Tag: crab

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Crispy Crab Burger

I was back in London and staying at one of my regular haunts, the Drayton Court Hotel in Ealing. I have been staying here for a fair few years now. It is significantly cheaper than central London, and with the Elizabeth Line, hitting central London is really fast. West Ealing Station is a few minutes walk from the hotel, from there you can catch a train to central London in less than twenty minutes. The hotel has an Ealing comedies theme, there are rooms named after films, and there are numerous photographs from the films framed on the walls.

Going down for dinner, I had the fish tacos for my starter, I had considered the whitebait which was on their specials menu, but after thinking about it, I went with the tacos. What they did have on the specials menu was a Crispy Crab Burger with triple cooked chips as a main course, so I went with that. I do enjoy crispy soft shell crab, and have liked it when I have had it before, however I do remember saying back then:

…the deep fried soft shell crab was crispy, but didn’t have the crab taste intensity I was expecting. So overall I did enjoy the food, but was a little disappointed with the soul of the dish, the crab.

Even so, I did have quite high expectations. The burger arrived with a side of triple cooked chips in one of those mini metal buckets.

crab burger

As well as the crispy crab, there was avocado, lettuce, tomato, and sauce.

The crab was wonderfully crispy, some parts tasted of crab, some did not.

I liked it, but I wasn’t blown away.

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A really disappointing Thai meal

I was looking through some photographs of food, and realised that in April when I was up in London I had a few meals which I hadn’t blogged about. Sometimes I write up the dining experiences I have on the same day, in the same week, or quite soon after that. Now and then I have food and then never get around to writing a blog post about it. In April I had been quite busy travelling across the UK to attend meetings and conferences. Having said that, I think the reason I didn’t write this meal up, was that I had quite high expectations about the meal and was then somewhat disappointed with what I actually had. So, why was I disappointed with the meal, lets read on.

I had eaten at a branch of Rosa’s Thai in Liverpool’s Albert Dock the month before and that had been really nice, so finding a branch in Ealing I decided I would have dinner there. It had a similar look and feel to the branch in Liverpool, even though it was not in a docks area.

I had a look over the menu and there was quite a bit of choice, but I wanted to have something different from what I had eaten in Liverpool. 

For my starter I went the salt and pepper squid. 

plate of crispy squid

This was pieces of squid deep fried in crispy batter, served with a dipping sauce and quite a large amount of fresh chilli. It was rather nice and tasty.

For my main I had the Crab Fried Rice. I was asked if I wanted anything with the rice, I had assumed though at £13.50 and where it was in the menu this was a main, not a side dish. It was described as fried rice (or khao pad), a simple, wonderful Thai staple. Jasmine rice, stir-fried with eggs, onions, ginger, spring onions and crab meat. It sounded really nice. However what I was served was this.

plate of fried rice

I challenge you to spot the crab in the dish! I was really disappointed with the rice dish. There was almost no crab in the dish, and certainly I couldn’t taste the crab. I did think about complaining, but to be honest I wasn’t sure what I would be complaining about, I had ordered a dish, and it arrived as described. I had also been asked to clarify that this is what I wanted when I ordered it. I think, though the dish was disappointing, there wasn’t an actual problem with the dish. I also thought about ordering another main dish to have with the rice, but this would have racked up the cost of the meal. In the end I would have to chalk this one up to experience and I would most certainly not order this again.

Whilst writing this, I saw that it was still on the menu, it’s more expensive at £16, but now comes topped with crispy fried soft shell crab. Still, even then, I wouldn’t order it again.  I wonder if other people had had the dish, but had complained, which is why they changed it.

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Not my first choice

Heading to Finzel Reach street food market in Bristol for lunch, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to have. I did see that King Fin has their calamari, which I had enjoyed the other day. However first I walked down the market to see what was on offer. Decided I would go with the calamari, only to find when I got back to the King Fin stall they had sold out of the calamari.

Though I hadn’t been totally impressed with the soft shell crab burger when I had it before, I went with it this time.

The burger was a soft brioche bun with a deep fried soft shell crab, and a coleslaw. I added a side order of rosemary chips as well.

The twice cooked rosemary fries with sauce were very tasty, and crispy.

The burger was as I was expecting. The bun was lovely and soft, and the spicy coleslaw added heat and freshness. The deep fried soft shell crab was crispy, but didn’t have the crab taste intensity I would really like to see in this dish. I also felt the crab got lost in the spicy coleslaw as well. However, as I was expecting the food to be like this, I wasn’t really that disappointed.

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Crab Maison

I was staying in Ealing and having been disappointed that Reineta was closed I went to Côte. Reality was I did walk around Ealing to see what else was there and looking at various menus. So, in the end I ended up at Côte.

I had seen the Crab Maison dish on the menu before, so was likely to be my first choice. I did consider the Steak Tartare, which was hand-cut raw beef, cornichons, mustard dressing, toasted sourdough baguette.

