Eat & Drink

New & Special

Hairy Crab Feast

It's November, and that means the peak of the hairy crab season. Hairy crab, reared in freshwater lakes near Shanghai and Jiangsu, is a delicacy prized for its rich, golden roe. This month, The East Ocean Group, one of the top Chinese restaurant groups in the city, is offering a special hairy crab menu in its two flagship restaurants chains – Victoria City and East Ocean.

We chose Victoria City Restaurant, one of the city's best Cantonese restaurants, famous for its dim sum lunch and seafood, for our hairy crab meal. The crab, weighing 5 to 7 ounces, is traditionally steamed whole to preserve the freshness of the crab meat and roe. Other dishes use de shelled crab meat as their main ingredient.

We chose the Hairy Crab Classic Feast, a 7-course meal priced at$428 per person. You can also choose a 9-course Hairy Crab Royal Feast ($1,888 for 4 persons). Our choice includes the delicious Steamed Pork Dumplings with Crab Meat and Roe (2 pieces) and Garlic Bread Topped with Crab Meat and Roe, which is crispy and tasty. An excellent soup follows – Double-boiled Chicken Soup with Conch and Dried Mushroom (served per person).

Steamed Hairy Crab (2 pieces), the featured course, follows. Eating a hairy crab and getting the most out of it is an art; helpfully, the restaurant provides a cheat sheet. Eating each crab takes a bit of time but that's the enjoyment. Two more dishes follow the crab – Poached Yam and Seasonal Vegetable in Broth and Homemade Udon in Hot and Sour Soup with Minced Pork before dessert which is Glutinous Rice Dumplings in Sweet Ginger Tea.

A similar hairy crab meal is available at East Ocean Restaurant for $358 per person. Either one represents excellent value. Be sure to give this speciality a try while it’s still hairy crab season!

Victoria City Restaurant Shop 501, 5/F, Citic Tower, 5 Tim Mei Avenue, Admiralty, Hong Kong；
2877 2211