Full of Crab serves Sri Lankan, King and Snow crabs that are imported daily and killed only upon order. Above: Captain's Choice Combo | S$98/+ or Market Price
Photos by Chong Yap of Make Your Calories Count
Taking a stroll down East Coast Road, one would certainly be charmed by the abundance and diversity of food in the area. Ranging from your local delights such as chicken rice at Five Star Hainanese Chicken Rice to Mexican treats at Lower East Side Taqueria, there is surely something to please one's palate.
Located just next door to Five Star Hainanese Chicken Rice and opposite Holy Family Church, Full of Crab (FOC) is an American styled restaurant that promises to bring the original Cajun influence to Singapore. The name of the eatery spells the emphasis of crab as a key dish at FOC and this is no wonder with its offering of Sri Lankan crab, King and Snow Crabs! Taking great pride in their food, special care is taken to ensure that all crabs are killed only upon order. The Sri Lankan crabs are imported into Singapore on a daily basis just to serve the needs for the day. For those particular with their crabs, you would agree that if the crabs were left for a couple of days, the meat would be mashy when cooked and tastes dull. In order to ensure freshness and quality of the crabs, FOC strictly serves live crabs, not even the dying ones which tend to release a stench.
Recommended as one of the popular combos on the menu, the Captain's Choice is fit to feed up to two pax. It comprises a 2-pound (or roughly equivalent to 1kg) Sri Lankan Crab and about a pound (around 500gm) worth of shrimps. With an add-on choice of either the corn or baby potatoes, the bag full of goodies guarantees to fill your stomachs.
There is also a board in the middle of the restaurant that has the updated market prices for the various types of seafood. We however understood from the owner that the prices are quite consistent, in fact, he had lowered it to make it more appealing to the price conscious!
After choosing your catch, there are three flavours to choose from - the classic Cajun, Garlic Butter or house special of Fully Loaded. We were recommended the Fully Loaded, which is essentially a blend of Cajun and Garlic Butter. Thereafter, diners get to choose the spice level of the sauce and after having the heads-up from the friendly lady who took our orders, we settled for the medium level, which promises to make us break into a perspiration.
In terms of flavours, it won us over completely with the bold spicy flavours well enhanced by the garlic butter after-taste. We particularly enjoyed the coarseness of the sauce from the garlic and special blend of spices which went well with the firm texture of the Sri Lankan crabs. The naturally sweet flesh of the crabs and the prawns certainly defined the freshness of seafood and how it should be.
There are also a couple of other add-ons such as broccoli, button mushrooms which you can pair with your combo at a small charge of no more than S$4. What we highly recommend is the warm baguette that would absorb the sauces readily so that you can enjoy the gorgeous flavours in the sauce.
