Crustasia: Truly Asia, truly yummy

MANILA, Philippines - Today, I’m on a seafood diet. Oh, pardon me for that slip of the tongue. What I really mean to say is I’m on a see-food diet. And to satisfy my gargantuan cravings for seafood — and good food — without breaking the bank or ruining my on-again, off-again diet, I can’t think of a better place than Crustasia Asian Bistro at Edsa Shangri-La Mall.

To begin with, how does som tam sound to you? That’s Thai for shrimp papaya salad, a zesty bowl of big fat chilled shrimps, green papaya, juicy cherry tomatoes, string beans, toasted peanuts with a drizzle of chili lime dressing.

Ever heard of Vietnamese sinigang? It’s a stirring blend of prawns in tamarind lemon grass broth, pineapple, and sinigang vegetables. Hail, the prawn queen!

Shrimply good: Shrimp papaya salad with chili lime dressing, P165

The authentic Indonesian satay is a mainstay and an all-time favorite at Crustasia. This ultimate all-meat treat (Javanese marinated skewers of chicken, beef, pork) goes with the indispensable peanut sauce, ABC Kecap Manis (Indonesian thick soy sauce sweetened with palm sugar), fried shallots, and cucumber salad.

Another all-time fave is the Bangkok bbq ribs that will thrill you to the bones with its truly tender grilled beef ribs, generously brushed with massaman dry rub and sweet soy glaze.

Certainly a great meating place, Crustasia’s also got its Hunan cumin ribs. The deep-fried pork spareribs with toasted cumin and chilis are a great favorite of those who want to rib it up.

Or how about General Tso’s Chicken? Take a bite of history with General Tso’s time-cherished chicken recipe — sweet & spicy chicken tenders with red peppers, ginger, and sherry.

Surely, Crustasia brings to your table some of the best authentic culinary offerings from all over Asia in one snugly warm and comfy resto. How authentic? For its Thai food, it’s got a Thai chef, a Chinese chef for its Szechuan cuisine, and an Indonesian chef for its Indonesian specialties, etc.

Rib it up: Massaman beef curry consists of slow-braised beef short ribs with Thai red curry, coconut milk, cinnamon, and anise, P425

But of course, among the best of Crustasia’s bestsellers are the crabs! For this lunch, we grab a hefty platter of crabs glazed with Thai sriracha chili sauce to perk up our lethargic taste buds.

Fact is, if you feel crabby, literally speaking, this is the place to be. At Crustasia, crab lovers like you and me are spoiled for choice. It’s got Thai egg curry crabs, Crab Singapura, black pepper crabs, typhoon shelter crabs, steamed crabs, Szechuan crabs, Crab Maritess, and four new crab dishes — salted egg crabs, coconut laksa crabs, butter and sweet crabs and, of course, the Thai sriracha chili crabs.

And to enjoy your crabs to the max, you can order the Szechuan crab, black pepper crab, steamed crab, Thai egg curry, and Crab Maritess by the bucket with one side dish of your choice (like maybe some garlic egg noodles, fried golden cuapaos, warm roti canai or wild pineapple chorizo rice).

Crustasia is big on lobsters, too — think laksa lobster or spicy lobster in garlic butter.

All-meat treat: Authentic Indonesian satay, P625/16 pieces

Probably the secret to Crustasia’s hot success is that it takes its seafood very seriously. “We source our crabs, prawns, lobsters, oysters, etc. from all over,” says Raymund Magdaluyo, the indefatigable owner of the Red Crab Group of Restaurants. “We try to be faithful when it comes to the spices and herbs that we use, and there are certain pastes that we still make. And of course, we don’t touch endangered marine life or product like the mameng fish and shark’s fin; we stick to the sustainable sources.”

Crustasia’s mission is to popularize crab dining in a chicken-eating nation. “Crab dining is done if you want to reward yourself,” Raymund asserts. “Imagine the work that goes into bringing these crabs to you. A kilo of crabs takes nine months to fatten, that is, assuming you have good weather. It takes eight to 10 hours to bring the crabs from farm to market. When they arrive, they have just a week to live. So I tell my staff, ‘Kailangan kausapin nyo yan, kantahan, para di mamatay.’”

A truly delicious partnership: The Red Crab Group of Restaurants ties up with Citi Dining Privileges. In photo are Lynden Catapang, Citibank assistant vice president; Roy Villareal, Citibank vice president; Raymund Magdaluyo, owner, Red Crab Group of Restaurants; Leo Vergara, marketing head, Red Crab Group of Restaurants; Mellany Montemayor, Citibank program manager.

This bespectacled restaurateur, who’s a dead ringer for Ninoy Aquino, certainly believes that the Filipino is worth dining for. He says with a hint of pride, “Crustasia is a homegrown resto and our goal every year is to come up with bestsellers to defeat former bestsellers. We want to be a place where you can visit more frequently so we’ve introduced stuff for different occasions.”

Now going into its eighth year, Crustasia gets even bigger and better by tying up with the Citibank Dining Privileges.

“We’re renovating and updating our menu, and we’re happy to partner with Citibank because it pushes Filipino dining,” enthuses Raymund.

It’s a partnership made in food heaven. “It’s a win-win partnership inspired by the fact that Filipinos love seafood,” declares Roy Villareal, Citibank vice president/head of Decision Management and eBusiness Global Consumer Group. “We can drive traffic to restaurants because we have the infrastructure. Of course, for our customers, it’s not just a bandwagon. By using their Citibank credit card, they earn rewards, rebates, and mileage which does not expire. The card also gives discounts. And then there’s the best deal guarantee with our partner restaurants here and abroad that if our cardholders find a better deal offered by another credit card company in a restaurant, we will reimburse them for the difference.”

The best credit card to have and to hold, Citibank offers the best dining privileges in town. “We have tied up with big restaurant chains with a lot of network, thus offering different dining experiences for our cardholders. We make sure the value of the card increases all the time.”

A slice of Asia: Crustasia brings the best authentic culinary offerings from all over Asia. Expect bigger and better things with the renovated Crustasia in Edsa Shangri-La Mall. Photos by WALTER BOLLOZOS

From now until Dec. 31, Citibank cardholders can enjoy assorted freebies/discounts at their favorite Red Crab Group of Restaurants. Like a free baked New Zealand mussels with mangoes and shallots for a minimum bill of P1,000 at Crustasia. Or a free all-meat sampler at John Bamboo (including the Nuvali, Santa Rosa, Laguna branch) for a minimum bill of P1,500. Or a free appetizer for a minimum bill of P1,000 in all 10 branches of Blackbeard’s Seafood Island. Such cool deals, don’t you think?

Now, you know why more and more people are getting crabby in the Citi.