Fresh, yummy and lovingly prepared meaty crab for the best rates in town? Yes please!! Our crab loving selves were pretty excited when we stumbled upon The Ceylon Crab on Facebook recently. A short Facebook exchange later, we had still hot crab and prawn dishes in clay pots delivered to our doorstep! 

The Ceylon Crab is the brainchild of Christine Stephens, who initially started off as an exporter of seafood to Singapore and Hong Kong back in 2008, before she eventually ventured on the path of instead delivering her freshly cooked dishes to seafood fans in Sri Lanka. “I always made curries and seafood with export excesses and distributed among friends and family. I stopped exports completely in 2012 Dec and was thinking of what I should do next. It was then that my son and his friends suggested I start making Crab and seafood dishes on a commercial scale. Most of them had my dishes for parties etc so they were convinced it would be a success” Christine explained. “In addition to the crabs I also do prawns, fish and lobster.” 

At the Ceylon Crab they have 3 sizes that comprise Medium, Large and XL that are priced at an unbeatable Rs. 2500/-, 3000/- and 3500/- per kilo! And if that isn't a steal, we don't know what is! We tried their black pepper crab curry, crab curry with drumstick leaves, baked crab, and a tiger prawn curry which came accompaniments of garlic and herb rice & salad (for the baked crab), roast paan and pol sambol (for the three curries). 

The first thing we noticed was that the seafood was unbelievably fresh and the crab full of meat! This freshness is owed largely to the fact that the crab had only been harvested just the previous day. We were also surprised to hear that Christine was actually a self-taught cook; the seafood was perfectly prepared. The two crab curries - black pepper crab curry and the crab curry with drumstick leaves (Rs. 2500/- each) - from which the fresh taste of the crab and the spices combined resulted in flavourful dishes. The thick gravy worked well with the roast paan and pol sambol. 

The baked crab (Rs. 650), which we thought was reasonably priced compared to what's available in restaurants, came with the garlic and herb rice and salad was one of our favourites hands down! The shell was packed to the brim with well flavoured crab meat and topped with cheese. 

We also tried the tiger prawn curry (Rs. 3500/-) which was another favourite. It was bursting with flavour and like the crab curries, paired with the roast paan will no doubt be a crowd favourite. 

Christine also makes a host of other seafood dishes like Butter Crab, Chili garlic Crab and Singapore Chilli Crab. 

She also does meals on request such as classical Sri Lankan meals with the Crab curry, rice, pol sambol, kiri kos and dhal, as well as the Far Eastern menu which will have either black pepper or Singapore chili, egg/leek rice, devilled mushrooms, kang kung and mixed veggies. Orders for office events for 20 plus pax are also undertaken. 

She plans on introducing a whole range of crab dishes from crab rice, crab meat balls in ginger and garlic sauce, crab claws in ginger sauce, crab claws in hot garlic sauce, and tandoori crab to the list of curries. 

Next month she will be doing lobsters grilled and baked. 

Check out The Ceylon Crab on www.facebook.com/lagooncrabs/ or call (011) 7 323 231 or 0719290326 for more information. Christine suggests placing your weekend orders early to avoid disappointment.