However I decided to go with the Crab Maison.

crab maison

This was crab, avocado, cucumber, capers, shallots, mayonnaise, toasted sourdough baguette.

I thought the dish was beautifully presented, even if the crab was a little hidden away under the salad and sliced radish.

It was nice, but I was hoping for an intense crab flavour, which I felt was missing, and what crab there was, was overpowered by the mayonnaise. It was nice with the toasted sourdough baguette, which provided a nice crunchy texture to the dish.

I did enjoy the dish, but it probably isn’t something I would order again.

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Soft Shell Crab Burger

I have had some really nice food from King Fin on previous visits to the Finzels Reach and Temple Quay markets, including some excellent calamari and (some okay) fritto misto. 

On a recent visit to the Finzel Reach market I went to the King Fin stall. They had fish goujons, calamari was back on the menu, and they also had the soft shell crab burger. I’ve always liked the idea of the soft shell crab burger, but always went with something else. This time, I decided to shell out for the soft shell crab burger.

I added a side order of rosemary chips as well. The burger was a soft brioche bun with a deep fried soft shell crab, and a coleslaw.

Soft Shell Crab Burger

The twice cooked rosemary fries with sauce were very tasty, and crispy.

The burger was not as good as I was expecting. The bun though was lovely and soft, and the spicy coleslaw added heat and freshness. The deep fried soft shell crab was crispy, but didn’t have the crab taste intensity I was expecting. So overall I did enjoy the food, but was a little disappointed with the soul of the dish, the crab.

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Crab and Mussel Pasta

Staying at the Drayton Court Hotel I went for dinner. Despite not being available the last time I had dinner at the hotel, this time the special, crab and mussel tagliolini was available. I thought it was a starter, but the staff behind the bar didn’t think it was. It was described on the menu as crab and mussel tagliolini with razor clams, brown shrimp, glazed old Winchester cheese, purple sprouting broccoli, and chive.

When it arrived, it was obviously a starter portion and it wasn’t tagliolini, it was tagliatelle again. Tagliolini is a type of ribbon pasta, long like spaghetti, roughly 2–3 mm wide, similar to tagliatelle, but thin like capellini.

It was an interesting dish, the pasta was well cooked, I could taste and see some of the seafood, but it didn’t feel that individual seafood stood out very much. I think the purple sprouting broccoli was either missing or heavily ground down! 

Overall, it was a nice starter, but I do think it was rather overpriced for what it was.

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Devon Crab & Avocado Tostadas

The last time I went to Wahaca it was just before lockdown. In May 2022 I was up in London for an event with my son, and afterwards we decided to get something to eat. Our first choice was Bills in Victoria, but they were full. So, I suggested that we head to Oxford Circus and go to Wahaca. We caught a tube across London.

We arrived to find there was a bit of a wait for a table, well it was a Friday evening in London, not too surprising. We decided that we would wait. It wasn’t too long before a table was free, we sat down and looked over the menu.

We chose six dishes, the last of these I am reviewing is the Devon Crab & Avocado Tostadas. We also had the Mexico City nachos, and three plates of tacos, as well as some crispy cauliflower bites.

The Devon Crab & Avocado Tostadas were dressed in chipotle mayo, served with pink pickled onions.

I really enjoyed these crispy tostadas. The crab and avocado was fresh. The chipotle mayo added heat without overpowering the dish. The pink pickled onions added sharpness and crunch. Overall a really tasty dish.

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We went out to eat

Our initial idea was to go to the cinema, though there was nothing at the cinema we could watch, so made the decision we would go out to eat at Bella Italia at the Mall. Virtually all the major chains in Weston have closed now, so wanting to ensure that the menu had gluten free options, we decided to head to the Mall. 

Well as we hit the M5 northbound it was chocked full and slow moving, we thought we made a mistake. But eventually it thinned out and we could go faster. We got to Bella Italia just in time.

We had a lovely warm welcome from the staff and they showed us to our table.

We had a good look over the menu. It looked like there was a lot more on there than when I last looked (which was probably last summer).

Though I like starters I usually don’t have a starter, but as others in the family were going for garlic bread, I looked over the possible choices. The calamari would have been an obvious choice for me. So I decided on the Calzonetti ‘Nduj, as I was thinking about pasta for my main course. However a last minute change of thought resulted in me actually ordering the Arancini al Granchio

There are crispy rice balls filled with crab, prawns and fennel with a side of lemon & cracked pepper mayonnaise.

They were very nice, not outstanding, but they were nice. You could taste the crab and the mayonnaise with the crunchy exterior.

For my main course I went with a pasta dish, Salsiccia Mezzaluna.

Fresh mezzaluna pasta filled with Luganica sausage & radiccio, cooked in a sage butter and finished with toasted hazelnuts and a beef dripping pangrattato crumb. 

