It’s a new year and look for The Holy Crab, a Louisiana-inspired seafood restaurant in the scene since 2014. Known for serving hard-to-get seafood specialties and laying them down on the table for diners to ‘get down and dirty’, the Wolter Monginsidi establishment is back after a break to set in motion a new direction that embraces a more refined, upscale concept.
Longtime customers who recognised the seafood house for its casual atmosphere may have been caught off guard by the 360 makeover, in which the previous red-tinted walls illustrated with steps on how to de-shell a crab, are traded for a more elegant setup. The presence of a cocktail bar and each table being afforded a wine glass also hints at the kind of direction The Holy Crab is going for.
This leads us to updates on the menu, curated to include more single-course dishes. Some Asian influences are noted too, particularly in starters like the Hokkaido Scallop Soup which features a pan-seared scallop dunked in canary-tinted sweet roasted corn soup. Those who may not want to go through the fuss of breaking down a crab can also opt for an easier but equally fulfilling dish in the Crab Hot Stone Rice, mixing crab meat into the overnight rice and made flavourful with chilli oil.
The main star, however, is still their premium crustaceans. Flown once a week from North America, the Alaska-hailed King Crab sits alongside local selections of mud crab and lobsters, ready to be picked apart and munched with signature sauces of cajun, garlic pepper and caramelised onion. Meanwhile, their signature live Canadian Dungeness Crab arrives braised in a bath of roasted garlic seasonings, an easy pair for their sides of seasoned fries and pasta.
While one might understandably grief at the departure of a more casual dining experience, The Holy Crab makes it up with the ‘Nostalgic Table’: a long black wooden table dedicated to those who have missed or want to try the ‘messy’ way of indulging their seafood favourites—sprawled on the table, sauce all over the place, and set with a bib and all. Indeed, the new season is seeing some significant changes, but it’s clear that The Holy Crab has not forgotten its roots.