Mr. Crab (the new seafood joint in Barsha)

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Wee Scotch, Li’L Ginger and my sister at Mr. Crab

Yay it’s the weekend! I hope everyone has been having a great one so far.

I’m continuing to work through my blogging slump and writer’s block by typing my thoughts as they come, getting used to tapping away at my keyboard.  I bought a new keyboard this summer and it’s so shiny and new and the soft sounds of the keyboard being tapped on makes me want to not stop moving my fingers – ha!

So this September, Wee Scotch started attending a new school.  Although Scotch and I were extremely happy with Wee Scotch’s previous school, I wanted him to go to a school in our new neighborhood (we moved last December) instead of taking a school bus all the way to the other side of town.

When I first told him that he was switching schools, he didn’t take it so well and shouted at me, “I AM NEVER LEAVING UAS!”  But when I showed him his new school and all the things he could do there (like Lego club, soccer, swimming) he warmed up to the idea immediately.  Seriously.  It really didn’t take much effort on my part to get him excited about changing schools.  I hope it’s always going to be this easy…

The only thing he seemed to be sad about was not taking the school bus anymore.  Go figure.

Anyway, he’s doing really well at the new school.  He’s excited to go to class each morning, no tantrums when I pick him up in the afternoons, and he’s learning so many things and seems to be making new friends quite easily.  I really hope he continues to be enthusiastic and positive about it all.

So for the past few months since we moved house, this new yet-to-open restaurant called Mr. Crab was sending me subliminal seafood messages every single day as I passed it on the way home to our new villa in Barsha.  Finally, one day last month as I was heading home from picking Wee Scotch up at his new school, I realized that it was open.

My sister B was in town that week so we took the kids to check out the seafood joint.

For starters, we ordered chicken spring rolls (always a hit with my kids) and seafood soup (decent tasting).  We were also given a small bucket of shrimp chips (kids loved this).  I also ordered the raspberry iced tea which can be sweetened to your liking and refillable.

For mains, we ordered shrimp and lobster.  Each came with one free side dish and we opted for corn and French fries.  Now why does corn at a restaurant always come tasting like it’s been boiled to death or defrosted?  It just reminds me of school cafeteria corn.  Why can’t it be fresh?

The shrimps tasted very fresh and I think we may have chosen a sweet chilli sauce to go with it.  We had to peel them ourselves and were provided with plastic gloves which I actually used for once and I did like that they kept my hands and nails nice and clean but they also made my hands feel sweaty.

I did notice the menu didn’t list the shrimp as “prawns” which is quite common here in Dubai for whatever reason.


The lobster (Omani?) was disappointing as it was quite insubstantial but that’s how I always feel about Omani lobster as compared to Atlantic or Spiny lobster which are bigger with more meat and tamale(!).  For this, we chose a black pepper sauce which congealed after sitting out for a while but tasted fine.

I liked the look and feel of the restaurant but it was a little sedate. Maybe they forgot to turn the music on.  We went at lunchtime so lots of natural lighting.  The kids were happy eating with their hands and playing with the shell crackers.  We were the only table in the joint so enjoyed the personal service.


The AFTERMATH:


The menu:


And the bill:

I kept asking myself if the food is value for money and I honestly don’t know what’s value for money anymore around here.  Or bill came to 143 dhs for 2 adults and 2 kids.  I probably could have had a ton more lobster because there wasn’t much meat in them but at US$20 each I think I’ll pass and I probably could have had 2 more orders of shrimp to feel full but that’s just me.

I don’t know if I would go back because as there wasn’t anything so amazing to draw me back.  Although if they had all-you-could-eat night or something to that affect, I might reconsider.

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Mr. Crab: Ground floor of the Deyaar Building, Al Barsha 1 next to Mall of the Emirates. Paid street parking. Telephone: 800 672722.  Website | Facebook

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