me the crab that was really not happy about the situation and tried to escape…

I was provided (and I used) the branded apron.

The crab came in its garlic chili sauce and was already cut in six parts. There was a substantial amount of meat, I think two people could have shared it. The sauce, that is a special creation of one of the founders of the restaurant, was really delicious.

Appropriately, I had a reserve of “cube” bread that was very useful to scoop up the sauce.

My second dish was the pot with prawns and curry. The great thing about this dish was that the prawns were already cleaned from the shell. The curry was perhaps too sweet, but still a great dish.

The check(s)

The first check was 563 RMB (80 USD). The big prawn accounted for around 50 USD.

The second check was 994 RMB (140 USD), the large crab was around 90 USD. I believe that this second menu could have been split by two (not excessively hungry) diners.

The seafood was expensive, but it was also really good. I think the checks were proportioned to the quality and it makes a great experiences for a seafood lover.

Where in Shanghai:
Inside People’s Park, 1/F, 231 Nanjing Xi Lu.
In Chinese: 南京西路231号1楼.
Website: https://www.ministryofcrab.com/

Ganko, Osaka’s sushi powerhouse

Ganko is a popular sushi restaurant in Osaka with multiple outlets throughout the city. Ganko Sushi started as a small 15-square-meter shop in Juso, Osaka, in 1963. This review is based on a visit to their Umeda outlet. The restaurant is part of a large group employing over 3,000 people with tens of restaurants around Kansai (49 just in Osaka, using multiple brands).

The visit

One night, summer 2018, I visited their larger location in Umeda.

The restaurant operates like a classic sushi bar with customers seated at the counter so that they can order directly from one of the chefs. They also have normal tables for larger groups and they had an English menu, so ordering was pretty straightforward.

I had their sushi platter with all the classic fish: squid, eel, prawn, scallop, salmon, etc.

I added a sashimi platter.

Then I tried their crab set with crab meat, roe, and more minced crab meat.

Just to keep to the crab’s theme, I also added grilled crab meat with cheese.

Finally I had a tangerine drink.

The check

Check was 6,441 yen (around 60 USD). It was really the cost for a dinner for two (for this reason I classify it as “everyday dining”). The sashimi and sushi platter cost around 20 USD each.

It was a pretty regular sushi restaurant experience. Certainly not the best in Osaka, but they run an efficient operation and, for a run-of-the-mill sushi meal, it is a reasonable choice.

Where in Osaka:
1-chome-5-11 Shibata Kita-ku.
In Japanese: 大阪府 大阪市北区 芝田 1-5-11 猪井梅田ビル １F・２F・３F.
Website: www.gankofood.co.jp/en/.

Crab dinner in Shanghai at Cheng Long Hang

Shanghai people love crabs. The local variety is called mitten crab or hairy crab (because of the hairy claws) and lives in lakes and estuaries. Funnily enough, these crabs are regarded as a pest in Western countries.

The best time to eat hairy crabs is between October and December: it is crab season because the roe inside female and male crabs reaches its peak: the sweet roe is what makes many dishes appealing (like eggs and crab or tofu and crab).

There are many restaurants specializing in crabs in and around Shanghai. I already described a restaurant just selling crab noodles. This review is about Cheng Long Hang (sometimes referred as Crab Palace), one of the most famous crab restaurants in Shanghai with various locations around town. I visited the location near the Bund that in the 2020 Michelin Guide to Shanghai got one star.

The visit

The Bund location is located on a quiet street near West Nanjing Road metro station. Since the early morning the kitchen visible from the street is busy with staff picking pulp from the crabs. This is actually one of the reasons I went: I noticed several dishes on the menu with pure crab meat, without the pain to work a crab by myself.

Behind the unassuming storefront lies a two-story dining room with a common area downstairs and many private rooms. I went on a weekend evening and there were two musicians performing, intermittently, with traditional instruments. I found the place, also for this reason, quite touristy. Not sure whether the other venues have the same atmosphere.

