Walking into Norfolk was a confusing task. From the corner entry, you are first greeted by a dingy pub scene. Nothing but a bar and stools with tables. As you venture further in, this is a more welcoming, hip and young vibe of Norfolk. It has nice music playing, a garden area at the back and places to eat and drink and just chill.
You then venture upstairs to House of Crabs. It had a very nautical theme about it. Boats, netting, sea-related posters... We were there early... as usual. We were seated promptly and offered some water. I went to use the bathroom to wash up and was shocked it had a unisex bathroom.
The table had a box of spicy popcorn to nibble on while we waited. I didn't even bother... my wife tried some and insisted I try.... I was addicted after the first handful. We smashed the box before the rest our party arrived.
As the night grew old, the crowds grew bigger. It was a Wednesday night and the place was happening... luckily my sister booked.
When everyone finally arrived, we all decided what to order and I was pretty happy with our choices. The dim lighting in the room made most of my shots horrible... that and my eagerness to eat and I was holding everyone up trying to get shots of the food...
The one annoying thing was us ordering a jug of red wine sangria... but they served us red wine. We already drank it before we realise hmmm this isn't sangria. She looked like she hated her job and despite being American (who seem to be known for good service) she did not have the hospitality to match.... and we gave a tip to match that...
So we started off with Jalapeño Poppers with Monterey Jack Cheese... these had an amazing kick and paired perfectly with the cheese dip. Most people on the table found it too hot... but I loved it!
Also ordered the Lobster Fries drenched in lobster gravy, bacon and corn. This was very so-so for me. The fries were fries and the sauce wasn't anything to write home about. Though everyone seemed to have loved it...
Also had the Popcorn Balmain Bugs with Old Bay Mayo... I found these were my least favourite... despite how cool it sounded. The flavours were mild, the sauce made the dish but you could have easily substituted it with calamari or what not and the dish would have been about par...
After the starters, we were excited for the mains. The reviews online for this place was awfully low which kept our expectations the same.
For mains we tried the Buttermilk Fried Chicken on a plate (you can order it in a burger). My wife and mum both seem to love the watermelon on the plate... says a lot about the dish. The chicken was tender but yet again... nothing special.
We also tried the Babyback Pork Ribs with Bourbon and Maple Glaze... Wow! the glaze is so thick. It was amazing. It's inspired me to attempt something this rich... It was a very small portion... enough for a rib per person (we were a party of 6 that night).
The main reason we came was for the crab. We ordered 2 kg of Snow Crab soaked in creole butter. It came in 4 bags of 500g. It was great to just chuck the crab on the table and dig in. The sauce was fantastic and the toughest crab critic on the table (my mum), was blown away at how good it was. It was such a messy meal, not a place for first dates as we all agreed, but it was fun to get our crab on. They supply you with all the crab cracking tools you need.. and also gloves as well... which we all didn't notice ><
A nice touch at the end of the meal was the napkin growing in water. The napkin comes in a small pill shape and expands as it absorbs the water being poured into the plate. My dad thought it was marshmallows or some sort of dessert. Secretly... so did I....
For dessert, we headed down to Norfolk and got their Deep Fried Banana Taco with Peanut Butter Ice-cream, Ice Magic, Peanuts, 100s and 1000s and Fried Corn Taco. Wow! What a way to ruin the night. This was horrible. It was so bad i had to polish off practically two tacos myself because no-one wanted to eat any further. The peanut butter ice-cream was the highlight for me. The fried taco shell tasted so stale and was chewy and just very unpleasant. Even the fried banana was very blah.
If you're keen to try House of Crabs, I don't think you'd be disappointed by the quality... Value for money might be the reason why it got such low ratings... the meal set us back around $310 with dessert and drinks.
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