Under Bridge Spicy Crab

Nous nous trouvons dans le quartier de Wan Chai qui le soir se trouve être plutôt populaire et animé, réputé pour sa vie nocturne et rendu célèbre par le film dans les années 60 appelé «Suzie Wong «. Enseignes, lumières un peu surréalistes, l’endroit à un certain charme de nuit.
Ce soir une table choisie par un expatrié qui lors de son arrivée habitait non loin de là et qui en avait fait son lieu préféré pour fréquemment dîner. Le genre d’établissement qui né se distingue pas vraiment dans des rues plutôt traditionnelles. Devanture avec on né sait pourquoi une série de photos qui se pourrait être la clientèle de passage, des menus sur des panneaux avec seulement des sinogrammes, une fenêtre à travers de laquelle l’on voit des canards laqués ainsi que des pièces de porcs caramélisées pendre.
L’intérieur de «Under Bridge Spicy Crab «est plutôt agréable car né semble pas avoir changé depuis des décennies. Un décor très chinois, sans concession où l’on comprend immédiatement que le focus de l’établissement est l’assiette et non rendre l’endroit encore plus agréable au vu du côté un peu défraichis du tout. Une clientèle plutôt locale et qui semble venue principalement apprécier comme le nom de l’établissement l’indique, le crabe.
Le service est un peu cavalier et la commande se passé un peu étrangement avec un serveur qui semble un peu pousser à la consommation. Quelques Tsing Tao accompagnera ce repas avec lesquelles quelques cacahouètes nous seront amenées à table.
Nous prendrons un morceau d’oie rôtie ou plutôt laquée qui s’est avéré être un peu fade et trop grasse. Certes l’oie n’est pas une volaille maigre mais ici elle semble être plutôt très enrobée.
En tant que plongeur, un peu étrange de choisir ces crevettes «mantis «qui se trouvent à la carte et que l’on voit souvent sous l’eau en Asie. Plutôt de grande taille et ici frites avec ail, sel et piment. La texture est semblable à d’autre crevettes et question saveur de toute manière il est toujours un peu difficile d’apprécier le produit dans ce type de cuisine ou l’on utilise beaucoup d’ail. Le plat est très satisfaisant.
Sans hésitation nous prendrons le plat «signature «qui est le crabe épicé «sous le pont «. A noter que le nom de ce plat et de l’établissement vient du fait qu’à une centaine de mètres dans cette rue se trouve un axe routier en hauteur. Un crabe que l’on peut choisir avec divers niveaux d’épices ou plutôt de piment. Soyez-​sur de savoir quel est le prix car celui-​ci est au poids et vous pourriez avoir quelques surprises sur l’addition finale. Recouvert également d’ail dans des quantités impressionnante, le crabe est bon et irréprochable.
Le riz frit est correct mais sans plus.
Les nouilles sautées sont bonnes mais n’ont rien d’exceptionnel non plus.
Le mélange de légumes sautés est plutôt classique mais quelconque avec un mélange de champignons, pousse de soja et une sauce plutôt claire.
Les épinards d’eau au wok, avec tofu et piments sont pour moi un peu trop «mouillés «et surcuits.
Une table certes authentique avec son côté un peu roublard mais c’est ce qui peut faire son charme. Le crabe et crevettes sont préparés comme on peut l’espérer de cette cuisine plutôt classique mais le reste est un peu quelconque. Cependant cela reste toujours un lieu recommandable à Wan Chai.

More of a 3.5 but kind of lost in translation. We ordered a medium sized crab ($ 780 HKD). Was forewarned about the tea and peanuts charge. I told her we didn’t want it but she said something I didn’t understand and didn’t argue with her. We ended being charged for it anyway but that’s a moot point.
The crab itself if cooked well with the garlic as the star. It’s spicy, hot, and crunchy all at the same time. Is it worth the price we paid for, probably not but an overall good dish I’ll try to hunt for in the states to get my craving. It’s super messy so dig in!

We were only in Hong Kong for a couple days on a layover.
One of the must eat things on our list was crab. We didn’t have a plan on where to go. We checked out the reviews and decided to come here.
A note about service, and stuff on the table. There are «rules» and a pattern to the service. As long as your plan is to quickly order, eat, and go the service is great. The stuff on the table may not be free. This a true for other places in Hong Kong. If you don’t want tea or peanuts you’ll need to tell them. They will take it off the table (otherwise you’ll be charged).
We got the crab dish everyone comes for and mantis shrimp (we’ve never tried that before). The mantis shrimp looked a little hardcore, but it was really good.
Overall I’d go to this place again.

Went there for my wedding anniversary, it taste great! But the customer service could be improved.

