Crustacean

05/06/2008 Posted by Landshark3888

I first experienced Crusaceans and their Garlic Roasted Dungeness crab w/garlic Asian noodles while entertaining a Client from Hawaii. This being my first time at the restaurant, I was hesitant, but my associate so strongly recomended the dish, I knew it must be good. It was EXCELLENT! Accompanied with a bottle of Gwerstermeiner to cleanse your palate between bites, in combination of eating with your hands as you break the cracked crab, the experience is both satisfying and filling. Finish your meal with the Mango Cheesecake and an Espresso...well, I could die now, but then I would miss my next visit to my FAV restaurant. I no longer care to go to Fisherman's Wharf, or anywhere else in the Bay, as long as I can go to Crustaceans. I have since moved to Arizona, but I still fly to The City every year for my birthday, to entertain Clients, or to meet friends over a Garlic Roasted Crab and Garlic noodles. Is it time for another birthday yet??? Don't let the address/neighborhood keep you away. Valet parking is great and makes for an easy 'drop off the car and dine' experience. Are we there?

03/09/2008 Posted by damian_esq

I understand that Crustacean did the upscale Vietnamese seafood thing first, but I don't know if they're still doing it best. With places like PPQ, Ana Mandara, Le Cheval, Slanted Door, The House, and Straits Cafe offering similar dishes at lower prices, Crustacean is now just one of many. With all that having been said, I loved the food and thought the service was good. The wine was good and not too overpriced. Our appetizers were just okay, the fried starters were very ordinary, but the vietnamese seafood salad was really good. For entrees we had a crab, shaking beef and sea bass. All were delicious, fresh and interesting. The mango cheesecake was a great way to end our meal.

Pros: Fresh, Tasty Seafood with Bold Flavors

Cons: Pricey, Parking is a Headache, Kind of Noisy

01/06/2008 Posted by waverly31

We ordered the roast crab and the garlic noodles and it was sooooo delicious. We also ordered the mango cheesecake and the fried bananas and it was very delicious as well. We also had a very excellent server named Steven M. who was very helpful and attentive. I totally recommend going to Crustaceans.

Pros: food was excellent

11/17/2007 Posted by naotake

I have been going here for more then 6 years now. I still remember I was in shock when I had the oven roasted crab and garlic noodles for the first time because it was SO GOOD! It is great to bring out-of-towners here because the performance of the dish is good, too. Seeing a whole dungenous crab excites many tourists, especially my Japanese friends and family. I actually noticed there are a lot of Japanese people dining here. ( I personally recommend pouring some of the oven roasted crab oil onto the garlic noodle. It is great!) The only problem is the location. It isn't at the best part of town, and out of the window, you see homeless people walking around. But still, for a SF dinner, it is a great place!

Pros: Don't go home without eating the dungenous crab and garlic noodles

Cons: Hard to find parking in this not-so-good neigbour

10/31/2007 Posted by lily707

We enjoyed every dish we ordered and the service was good. Yes, it is little too pricey to a degree, but the food is so wonderful and tasty. Also the interior of the restaurant is pretty well done, Crustacean is one of our favorite Asian restaurants for special occasions. In addition, the interior of the restaurant is pretty well done; I would recommend it to all my fiends!

Pros: Food

Cons: Pricey

09/10/2007 Posted by gj330610

All thanks to our horrible Server we will not return to this restaurant (and we used to love this place). Our Server barely spoke to us when he arrived at the table. ...

07/13/2007 Posted by jbenenati

Very good! Server was well informed and knew the menu very well. The crab puffs were very very good and the carpaccio was excellent as well. If you order the crab - which as it appeared everyone but us did - i'd recommend a side of the noodles. They come with the tiger prawns - which are great - too - but the noddles are fantastic. The fried rice was extremely tasty. The Crab cake was great. Only negative on this restaurant is it's locaiton. It was tempting to just walk right by when we arrived.. It was worth the risk!

Pros: crab and noodles +++ service

Cons: location

06/06/2007 Posted by srichter1

I have been to Crustacean numerous times over the last 10 yrs. It never fails to impress out of town guests and placate my "Roasted Garlic Crab and Garlic Noodle" fix. The service is impeccable and the prices are fair. The remodel a few years back did much to improve the ambience. The wine list is great and the servers excel in pairing appropriate wines with the garlic flavors. When you look around the restaurant you will notice that nearly everyone, especially the locals, have ordered the garlic noodles and the roasted garlic crab. Follow their lead. These are two of the best dishes in San Francisco cuisine and the main, if not the only, reason foodies dine here. The rest of the menu, does leave a lot to be desired, lacks consistency and can fail to impress. I assure any new patrons considering Crustacean that anyone writing a mediocre review either doesn't like crab in general or missed one of these items. The bottom line: If you like garlic and you like crab, you will love Crustacean! Guaranteed.

11/04/2006 Posted by msnicole

I love this place...the garlic noodles are the best and the small plates are great too. The service is by far the best I've had so far and the ambience is great for romantic dates or family dinners. the short ribs are definitely recommended and don't forget the mango cheesecake for dessert!

Pros: The portions are fairly large, good service, variety

Cons: not much parking

04/29/2006 Posted by thomasoliver

This is one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had in San Francisco. I've been going to restaurants here for only for years, but I'm from New York, and I expect that when the attitude sucks (which it shouldn't) then at least the food shold be good. But, here, the hostess was awful, the server was awful, the manager, when I asked for him (because of the truly awful service--something I'd never done before) was an obnoxious jerk. Please, avoid at all costs.

Pros: none

Cons: service, food, price

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