Let’s Get Crabbing
Crab Bar’s bubbly Indonesian celebrity chef-owner Ragil Imam Wibowo obviously knows the ropes in the kitchen. Serving up a seafood-centric menu consisting of boiled, fried or smoked Papuan mud crabs, US Dungeness crabs, king crab legs, oysters, prawns, clams and yabbies, his trade secret lies in his six signature sauces: CB’s Bali, Bangka Curry, Chilli (available in three different levels of spiciness), Teriyaki Black Pepper, Garlic Butter and Smoke Cajun Butter.
Rigged with ocean-themed interiors and paraphernalia, Crab Bar’s relaxed, airy space, feels like a breezy sailors’ hangout and a cosy port for sun-kissed travellers. Landlubbers will find their sea legs and feel right at home at the plastic-lined communal table, thanks to the cheerful service and plenty of lemonades and sangrias. The restaurant’s favourite CB’s Hot Bag (mud crab, prawns, yabbies/clams, sausage and corn) is perfect for sharing over briny tales and cold beer on a hot, lazy Bali day. Opt for tongue-taming fresh coconut water if you are spice sensitive.
Feeling crabby? Table manners are thrown overboard here, along with the plates and utensils. Dining etiquette is limited to discarding your marine remnants into a tin bin on the table. Once the bag of sea goodies is poured over the banana leaf runner, it’s every man—and his bib—for himself. Who needs a therapist when you have a mallet and a crab cracker? Whacking, picking, sucking and licking are encouraged, if not required. Get down and dirty, you will be rewarded for breaking and entering.
Go ahead. Lick the hot sauce off the table. You know you want to.
