From the title itself, I would assume that you already got the idea of what kind of post this would be.
Name: The Red Crab
Location: 184 Tomas Morato Ave. cor Sct. Delgado, Q.C. (also in various parts of the Philippines)
Budget: 300 - 3000 pesos
CRABS!!! One of the living creatures worth eating after a hard days work of trying to crack it open. Lucky for you the lower right picture has a utensil used for making your life easier... and messier.
The Red Crab in Tomas Morato Ave. is a small space located inside a building impossible not to find. The restaurant simply stands out in front if its competitors for its different and prestigious take on seafood fine dining.
and would you look at that...
The posters and wallpapers inside the restaurant display old Filipino folklore but the design of the restaurant looks more of modern Philippines (I couldn't tell due to all the Halloween decorations). The crabs on their menu can be ordered by the kilo and you can choose the type of crab you like for a certain crab entrée. Besides that, there are also other seafood, poultry, meat and vegetable dishes to choose from.
But first, let's put on our aprons...
Beside your plate is a cloth that could be mistaken for an ordinary table napkin... Well it's not... It's an apron so that if in case you were wearing a white T-shirt and cracking a crab, the sauces do not jump out and make sweet sweet love with your pure elegant clothing. It also means you're about to chow down and that's why I didn't wear it (so hardcore...).
Service time is awesome. They serve everything hot and almost at the same time after around 15-20 minutes given that it takes tremendous amount of time just to boil or stir fry a humongous King Crab we're about to eat.
Causeway bar Typhoon 1.3kg Male King Crab (2145 pesos)
Can you see my fist just beside the plate? That's how big that thing is. The service crew spared us some of the effort in trying to crack the crab open but we still need to use the crab cracker to get the meat out... Geez! The exaggerated layer of garlic you see is not only for crab flavoring. There's also the presence of Thai noodles in this dish. I didn't even notice it until it was half gone. The noodles are well cooked and not too oily.
Fidel's Black Pepper Crab 1.3 kg Male King Crab (2145 pesos)
Same size, same crab, different seasoning. A crab seasoned in black peppers and some vegetables that add a spicy flavor to a scrumptious crab meat. Be sure to segregate the black pepper after cracking the shell. You don't want much of black pepper on your crab meat believe me.
Seafood Tortang Talong (235 pesos)
This isn't much of your ordinary 2 pieces tortang talong. Besides the fact the all the flavors melt in your mouth, it has more ingredients than you can imagine (Seafood for once is a surprising addition). Definitely a must try!! Affordable, delicious and flavorful.
Adobong Pusit 3 way (455 pesos)
Another entrée that isn't crab. The first (top) Adobong pusit is a hybrid of pork and squid adobo cooked the classic way. The second (middle) Adobo dish has coconut milk (gata) and is purely squid. The third (bottom) Adobong pusit is cooked in tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes. All three of them tastes so great that I consider this a sweet serenade for my palate. The different tastes of Adobong pusit is like being toured around the Philippines riding a squid.
Fix all of these up with plain rice and you're all set to eat.
I have to warn you about the mess you're going make when eating here. It can be quite annoying so make sure you dispose of the shell when you're done or you'll end up having a plate like this
This is probably what will happen to our haters...
If you're also wondering how I got bits and pieces of shells all over my plate, it's all thanks to this wonderful invention, the Crab Cracker.
Notice the carnage I did behind the Crab Cracker? ANIMALITY!!!
Would you believe me if I say that all of what we ordered didn't get me really full? Yes, that's right, even if that crab you just saw was 3 times the size of my fist, it didn't have that much meat. In addition, It's a male king crab who has been preserved dead for at least a week since most of its meat is already stuck on its shell. I understand it's not crab season yet but keeping a crab alive shouldn't be hard enough for an elegant restaurant like The Red Crab (They charge 10% service charge and 10% off if you have a Citibank credit card) although I really love your other entrées.
Bringing a date here is one option but if you plan to go here just for curiosity or on a pet peeve, it's all up to you though if you plan to go here on a weekly basis, How about NO? Seriously, I myself, don't plan on spending more than 2000 pesos for a Male King Crab that has been dead for weeks even if it's a gigantic one. Crabs are seasonal and based on what I've observed, the crabs we've ordered were probably imported from Australia where crab season lands on December to April max.
Going to this restaurant is a good experience but it's a good "One Time" experience only. The next time we will be going here is probably if someone offered us a treat to lunch or dinner or maybe on crab season, who knows?
4 out of 5! AAAAAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAG!
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