Popping eyes, moving legs and claws ... the giant crab is welcoming you to the restaurant.
The sensational giant 'moving crab' sign appeared on the busy Dotonbori street of Osaka, Japan in 1962. It has since become an icon of the city, and the restaurant, 'Kani Doraku', has become one of the most popular crab speciality restaurants in Japan.
For most Japanese crab lovers, crabs are considered a winter food, and are cooked in a hot pot style dish such as 'shabu shabu'. But the summer crab cuisine is also something you shouldn't miss.
The crab course menu is a bit pricey, ranging from 3,500 yen to 10,000 yen at the restaurant. Here is the 4,300 yen course meal - you can't go wrong with this!
It starts with an entree - boiled crab meats with some appetisers. The little Japanese plates are pieces of art.
The crab 'sashimi' (raw crab meat) is unusual, but so delicious as it melts in your mouth. 'Chawanmushi', on the right in the above picture, is a unique egg custard dish with crab (mind you it is not sweet). The crab shells on the left shine beautifully.
The baked crabs smell like seashore BBQ. Sweet and delicious.
The crab tempura ... crispy, crunchy, and again, sweet.
The crab 'kamameshi', a Japanese traditional way of cooking rice in an iron pot, follows near the end of the course. The contrast of the colours between the black iron pot and red crab shell is beautiful. Subtle but awesome.
The clear soup with crabmeat stock is served at the end of the main course. It smoothes out your tummy.
The Japanese traditional course meal often ends with fresh fruits. It was a plate with pineapples and dark cherries. The calculated combination is perfect as an after-crab desert.
The restaurant also offers a special crab bento box (boxed lunch) for children.
It is not a simple 'kids lunch box' but it is a full of the world of crabs.
Before leaving, the cashier at the restaurant gave us a crab 'origami'.
How can people make the complicated origami art with one piece of paper?
Why don't you try the 'crab' cuisine as well as crab 'origami'?!
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