Really good place for seafood lover, if you actually a big fan of Hongkong local cooking style. The signature crab dish is absolutely delicious, with several cooking style you can pick. And also the giant shrimp and different kind of shellfish. You’ll love it if you are a seafood monster! Also open till really late. Good place to go if you feel hungry at midnight.

Review continued…
We were immediately sat down by our hostess, a youngish Chinese woman wearing a gold Cheong Sam dress as I recall. Our waiter was a middle aged Cantonese man in his 40’s, slim, and slightly balding. No greeting came out from him. He didn’t say much and just handed us our menus. Since my Cantonese language skills aren’t up to par with my cousin Hoi’s, he promptly asked «Lee-​dee haai deem mai ah?» translating to «how are these crabs purchased?» In reference to scale weight made to order. We had three choices of crabs: small, medium, and large and I recall the large crabs were priced at $ 110USD each and $ 88 USD each for the medium crabs. I don’t mess with smalls, ya heard?
«$ 110 bucks for one crab? Dat’s hella expensive!» was the first sentence that muttered out immediately.
None the less, I reminded myself of the heaping amounts of fried garlic and prompted told our waiter «Ma sieng, luo yat gaw gzui dai jek haai tong mai yat gaw jong ma geh», translated to «Hurry up and get met one large crab and one medium.» We ordered them to cooked together typhoon style. We added 3 large «Jew Yim Lai New Haa» AKA Salt n Pepper Pissing Shrimp priced at $ 35 USD each. We also ordered a specialty seafood fried rice, 6 large steamed razor clams with garlic on a clear noodle bedding, and a vegetable dish of stir fried garlic «dao mew» AKA pea vines. As we sat and waited for our order I observed the patrons around us and was not surprised to see mostly tourist like ourselves. The table to my right were PRC folks, judging by their strong Rrrr’s in their spoken Mandarin I’m assuming they’re Northern Chinese. The table to my left was Caucasian folks that spoke some type of European language I could not decipher. Out of the entire place the only folks speaking pure English were us three Asian faced folks. Shocker, huh?
Alas, our two main awaited dishes arrive:
Typhoon Shelter Crab: Two crabs, one large and one medium Mud Crab. They were deep fried to perfection and buried with heaping amounts of crispy fried garlic bits, scallions, chili peppers, and fermented soy bean. The fumes alone cleared my sinuses. Oh Heavenly Father, strike me like the Ecstasy of St. Teresa. This was a total orgasmic experience, comparable to the feeling of copulating with an attractive woman. The best part were the claws. So massive, so meaty, the texture was moist, light and very mild but still flavorful in it’s own crustaceous right. I could tell that these were flown from Australia judging by my tongues senses. And my tongue knows a lot of senses. Normally, deep fried crab takes away the crabs juices and flavor giving you a dried product but we went in on a good day and our chef was able to perfect the crabs without drying out it’s flesh in the hot oil. One hint of advice, mix the garlic with the crab meat, it’s the perfect blend! And save the garlic bits for your rice. Mmm Mmm… Since my cousin Hoi isn’t a big crab fan, Kevin and ran the train through this dish and devoured our two delicious crabs and left about 10% of the garlic on the plate.
Salt and Pepper Pissing Shrimp: Three large 12−13″ specimens, these are the barred white/​black types, deep dried and again, covered with heaping amounts of garlic. They were left whole with a pair of scissors to dissect them. I am an expert at peeling pissing shrimp as I eat this dish during every dinner when I am in Cantonese cities. I prefer them fried with salt n pepper n garlic but «chek sook» AKA blanched is also very good. The blanched method allows the one to enjoy the sweetness of its flesh more compared to hot frying. Our shrimp was deep fried to perfection with the meat faintly reminding me of crab and lobster, but definitely on it’s own level. So good, so fine, oh you were so beautiful.
Overall our journey to Under Bridge Typhoon Crab was an excellent experience. Customer service was almost non-​existent but hey, this isn’t a high end eatery. If you want service you need to yell and demand, that’s how us Chinese folks get things done. Totally worth the trip and if you can cough up the dough it is truly worth going. I’ve had typhoon style crab at various restaurants and Dai Pai Dong’s in HK but Under Bridge Spicy Crab is just way better. This place is not cheap either; we spent nearly $ 400 USD for just us three for 2 crabs, 3 shrimp, some clams and two other dishes plus drinks.
Oh Mr. Bourdain, how I envy you. Our experience was unforgettable but you actually had the chance to have typhoon crab in a typhoon shelter on a Tanka style boat. I must thank you for sparking my interest in trying typhoon crab again in Hong Kong.

Spicy crab is delicious and messy! This typhoon shelter style crab is deep fried and then cooked with secret typhoon style sauce and ingredients, including garlic, chilis and corn meal. The serving is large. You’ll need a lot of napkins!
This isn’t a fancy restaurant, the kitchen is a couple of doors down, but it’s great!