Some crabby details on the table.

I was welcomed with some freebies: almonds, a sort of grissini, and winter melon. Lemon-flavored hot water was also provided free of charge, which is always nice.

Not finished yet: a complimentary amuse bouche was offered in the form of a spicy crab soup (in a tiny bowl).

My first dish was sauteed crab meat (50 grams as indicated on the menu). Loved it. And 50 grams did not feel too little.

Then I got a dish that had made me curious: crab meat in a warmed orange. The two elements surprisingly fused quite well.

Then I was served a beautifully presented crab paste and avocado salad. The avocado was mixed with crunchy bread crumbs and surmounted by a piece of crab innards that tasted like wine. And indeed the crab paste was marinated in wine. I did not get this from the menu. I personally dislike wine so I did not enjoy this dish! Nevertheless it was an interesting dish.

Finally I had a yellow croaker soup with bamboo fungus. Not amazing, but this was a good soup.

At the end of my meal I was offered a cup of tea.

Staff did not speak English, but they were very friendly and made efforts to help me understand what I was eating… the menu was fully translated in English and Japanese.

The check

The crab dinner for one person cost me 414 RMB (or 61.5 USD). For around this price point they also had a nice set menu, but I wanted to try some specific dishes.

Not cheap, but crabs are not cheap. All in all, I will call it reasonable.

The food was quite good and they do have a number of interesting dishes. They have my recommendation, even during off-season like in this visit.

Where in Shanghai:
216 Jiujiang Lu, by Henan Zhong Lu
In Chinese: 九江路216号, 近河南中路
Nearest metro station: West Nanjing Road (line 2 and 10).

More about hairy crabs and where to find them from That’s Mag.

The Cajun Cua experience in Ho Chi Minh City

The Cajun Cua (“cua” means crab in Vietnamese) was probably the first restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City to offer cajun seafood. Cajun is both the name of a rustic cuisine in Louisiana and a spicy seasoning widely used in that cuisine. The Cajun Cua, like many similar restaurants, specializes in a specific aspect of this cuisine: serving boiled seafood (and other ingredients) in bags where it is mixed with certain seasonings.

The Cajun Cua has been around for at least a decade and in 2015-16 became very popular. As it happens in Vietnam, popularity was followed by imitation and other similar themed restaurants mushroomed in Ho Chi Minh City. In my visit in the summer 2019 the fad seemed to have faded away.

The visit

The restaurant is relatively small with a storefront squeezed among the shops of Ly Tu Trong street.

Ordering the main dish – the seafood by the bag – involved two steps: first I made my choices of seafood, then I chose the seasoning; I chose cajun, but other flavors were possible: garlic butter, lemon garlic, basil, juicy. I tried a few of these seasonings in the past and they are all good, full of flavor, but not to the point to kill the seafood taste entirely.

I was also provided a slice of lime to squeeze on a tablespoon of salt and pepper. This is a typical Vietnamese condiment, not related to Cajun cooking.

The preparation can take quite a while. I think I waited half an hour (that is a lot for a restaurant in Asia). But if you are smart, you can do like a group that arrived shortly after me and was served immediately: they had booked their food on the phone beforehand. The chalkboard above illustrates the waiting times.

Above you can see how my bag looked like: it included 250 grams of swimmer crab, 250 grams of green mussels, and 250 grams of prawns.

All the seafood was very good. The bag also came with a piece of corn and a mini slice of sausage (it would have been nice to have more, you can order extra though). I also had a baguette to dip in the leftover sauce after finishing the seafood.

Finally, I had a portion of chicken wings with cajun seasoning. Quite nice if you like spicy food.

The check

Final check was a little over 1,000,000 VND (or 44 USD). Probably there was enough food for two people with a normal appetite. While it is pricey as compared to standard Vietnamese food, you can enjoy some good seafood without breaking the bank.