This just sounded divine and to be honest it was totally delicious. The pasta was al dente, the filling had a nice flavour, I think it could have been stronger, but I loved the sage butter and the toasted hazelnuts and pangrattato crumb added real silkiness and crunch to the dish.

I loved it.

I wasn’t full, so went for a dessert, the raspberry and pistachio semifreddo with white chocolate and marshmallow sauce.

This was nice, but I felt it could do with more pistachio and more sauce. Having said that I really enjoyed it.

As for the rest of the family, my better half went with the  Funghi Crema made with chestnut mushrooms in a porcini, mascarpone & pecorino cheese sauce with fresh mafalde pasta ribbons.

She really enjoyed the dish and it looked great.

My youngest had a gluten free Marghaerita, whilst my son had the gluten free Pepperoni with tomato, mozzarella, salami piccante, red onion, garlic and rocket.

They both enjoyed their pizza.

My son also had the warm gluten free chocolate brownie with white chocolate chunks served with vegan vanilla gelato and a sprinkling of honeycomb.

He finished off the plate of food

This was probably one of the best meals I have ever had at Bella Italia, really enjoyed the experience, the food and the service.

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Some good, some not as good as it could be

The last time I went to Wahaca at their Soho branch was in January this year and I enjoyed the dishes I had.

Though I was less impressed with the steak tacos I had, especially as I had really good steak tacos the week before at Charlotte Street.

Though I had completely forgotten about that when I visited the Soho branch for some lunch last month.

The Soho branch I suspect must get busy at lunchtime with tourists, but as I was eating just after the lunchtime rush, the place was quite empty and quiet. I find that each of the Wahaca branches has their own particular style which makes each of them a unique interesting place to eat.

I ordered three dishes, one of which was tacos with chargrilled steak served with grilled cheese & fresh guacamole

Tacos with chargrilled steak served with grilled cheese & fresh guacamole from

There use to be some really nice grilled steak tacos, I had these quite a few times. There were three soft corn tortillas which came with flash-grilled skirt steak with chipotle & tomatillo salsas with optional grilled cheese (I always avoided the cheese).

The new recipe called The Rib Eye, consists of two larger corn tortillas with chargrilled steak and is served with grilled cheese & fresh guacamole.

You do get more steak and it is very tender compared to the skirt steak they use to do, but it is also more expensive, about three pounds more than the old steak tacos price (60% more expensive).

It’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the tacos, I did, but I felt that the original recipe was really good and this wasn’t much of an improvement and certainly not a 60% improvement. I probably wouldn’t order them again.

My second small plate order was something I had ordered before which was buttermilk chicken flour tacos served crispy fried with pink pickled onions & spiced mayo.

Buttermilk chicken flour tacos served crispy fried with pink pickled onions & spiced mayo

This was again two larger flour tortillas with buttermilk friend chicken. I did think the chicken was slightly over-cooked, but it was crispy and the mayo and onions added flavour and texture.

My final small plate order was new on the menu, crab tostada dressed in chipotle mayo, served with pink pickled onions.

Crab Tostada dressed in chipotle mayo, served with pink pickled onions

You got two crispy tortilla with crab. I really enjoyed these, you could certainly taste the crab and it was a fresh tasty dish.

The only thing that let the meal down was the service, it took some time for my order to be taken and I had ordered some tap water with my meal and that was forgotten about, so I had to ask again. The fact that I had been seated around the corner meant that there wasn’t always an opportunity to get the attention of a member of the waiting staff to either place my order or ask for the water.

Overall the food was great and very tasty.

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Spicy Crab Soup with Indian Spiced Crab Cakes

I went to work in Bristol today. It was our co-location day. I had no formal meetings, this was just a chance for people to be in the office together and chat when and if required.

I was looking for something for lunch and of course today was the Temple Quay Market in Bristol. So walking down from my office to Temple Quay I did reflect on what I was fancying for lunch. There is always a wide choice of offerings there, big dishes, smaller choices and all very tasty.

Looking around the different stalls there was quite a bit of choice, however it was a bit of a no-brainer when I perused the menu at the South Street Kitchen. Alongside their regular crispy squid and chorizo they also had on their menu Spicy Crab Soup with Indian Spiced Crab Cakes

I’ve always liked crab, so this sounded delicious. There was a bit of a long queue for the stall and I hoped that they wouldn’t sell out before I reached the head of the queue.

I placed my order and it arrived, cooked fresh to order. There was a paper cup of crab soup and balanced on top were three smallish crab cakes on a wooden skewer.

Spicy Crab Soup with Indian Spiced Crab Cakes

It was a bit challenging to carry this back to the office, I was hoping that it wouldn’t get too cold too quickly and also that I didn’t spill the soup or lose the crab cakes off the side.

The soup was delicious, great taste of crab and not overly spicy. The crab cakes were crisp on the outside and moist and tasty on the inside, with all that crab flavour coming through.

Delicious.