To compensate for a lame dinner (all alone by myself) on my actual bday, Lum (housemate) and I decided to plan a get together mainly to tempt our tastebuds on food we haven't had the chance to try yet.
So, the week prior (Lum, his workmates and I were at Gold leaf; our regular 'hang-out' spot) we asked for them to ship in a king crab for the get-together. Apart from the obvious cost implications, it is only really appropriate where there involves more than the usual crowd (2-4 ppl) to tackle this dish.
Weighing in at 10.5 lbs, with its formidable claws and toned 'armour/shell', it looked like a good treat; the restaurant 'captain' recommended it to be served with noodles (with garlic and ginger sauce) , with the crab roe used in hot and spicy soup. Apart from the relatively more significant amounts of crabmeat, I don't think it really justified the cost (would have preferred snow crab instead) It was abit of a disappointment but an experience nonetheless.
Food aside (other dishes include steamed barramundi, oysters, sauteed pigeon with mushrooms, pork ribs in 'wierd' sauce (literal cantonese translation), it was a great time to catch up with my friends, whom I've known from different phases of my life: from uni, dundee, working here at Northern hospital . The consensus was 'stick to mud-crab or snow crab next time'; which is really sound advice, seeing that the King Crab didn't do its charm on our palates. (and part of the claw was not partially raw, which Cicily had the unfortunate pleasure to find out; sorry) The wines that accompanied the dishes were pretty good though, so it wasn't all bad. (Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc and Crawford River Riesling)