The newly opened Crab Factory at Taj Samudra offers a variety of exotic crab preparations for you to pick from. For crab lovers, here’s the place to indulge in a scrumptious spread. The place is a cosy little area with an ambience that would suit any occasion. Be it a romantic dinner for two or even for a family dinner it would be ideal. 

Amuse-bouche 

The amuse-bouche - a bite-sized hors d'œuvre, we had was Crab Cutlet and a Grilled Prawn. (An amuse-bouche is not ordered by the guest but served gratis according to the chef's selection alone.) This I would say is a super idea as the little dish is just enough to tease your tastebuds and increases your hunger. It leaves you eagerly waiting for what is to arrive. 

Starters 

The starter we had on the recommendation of the chef was the Crab Galouti Kebab (Rs. 1830). This was a dish comprising four crab meat patties sautéed in butter with green chillie, onions and Indian herbs and came with a salad of onion, carrot and coriander leaves. It had a very masala type of flavour and if you like Indian cuisine then you would really enjoy this. The portion itself was fairly large and filling. I would think the quantity is more than enough even for a light meal. 

How to order 

When selecting your main, first you’ve got to pick what type of crab you want. You could pick the sea crab or mud crab and the price depends on the weight. ½ kilo would come to 2600. There’s also the lagoon crab which comes in portions of small, medium and jumbo and the price varies accordingly. The next step is to pick your preference in the preparation of the crab. You choice could be Sri Lankan style crab curry, Sri Lankan black pepper crab curry, butter garlic chillie crab, crab omelette, tandoori crab, crab masala or Kerala crab. 

It’s all about crabs 

We tried out the Tandoori Crab - an Indian preparation and the Black Pepper Crab which was a Sri Lankan preparation. The Tandoori preparation as the name suggests was a dish well marinated with Indian spices and it was delicious. 

The Black Pepper Crab we tried out next was even more tasty with a very Sri Lankan twist and I could say that I liked it a tad bit more because it was slightly more juicy compared to the Tandoori Crab. 

Thankfully the crabs were really fresh. That I would say is the most important feature to look out for when indulging in crabs. All these preparation are accompanied with Thati roast paan, kiri hodi and pol sambol. They had gotten the pol sambol just right with a generous amount of lime and not dry at all, just the way I like it. 

Thati roast paan has become a hit in Colombo since of late and everyone seems to love it. But if you are not too keen on the roast paan you can order an Indian bread basket, Sri Lanka fried rice, string hoppers, steamed rice or garlic roast paan. This is not included with the crab dish but can be ordered separately. It definitely was an enjoyable meal. 

There are also other dishes you could pick from - masala crab omelette, crab meat, egg and paneer burger, Indian baked crab, Sri Lankan baked crab and many preparations of lobster that you could try out as your main meal. 

Service 

The service of the team at Crab Factory was indeed commendable. 

Address: 25, Galle Face Centre Road, Colombo 3 
Telephone: (011) 2 446 622 
Email: [email protected] 
Website: www.tajdining.com/index.php/home/promotionDetails/376 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TajSamudraColombo 

PHOTOGRAPHS by Waruna Wanniarachchi