A world of crab

By David Evans (bestfoodinchina.net)
Updated: 2008-11-11 15:53

Crab, crab, and more crab. If you don’t like crab, don’t come to this restaurant. If you do and you want to see the way the Chinese eat da jia xie (hairy crab) then take to trip to the Banquet Hall in the Central hotel Shanghai on Jiujiang, a two minute walk from People’s Square.

The restaurant is on the fifth floor of a hotel that, maybe, has seen better days. This is reflected by the awful flowers and slightly grubby carpet. Even though the surroundings might not be the best, people still come from miles around to taste the champagne of the crab world. After eating here I can tell why.

Did I mention this restaurant served crab? Every dish, bar a few exceptions, includes crab. You can even order shark fin and crab if you’re willing to shell out the 818rmb it costs.

We began the meal with sautéed crab meat (300rmb). This was very nice and the easy way to enjoy crab meat. The meat is already taken out of the shell, then cooked with a very nice sauce and attractively presented. Between my dining partners and I, the food on the plate vanished within seconds.

Whole crab (200rmb depending on weight) is why you come to this restaurant, to eat the famous hairy crab from Yang Cheng Lake in Jiangsu Province. The restaurant only serves whole crabs when they are in season from September to November. During this period you are well advised to book ahead to avoid disappointment, as they get very busy.

For those, like myself, who have no idea how to go about cracking open a crab, let alone which bits you should eat and which bits you shouldn’t, the waiters and waitresses are more than happy to teach you how it should be done. If you ask they will even do it all for you but then, where’s the fun in that?! There is nothing quite like getting your hands dirty and getting properly stuck into a really, really tasty piece of shell fish and this was no exception.

We followed with some tofu and crab meat (68rmb) and crab claw meat and asparagus (98rmb). I’ve lived in China for a few years now and the one thing I can’t understand is the Chinese love for tofu. I just don’t get the appeal! However, if you are a tofu fan then this dish might be worth a go but for me it wasn’t anything special. It’s basically mapo doufu with crab. The crab claw meat and asparagus was a lightly sautéed dish and very nice but after the hard work of cracking open a crab myself I did feel sorry for the person who had to open up an awful lot of crab legs to help make this dish.

We ended the meal with some xiao long bao (35rmb for 10). They were very good, soft and not at all chewy. Much better than anything you will find at Yuyuan Gardens.

The drink menu is somewhat limited and offers very little in the way of nice wine, although I would recommend the Hua diao (70rmb), a 15% yellow rice wine that is traditionally enjoyed while eating hairy crab.

The decor might be twenty years out of date and in desperate need of a makeover but the food isn’t and that’s what counts. This is most definitely a crab lover’s paradise.

Location: 5F, Central Hotel, 555 Jiujiang Road, near Zhejiang Lu Shanghai
Tel: (86 21) 5396 5000

This article is brought you by Best Food inChina, the first and leading English website about local Chinese food and restaurants. For more information, please visitwww.bestfoodinchina.net