Crabtain is a no-fuss, casual, Guangdong restaurant in Wan Chai serving excellent food at very reasonable prices. The chef-owner used to work at the well-known Michelin-starred Cantonese chain Lei Garden. The signature must-order dish is definitely the crab congee, which is fantastic. The deep orange congee is filled with crab roe, a whole crab, and crab broth, resulting in a beautiful, richly flavored congee that’s filled with crab umami.
Crabtain offers English menus (yay!), though it’s hit-or-miss whether the server will speak English. Thankfully, there’s usually at least one person who speaks decent English, and they’ll flag that person over if you really need to communicate.
The interior is comfortable, casual, and pretty simple. It’s not a huge restaurant, but then I’ve never seen it so full that I cannot get a seat.
We’ve come during lunch as well as dinner, and I would highly recommend ordering off the dinner menu if possible. The lunch menu consists of a small assortment of inexpensive lunch specials. They’re not bad, but they don’t know off the restaurant’s cooking skills in the same way as the more interesting dishes on the dinner menu demonstrate.
We ate off the lunch menu one and then decided to stick with the dinner menu instead.
There’s plenty of seafood on the menu, and we’ve ordered many different types of fish.
I will say that I’ve learned that I really don’t like the flavor of river fish, which has a strong, “muddy” undertone. It’s an acquired taste, I think. Many Chinese people have no problems with the river taste, but I had a hard time finishing a stir fried river fish and wood ear stir try we ordered.
Simple garlic stir fried greens (like the pictured hollow-heart vegetables) are fresh, tender, and delicious. The kitchen does a good job firing up fresh vegetables and cooking them properly over a hot wok in a short amount of time. The resulting plate of greens is fragrant and flavorful yet not too greasy.
General Thoughts – Crabtain Wan Chai
Crabtain has a delicious crab congee that is unique and hard to find elsewhere. I think if you have several days to spend in Hong Kong, it’s definitely worth visiting. You’ll also be able to sample a lot of other types of Guangdong seafood, such as typhoon shelter crab, ginger scallion stir fried crab, razor clams steamed with garlic and vermicelli, clams, scallops, and many types of fish. The restaurant has a pretty big menu, and there’s no shortage of meat dishes for those who don’t like seafood.
Prices are quite reasonable and overall I would say the restaurant is an excellent value. The environment is OK. It’s not super lush but it’s clean, efficient, and comfortable.
All in all, if you’re a crab lover, this is a great place to try crab prepared in a more unique way.
Crabtain Wan Chai
G/F, Ming Fung Building
138 Wan Chai Road,
Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island
Hours: Monday – Sunday 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
This is the twenty-third post in the updated #50Postsin50Days – Take 2 Challenge. Other posts in this series will be added to the bottom of the original post.
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