Sherman's Food Adventures: Crabro Restaurant

Crabro Restaurant

It seems that there is usually a select few restaurants that get all the coverage on social media while others exist with barely a mention.   Let's be frank here, many of the newer restaurants are well-known due to the immense social media exposure created by large group events.  I'm not being critical here, it is merely an observation and really, can you blame anyone?  Business is business, they are out to make money.  However, some independent joints get lost in the shuffle since they either have not clued into social media and/or do not have the budget to do any big promotions.  Crabro out on Edmonds seems to fit into that category as they've been around for a year with barely a whimper.

We headed out there to check it out randomly one day.  With a fairly limited menu, we decided to give the Cumin Lamb a try.  Although it was decently spicy with the unmistakable hit of earthy cumin, we felt they could've amped the flavours even more so.  The lamb itself was sliced a bit too thick which meant it was not exactly super tender.  Lastly, there was more veggies then lamb itself.  Conclusion - this dish was a miss.  Okay, the main event here is the choice of wet or dry hot pot with choice of seafood.  We went for the whole Crab Dry Hot Pot with added ingredients of lotus root, rice cake, pork belly, enoki mushrooms and cauliflower in medium spice.  This was not cheap at $29.99 for the crab and another $22.00 for the ingredients.  It was pretty tasty though with a noticeable spice that wasn't overwhelming.  Everything exhibited the right textures while the crab was fresh and not overdone.  It was a one-clawed crab though (there was a small regenerating claw).

To complete our meal, we got Steamed Oysters with Garlic and Steamed Scallops with Garlic.  They ended up serving us 3 oysters instead of the 2 that we originally ordered because they deemed them "too small".  That was very honest of them and I applaud them for that.  Much like the crab, the oysters were fresh and buttery.  They were a bit underdone, but I didn't mind that.  It was topped with vermicelli and a tonne of garlic as well as some red chilis.  The scallops were equally fresh and cooked just right.  They were soft with an appealing chew while being sweet and topped with the same condiments.   For a small restaurant like this, I was rather impressed at the quality and execution of these 2 dishes since they were better than some higher end restaurants in town.

For dessert, there was a slight confusion as we actually wanted coconut juice, but was served Coconut Jelly instead.  It was served inside a real coconut and cost us $12.00.  We lived with their error and it turned out to be really good.  It was lightly sweet and aromatic being delicate in texture.  There was plenty of it and after we were done, the fresh coconut meat on the side was a treat.  In general, most of the food at Crabro was pretty solid and tasty.  Seafood was on point, but the pricing was a little high with all things considered.

The Good:
- Fresh and well-prepared seafood
- Unique food experience
- Although not particularly attentive, service was friendly

The Bad:
- See above, service was somewhat aloof
- Pricey

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