I have never been in Louisiana and I cannot speak about the authenticity, but overall the experience and the quality of the food is good and it is a nice option for seafood-lovers.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
267 Lý Tự Trọng – District 1
(They also have a location in District 7, in Sunrice City, where I have never been.)

Elegant Taiwanese dinner in Tainan

In October 2018 I was invited to a dinner in a well-reputed Chinese restaurant in Tainan specializing in crab. The restaurant was located on the second floor of Tainan’s Dream Mall and was called Jin Xia (錦霞樓). According to my research, the restaurant was run by a local family then in its third generation.

The visit

Our group was assigned a large private room with a classic round table and a lazy Susan at the center.

It was a classic eight-course Chinese meal with some add-ons.

Tea, sparkling wine and Apple Sidra were available throughout the dinner. Appe Sidra is a Taiwanese fixture: launched in 1965, it is a kind of apple cider vinegar soda with a very crisp and sour flavor.

First an amuse bouche including a piece of shrimp and tofu.

A tofu and abalone appetizer.

Another nicely presented appetizer dish including some local specialties like sausages and mullet roe (in the paper wrapping). Well balance of flavors.

Then we had a delicious seafood soup with shrimps, white fish and crab.

Then time for a big ticket item: a crab with its roe on a base of rice.

Another soup with tripe.

Another fish dish with a rich sauce.

Fruit.

A final Chinese dessert with tofu, jellies and brown sugar.

The check

I cannot comment on the price point because I was invited by a friend. But I can imagine that it would be fine dining level.

I found it an incredible good meal, leveraging on local specialties and with a contemporary touch in the presentation of the dishes.

Where in Tainan:
2F, No.366, Section 1, Zhong-Hua East Road, East District, Tainan City, Taiwan (2F of T.S. Dream Mall).
Address in Chinese: 東區中華東路一段366號 · 台南市
Website: http://jinxia.ezsale.tw/JINXIA_en.asp.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ASHA.JINXIA.

Crabs, zen, and noodles

In a trip in Shanghai at the end of 2018 I noticed something familiar on Guangdong road. It was a restaurant very similar to one I had visited one year earlier in another part of town. Initially I thought it may have been a rip-off, but no, it was a new branch just a stone-throw away from Bund 3/5. 

I had learnt about the place whose English name should be Cejerdary. in a very well-written article published on Smartshanghai. 

It only serves two dishes: two types of crab noodles. Apparently it is owned by a vegetarian ascetic that has never eaten a crab. Apart from the backstory, I loved my previous visits so I tried the new location on the Bund. 

The visit

I arrived early and at that time there was no queue. They have a waiting room. They also take reservations. 

The style of the environment is very distinctive. Wooden furniture, wicker basket where to place your bag and overcoat…

And a wall of photos picturing the owner with famous people. 

The service begins with a cup of ginger tea and peanuts. Then the choice is pretty simple: they have crab noodles with the meat from the claws or with the meat from the whole crab, this second choice being more expensive and allowing to taste the crab roe. You can also make your selection a “combo” by adding a steamed crab. They use hairy crabs that are very popular in Shanghai especially during their mating season (peaking between October and November). In the past, I knew that this restaurant was open only during the mating season, but a waiter told me that they are now open all year round. If I understood correctly, not sure how the noodles would change. 

I went for the option with the claw meat. Personally I think it is even better as it is less sweet. 

The noodles are very delicate and are a good match for the crab meat.

This is a picture of the more expensive version: you can see all the roe that confers the dish a sweet flavor.  

I liked my crab noodles, even if I remembered a more delicate flavor in the past, not sure if anything has changed since they opened the new location. 

The check

The generous portion of crab noodles (with claw meat only) cost me 72 CNY (just a little over 10 USD). Very good value. The other version of the noodles with the meat from the whole crab costs around 50 USD (hairy crabs are expensive). 

There are other restaurants that specialize in crabs in Shanghai, but only this one managed to create such a distinctive experience and branding. It is worth a visit. 

