I Finally Went To That Crab Place

Update : Crab Factory has closed down.

I have always been curious about Crab Factory and Shell Out where your seafood is cooked and then poured onto the table. I am not a seafood fan, I am more of a chicken person but I wanted that experience at least once.

One evening, my brother and I ventured to Crab Factory@SS 2 for our first ever seafood-poured on the table-eat like a caveman-experience.

The prices here are not cheap, that's for sure. Since it was our first time, we opted for the value meal - the Crab Lover Shiok.

For the sauce, we picked the Signature Southern Bang (Mild).

We were supplied with those things that look like a hammer and pliers. Goodness, I don't know what they are called. We were also given plastic gloves and plastic bibs. The table was lined with a large piece of waxed paper.

And then the food came in a big plastic bag and the server poured the whole lot onto the table.

I quickly snapped photos before my hands got dirty. This set came with a bowl of Shallot Rice and Fried Mantao.

We put on our gloves.

And bibs. And the eating began.

Now, I dislike getting my hands dirty and I never liked eating crabs because you have to do a whole lot of pounding and cracking to get at the flesh. But this is the way to do it and I was game.

The sauce, though we opted for "mild", was actually quite hot. So it was a good thing that we were conservative. 

The shallot rice was nothing special. It was plain and we could barely taste the shallots.

But the mantao, that we love. It was nice and crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy inside. 

After a while, my brother decided that bare hands are better for maximum enjoyment. Only wimps wear gloves. Well, I kept mine on.

The food was all right for me, no complaints, just that seafood is not quite my thing. But I am happy for the experience. I think my brother enjoyed the food much more that I did. 

What a mess! Actually if you discount the shells, there wasn't really much meat and I think one person (big eater) could easily demolish this set which is meant for 2-3 persons. Maybe without the big bowl of rice, which we ate very little.

As a matter of fact, a little later in the evening, I was peckish and ate 4 bananas hah..hah...hah...

At this price, I think I would prefer to go for steak. But still, I am glad that now I know what Crab Factory (and perhaps Shell Out) is all about.