MANILA, Philippines - Crabs for your afternoon snack? Well, more appropriately, you can call it a late lunch. At Red Crab Café, there is no right or wrong time to enjoy your favorite crustacean, since it’s there for you to enjoy anytime. You might be a student on your way home after your last class in the afternoon, or a sales executive meeting a prospective client. You might be working in a call center and just out from your graveyard shift, or an early-afternoon shopper coming in from the train station.
Whatever brings you to the mall, you feel your legs ache, your toes pinch, your tummy grumble, and so you find yourself sitting here, to give yourself a break.
The Red Crab Café is conveniently located on Level 1 of the Gateway Mall that links the LRT station to the Araneta Coliseum at the Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City. The café is right next to the mall’s “The Oasis,” an open area where your meal might also be served in a cool, garden setting. The café itself is like a refreshing oasis, with its sea-inspired décor of starfishes and lifesavers, steering wheels and oars, and images of sailboats and lighthouses.
If there is one thing that propels Raymond Magdaluyo, the driving force behind the Red Crab Group of restaurants, it must be his natural ability to keep a steady finger on the pulse of his market. He knows what will put a smile on your face after a satisfying meal. Of course, at the Red Crab Café, you don’t just get crabs, although that may be its main attraction.
For appetizer, we had Oysters Rockefeller, an exquisite way to start.
The sinigang salmon belly sa miso soup had just the right sour note to open our taste buds and prepare us for more dishes that followed. We also enjoyed the sinigang na maya-maya fish head, this time with sampaloc as the souring agent.
The Seafood Feast is good for two, three or even more hearty eaters. We were served two kinds, the Frito Mismo! and Grilled Seafood Fiesta Platter. For the Frito Mismo!, fried seafood such as shrimps and calamares are served with Vigan longganisa or chorizo annatto rice. I particularly liked the Grilled Seafood Fiesta Platter, which has mixed grilled seafood such as shrimps, tilapia, and tuna panga (jaw), served with salted fish fried rice.
“The seafood were marinated in barbecue house sauce then cooked on a griddle, which accounts for its tasty flavor. The salted fish was first fried, then flaked and mixed with the fried rice,” chef Nel Badere, group executive sous chef, explains.
“Our dishes are really meant for sharing, for families or barkadas eating out,” Elaine M. Botabara, Red Crab operations director, notes.
There is an ongoing promo, the Crabs Jumbo Platter with a free pitcher of soda or iced tea. From eight choices, we had a sampling of the Singaporean chili crab, the Typhoon Shelter crab, and the ever-popular crab Maritess. All good! What more can I say? The Singaporean chili crab naturally had chili as its distinct feature; the Typhoon Shelter crab had lots of garlic and was served on a bed of egg noodles but had no chili, while the crab Maritess was cooked with olive oil, chili, and lots of garlic. The common denominator? Yummy crabs!
Of course, we cannot end this piece without mentioning the “café” part of the Red Crab Café. What is a good meal without a sweet dessert and good coffee as the ending, anyway? The old-fashioned chocolate cake, which is super-moist, is an all-time favorite, pastry chef Rowiely Fernandez said. I particularly liked the carrot walnut cake. Also worth trying are the cheesecakes: blueberry, strawberry, Oreo, and key lime. Among the popular pastries are the sylvannas, cream puffs, and brownies.
You can have your caffeine fix either cold or hot. Among the Iced Sensations, popular are the coffee jelly frost, the strawberry choco frost, and the crème caramel frost. If you like it hot, there are the familiar cappuccino, machiatto, Americano, good old reliable brewed coffee, or espresso, my personal choice.
But it might be that all you really want is a simple snack. Red Crab Café also offers a selection of light salads such as classic Caesar salad and crabstick salad, as well as subs (sandwiches) such as ham and cheese; quesong puti and tomato pesto; and bangus belly sardines with garlic mayo. It’s all there, at Red Crab Café.
* * *
Red Crab Café is located on Level 1, Gateway Mall, Araneta Center, Quezon City; tel. no. 709-3663.