Where in Shanghai:
59 Guangdong Lu, a couple of block down from Bund 3. 

How many ways can you cook a crab? The answer at Sapporo Kanihonke

Hokkaido means seafood. And one type of seafood that cannot be missed in Hokkaido is crab. Options to try it abound. In my case I ended up having an early lunch in one of the crab institutions of Sapporo, Sapporo Kanihonke. This crab restaurant is today a chain with venues across all Japan. According to their website, they have been the first restaurant to serve crab cuisine and their founder is know as the father of crab cuisine in Japan. So much for the hype. I am very suspicious of chains (and this one reminds me of Red Lobster for some reason…), so my expectations were low. However, on a Sunday morning at 11.30 there were very few eateries open in Susukino district, so I eventually overcame my doubts and asked for a table.

The visit

The Susukino branch occupies a seven-story building literally covered in crabs signs. You cannot miss it. I was promptly escorted in a private room for two people. Very nice start. It is always nice to have a private room and considering that when I left there was a notice indicating that the restaurant was sold out I guess I was a little bit lucky.

They have an extensive menu sporting snow and hairy crab dishes and a number of other seafood options. They have a number of “kaiseki” set menus. Kaiseki is the traditional Japanese multi-course meal. I would describe their kaiseki as “mini”, since they do not perfectly reflect the grammar of a full kaiseki, but, after doing some math, they are a great way to get an introduction to crab cuisine since you can save some bucks as opposed to order individual dishes.

My choice was a Hanasaki menu only available for lunch for 5,400 yen (around 50 USD). I shall now describe the individual dishes that came with this menu.

The first course included a selection of appetizers and the main crab dish of the menu: three pieces of butter roasted snow crab. The pieces were quite meaty (but not that much to eat overall). You could definitely taste the freshness of the crab from its juices. Please note that you are being provided both chopsticks and a crab fork to reach any piece of pulp in the dishes (chopstick and fork are placed on a cute chopstick rest modeled like a crab).

The second course included a portion of crab gratin (white cram with a few pieces of crab meat) and a rice ball called “crab marimo” on the menu. The rice ball tasted like sticky rice and, of course, was enriched by a few specks of crab meat.

The third course brought some variety with a piece of grilled white fish (called “sable fish” on the menu) marinated in miso. Nice.

The fourth course was fried crab meat on shell. Very nice, I finished it. No need to use the accompanying sauce to enjoy it in my opinion.

And now time for some sushi. The two important parts here are the piece of crab sushi and the piece of mackerel sushi. In both cases, mackerel and crab pulp were pressed and marinated. The course is completed by a miso soup.

The sixth and last course was a simple dessert: fruit in a yogurt sauce. Not my cup of tea, but glad to have it. By the way, hot tea was included, I only paid extra for a soft drink.

The check

The final check amounted to 5810 yen (or around 52 USD). All dishes were enticing. My only marginal regret is that I did not order some more substantial dish (like their king crab steak!), but one of such dishes would have added at least 30 USD to the final check and, honestly, there was enough food already.

Overall, the place scored beyond my expectations. I think one of their multi-course menus is a great way to be introduced to crab cuisine. Apart from the quality of the food and its presentation, service was also excellent and the dishes were perfectly timed. They have a lot of experience in a place like this.

Sapporo Kanihonke certainly earned my recommendation. If you go, just consider making a reservation to be sure not to be disappointed. You can find them across Japan, so you do not need to go to Sapporo to try their menu.

PS: Before leaving, at the cashier, you can buy as a souvenir many of their crab-inspired paraphernalia. I bought the crab double rest for chopsticks and fork for just 200 yen.

Where in Sapporo:
Sapporo Kanihonke – Susukino Branch
4-1-3 Minami-Rokujyou-Nishi, Cyuou-ku
Visit their website to check other locations and the booking system (they recommend to place reservations 10 days in advance).