Tag: crab

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Crab Spaghetti

Crab Spaghetti

Had spaghetti with crab for my tea. I had picked up some dressed crab from Aldi and had been thinking about using it. My original plan was to have a crab salad, but in the end, I thought I would have a crab pasta dish.

I looked over a few recipes and, in the end, I did the following, mainly based on what I had in the fridge. I cooked some spaghetti and whilst that was cooking in a large frying pan, I added some olive oil and some finely chopped red onion. When the red onion was cooked, I then added half a glass of white wine. Drinking the rest of the glass I mixed the onion, oil and wine. I then removed the pan from the heat and added the brown crab meat which I stirred into the contents of the pan. Once the pasta was cooked, I put the sauce back on the heat, I drained the spaghetti and added it to the pan and ensured the spaghetti was fully coated with the sauce. I removed the pan from the heat and added the white crab meat. I added freshly chopped parsley and seasoned with black pepper, upon tasting I also added some salt.

Now I was quite impressed with myself on the look of the dish, however I was less impressed with the taste. The pasta was great, but the crab sauce was underwhelming and a little too grainy for me. Glad I cooked it, but not sure I would cook it again.

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M&S Collection Honduran Prawn & Crab Anglotti

The M&S at Cribbs Causeway was recently revamped, the food hall was refreshed and expanded. It has changed over the years, it use to have a cafe in the middle which disappeared.

On a recent visit to get some stir fry veg I had a look around and saw some fresh pasta from their collection range on sale, which I hadn’t see in my local M&S Food Hall.

One pack I picked up was the Beef Shin & Chianti Tortelloni, which I enjoyed. I also picked up the Honduran Prawn & Crab Anglotti. Described as fresh egg pasta parcels filled with prawn and crab in a cream, langoustine stock and brandy sauce.

M&S Collection Honduran Prawn & Crab Anglotti

Part of me thought, £6.50 for a pack of fresh pasta, that’s a bit pricey, but then thought, well the price of a steak is more than that.

It was quick and easy to cook. I dressed it with a little olive oil and some parmesan cheese.

Sometimes when I have bought crab filled pasta they haven’t really had that intense crab flavour I was hoping for. These however did have a really nice crab and prawn flavour.

I liked these, not sure I liked them enough to buy them again though.

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Crab Ravioli

Did think about going out to the fish restaurant in Ealing but decided in the end to go down to the  Drayton Court Hotel restaurant. I had some crab ravioli and a pizza.

I really liked the sound of the Crab Ravioli on the specials menu, it said it would come with some seafood foam…

Crab Ravioli

The dish was not quite what I expected. The ravioli was nice, but the tomato based sauce was overpowering. I did enjoy the addition of the samphire though. Overall not a dish that I would order again, a lost opportunity there.

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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.