Fancy crab? Then consider clawing your way over to Marylebone for king crab and more seafood dishes.
Fancy Crab is the name of a Wigmore Street restaurant where the main ingredient to making diners happy is serving them a variety of dishes prepared with sustainably sourced red king crab augmented by an assortment of mostly seafood side acts. There are some beef, chicken and veggie dishes on the menu. But if you’re not all about the crab and seafood, there’s no reason to visit.
I’m fine with being all about the crab and seafood. In fact was almost giddy with excitement about the prospect of eating lots and lots of crabmeat. I screwed up though. I would have loved to have had a whole crab for myself. But I didn’t see it listed on the menu. It’s only now looking on the website that I can see the restaurant does offer a whole crab option as well as portions of legs and claws. Oh well.
Part of missing that key menu feature was probably my own fault. I guess I didn’t read the menu thoroughly enough. That said, I think whole crab could have been more clearly and prominently placed. Also, when asking the server what he would recommend he mentioned a number of menu items but not the whole crab. Why wouldn’t you steer customers toward your namesake dish (not to mention a pricier one as well)?
So I went with some king crab bonbons with tomato marmalade (£12), lobster claw with house sauce (one for £8/two for £15) and a king crab burger (with avocado, house sauce and all the trimmings and a side of fries, £23). I swapped out standard fries for truffled fries (usually priced at £6.50). Everything was delicious and filling, but I really wished I’d been aware about the availability of whole crab.
Aside from the sad mishap of not realising all that was on offer to eat, I very much enjoyed my experience. Service was polite and prompt. I really liked the cushy booth seating and spacious floorpan.
I’m happy recommend Fancy Crab with a crabveat emptor: crawl your eyes across the menu with vigilance and ask specifically about what’s fresh available.
Fancy Crab is located at 92 Wigmore Street, W1U 3RD. Find out more at fancycrab.co.uk.
