Listen up – London’s latest foodie obsession is here – expect to see a whole lotta crustacean clogging up your Instagram feed!
If you think any old crab is fancy, think again. At Fancy Crab the star ingredient is none other than the Red King Crab. So, what makes this crab so special? Fancy Crab only source wild crabs – never farmed – and it’s caught just once a year so as to preserve the stocks of these gorgeous creatures. If you haven’t tried this species before, let us tell you – it’s bloody good. Really sweet, juicy and tender, it’s a bit like lobster, but we’d go so far as to say, maybe even better? It’s also pretty versatile as the menu at this new, fun all-day restaurant shows.
Located rather conveniently on Wigmore Street, we settled into our green velvet booth after a successful shopping spree on nearby Oxford Street. From here we had a great view of the kitchen where the HUGE crabs are chilling out on ice. We certainly wouldn’t want to encounter one of these bad boys down a dark alleyway (apparently their claws can break a human’s leg!!)
We started with a rather delicious (and very reasonably priced!) glass of Prosecco whilst we checked out the menu, but there’s also plenty of cocktails on offer.
As you might expect, pretty much EVERYTHING on the menu features crab. So that decision is made for you, but there’s a hell of a lotta ways you can eat it.
Our waiter presented us with half of the crab (which he struggled to hold, these guys are BIG!), and took us through the various ‘cuts’ in a similar way you would with beef steaks. Really helpful, as we reckon most people wouldn’t be able to point out the ‘rose’ ‘merus’ or ‘carpus’ if their life depended on it.
If you’re feeling flash you can order the whole shebang for the table but we really loved the ‘rose’ which was served on ice alongside a trio of dips – squid ink, mango and chipotle mayo – and fiery pickled ginger. They also offer the crab grilled over charcoal which worked well with the long Merus legs, served with butter. It’s these simple dishes that were our favourites as they really showcased the delicious crab meat to it’s full potential.
Aside from the straight up crustacean, we warmed up with a shot of King Crab Bisque Soup, nicely seasoned with chunks of meat at the bottom of the cup. Guacamole is prepared at the table with a generous portion of crab meat added at the end which we snacked on throughout the night. King Crab Claws were dipped in a tempura batter but we didn’t find these quite as meaty as we’d have liked.
More substantial mains include a Fancy Crab burger but we opted for the Singapore Chili Crab which arrives with a pot of red chilli for you to add to taste – be brave, add the lot.
You’d think this is where the crab would end right? Wrong! We weren’t sure what to expect from the ‘King Crab Cheesecake’ but rest assured it’s actually a jammy deconstructed cheesecake (without the typical biscuit base) made to look like a crab leg. A bit of a gimmick but hell, why not. The chocolate fondant was pure indulgence.
Don’t rush off before you’ve tried some of the dessert cocktails – the toffee espresso martini is the perfect nightcap.
