Peppercrab

There's a new seafood joint in town, a place of inspired piscine creation where you can soothe your meat-weary soul 4 Reviews

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There's a new seafood joint in town, a place of inspired piscine creation where you can soothe your meat-weary soul. It’s name is Peppercrab, and it offers not only fantastic, innovative food, but also a charming setting both inside and out. The menu’s an exhilirating read and main courses of crab, lobster and fish are plucked directly from the tank.

On our visit we kicked off with spring rolls, fried scallops and oyster omelette. The rolls were light and crispy in the Indonesian style and the scallops were equally good – plump delicate rounds served with tender asparagus spears. Purists say that oysters should only be eaten live, on the shell. This is, of course, pure poppycock. Cooked oysters are a pleasure and rarely more so than in this light, fluffy omelette, stuffed to the gills with the little beauties.

We went large on the mains. A kilo and a half of mud crab, a whole hammour, some amazing crab fried rice and noodles all found their way to the table. Crab is a tricky customer but the good folk at Peppercrab do most of the hard work for you, splitting the shell and tearing the legs from the body. You do however get to enjoy the satisfying experience of getting your hands messy digging out the soft white meat from the legs. Extremely primitive and lots of fun.

The whole hammour (sans head for decency’s sake) came cooked to perfection with delightful spices that complimented rather than overpowering the delicate fishy flavours. The noodles and rice were equally good, leaving us sated, soporific and extremely crab-happy. Either sitting out on the terrace (wait until October for that treat) or eating inside the wonderfully decorated restaurant, Peppercrab is a masterpiece of a place.

By Rob Orchard

• Previous reviews
  • 21 March,2012- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
  • 24 March,2011- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
  • 29 July,2010- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff
  • 05 April,2010- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
  • 30 March,2009- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
  • 31 March,2008- reviewed by Becky Lucas
  • 26 March,2008- reviewed by Jeremy Lawrence
  • 12 March,2007- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff
  • 03 January,2007- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff
  • 30 April,2006- reviewed by Time Out Dubai
  • 01 October,2004- reviewed by Matthew Lee
  • 01 January,2004- reviewed by Rob Orchard

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Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.

User reviews:

Posted by: Duncan on 16 Jun ' 11 at 19:09

OverallDecorService

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• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

Just returned from having dinner at Peppercrab- wallet AED1500 lighter after a meal for two.
I disagree with the comments on the ambience, the decor and vast empty spaces made us feel that we were sitting in a hotel lobby>
We had Peking duck and Calamari for starters- the Peking duck was good, but the Calamari was disappointing. We felt a bit full after the starters and we were concerned that we wouldn't have room for the crab we had ordered. We needn't have worried, although the sauce was very nice and the crab tasty, there was very little crab meat on a specimen which cost us AED980!
The service was fine, the waitress wrote the cost of the crab on a piece of paper to confirm we had understood how much it would be- obviously customers have found it difficult to equate the cost per 100 grams with the size of crab they would have to order.
We were in and out within just over an hour, it wasn't nearly nice enough for the money we paid and I could think of many superior restaurants where we could have had a much more enjoyable experience for less than half the price. We would not go back

Posted by: Lloyd Akash on 03 Jun ' 11 at 13:08

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• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

As the previous reviewer states, it is expensive - however the quality of the food is outstanding.

Had a range of starters including the Singaporean style oysters, soft-shell crab and calamari. Cooked to perfection. The signature peppercrab was prepared, cooked and presented beyond expectation.

My colleague and I, ratherly stupidly, opted to sit outside on the terrace (evening temperature in early June is close to 44 C). Our server went of his way to ensure the bottled beers were kept in a huge ice bucket and continually presented us with cold face flannels.

I have eaten at Peppercrab and number of times, and always suprised it isn't busier. The terrace sits right next to the lagoon with pretty views.

All in all, Peppercrab continues to impress.

Posted by: kumer on 08 Feb ' 11 at 21:18

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• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

OK. Yes, it is really expensive and it was really worth it. We had pre-dinner drinks with a colleague who was in town for a very short time. The ambiance of the Hyatt is great for anyone who has been to Dubai and hasn't been to the Hyatt.

We wanted seafood and this experience was very different.

Firstly we asked for a table far away from everyone as we tend to be fairly loud. The Maitre'd was concerned that the noise from the kitchen might upset us. We didn't mind and it was really considerate of the maitre'd to clarify this with us before seating our group.

We then went on to order several beers and then some sake. The Satay was fantastic (We had the assortment). The scallops were average, and we also ordered some noodles. With that we couldn't resist getting the fabled peppercrab. I lived in the Chesapeake bay for some time and consider myself to be a bit of a crab snob, but let me tell you, i was not let down what so ever!

They brought plenty of freshly baked cut bread to dip in the savory sauce and the crab meat although extremely messy was superb. After all it's a crab, what do you expect?

We had a great time, and then went upstairs for a nightcap and Sheesha. My friend gladly paid the bill and consequently made it a great experience for all.

So if you know that crabs don't provide a lot of meat, but can savor the flavor; and are not afraid to spend a little money for the unusual then go for it.

It is well worth sharing the crab, just to get a taste. Order some sides and starters to complete the meal-- That's what we did and we had a great time.

Posted by: Taimoor on 15 Jul ' 10 at 09:33

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• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

This was the absolute worst crab restaurant/restaurant that I have ever been to!

not only was the crab outrageously overpriced (JUST the crab will set you back 1000 dirhams!!) but the starters were horrendous.

I generally consider myself to be an easygoing customer but we ordered 3 starters and they were all TERRIBLE!! so much so that I sent them back had a long chat with the manager about how bad they were.

To his credit he took them off the bill, but this was just the start.

When our crab arrived it was huge! but there wouldn't be enough meat in there to feed a small child! (did i mention it was 1000 dirhams?!) an absolute rip-off. One would pay the same (and more) at the nobus/zumas/okkus of this world, but at least there you will feel like youve had something to eat.

Directly after this dinner we all proceeded to the nearest mcdonalds and for 1% (literally) of the cost we had 10,000 times the satisfaction.

STAY AWAY!