[Zomato Foodie Meetup] Cranky Crab

Hi Eaters.

As you might know, Kelapa Gading is a place I'm familiar about. In this region, there are like hundreds of restaurants and places to eat. Some new restaurants started to emerge in this region and surely bring delightment for me who constantly wander this area on weekends.
One of such restaurant is the newly-open Cranky Crab which is located in the same building as the Samudra Rasa Seafood restaurant. Apparently both of them are under the same management. But to differ them, Cranky Crab segmented mostly on young people, while Samudra Rasa aimed more to families.

I came here being invited by Zomato for my 3rd Foodie Meetup. I'm always eager and can't hardly wait for every Zomato's invitation to a meetup. I find the event to be most interesting, since I can meet other Zomato foodies and also foodbloggers who happened to be a Zomato foodie also. Meeting people with the same passion and the same interest can never be boring.

Cranky Crab itself, as I mentioned earlier, since it aimed on younger consumer, well..the place is quite hip. The interior is nice, and modern. There is also a bar inside where you can hangout with friends and get some beer.
That day I got the chance also to meet the chef, who briefly shared us some tips on how to choose a good and fresh crab to eat.

Well, to be frankly I have my own favourite spot for seafood, especially crab. But the looks of Cranky Crab got me very curious of their flavors. So let's see what I tasted that day.

Fishnet Fries - Rp. 19.900

I always loved fries, and this one was bloody good. Seriously. It's finger licking good! It was served along with calamaris, and also it was drenched with garlic sauce. It's really delicious. I am so loving the sauce. The fries itself were seasoned nicely. This is one appetizer I would order so many times.

Popcorn Chicken - Rp. 30.000

The popcorn chicken was also good. The chicken itself was crunchy, savory and absolutely delicious. The portion was quite generous too. 

Calamary - Rp. 55.000

Although it wasn't served with garlic sauce like the ones at the fishnet fries, but undoubtly these fries were killers. It's light-battered, and the batter is very delicious. It's savory and a bit salty. The squid was perfectly cooked too. Delish!

Mantau - Rp. 15.000

There were 2 kinds of mantau served that day, the steamed and the fried mantau. I didn't get the chance to try the fried ones (sigh) but the steamed ones were very nice. Soft, light and came out a bit sweet but not too dominantly. And you can also dip these mantaus with any other sauces in the dish you ordered. They will taste good!

Our Famous Kudu-kudu Fish (Popcorn Bites) - Rp. 18.900/ounce

Kudu-kudu fish is well known for its hard outer skin, but inside it has a soft juicy meat. And at Cranky Crab, they processed the meat and turn it to popcorn bites. Covered with light, crispy and savory batter, the meat was tasty. A really must-try dish if you come to Cranky Crab.

Soft Shell Crab with Cranky Dips - Rp. 58.000

This is one dish I failed to try. While I was taking pictures of other dishes, it had run out. But I have to think it's that damn good since this was the first dish ran out from the table.

Red Fried Rice

If you take first glance on the look of this dish, you might have guess that it's super spicy. But surprisingly it's not. More savory and delicious too. Couldn't really tell how they succededly got that beautiful reddish color. But you should try it, and maybe you can ask for yourself.


Gyutan Don with Egg - Rp. 78.000

If you're a fan of beef tongue, then this dish will pamper your taste buds. The beef tongue was grilled to perfection. It's still juicy and the texture was very nice. By the way, there are 2 variants for this dish. You can opt for another choice without egg for only Rp. 68.000.

Mix Bag 1 (with crayfish) - Rp. 110.000

The Mix Bag is like a platter of Cranky's favourite seafood. There are crayfish, prawn, clams, mussels, potatoes, and corns. Then they were all drenched with Cranky's Asian Addict sauce which tasted quite garlicky but at the same time very delicious. I love the seafood used in this dish, they were all fresh and not smelly. Very delicious indeed!

Medium Crab (Blackpepper Sauce) - Rp. 220.000 

This medium crab weighs 6 ounces. If you feel the need to have bigger crab, you can order the large one that weighs 8 ounces for Rp. 330.000.
There are 5 kinds of sauces to choose for the crab. This one used blackpepper sauce. I rarely opt for blackpepper in any kind of crab-serving restaurant since mostly the flavors that came out were only spicy. But this one, hands down, it's super delicious. Yes, it's spicy but at the same time it was also veru savory and tasty. The crab meat was juicy too and fresh. Loving it. This menu is shareable for two.

Medium Crab (Lemon Pepper Junkie Sauce) - Rp. 220.000 

This sauce since it implemented lemon then it had that bit of sour aftertaste. But yet it was also quite savory and had a nice saltiness level. The garlic also possesed some quite strong fragrant here too.

Medium Crab (Angsio Sauce) - Rp. 220.000

I tried another sauce for the crab. This one used Cranky's Angsio Sauce.
Well, this one tasted a bit garlicky and had a light punch of spiciness coming from the blackpepper. It's also delicious, especially combined with that fresh crab. Recommended!

Cranky's Flying Beer - Rp. 39.500/glass

These drinks are quite unique. It's a mix between beer and fruit juice. The green one is called Green Fairy, the red one is Tropic Thunder, and the white is Citrus Mojito. The flavors were quite exquisite too and I have to say quite refreshing. Seafood and beer are just like best buddies right?

Other Beverages

Still if you're not a fan of beer, you can opt for Cranky's line of juices, or even their choices of tea.

Overall conclusion, this is a very nice place to get a good round of seafood dishes.
Settling amongst the crowded culinary area of Kelapa Gading, especially since there are quite a lot of seafood restaurants here, Cranky Crab has managed to stand more distinctively amongst the rest. This is maybe the first seafood-on-the-table restaurant in Kelapa Gading, so the sensation that Cranky offers still hasn't meet its match in this particular area.
For a seafood restaurant, I think the price tags are pretty fair considering the flavors. You'll get a good deal on the food based on what you paid for.
So if you're currently living near or at Kelapa Gading, if you're a seafood fan and thinking of having another way to eat your seafood then you should really come here.

Keep on chewing!


Jazzy Dee
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Cranky Crab
Jl. Boulevard Raya QF 1 No. 1
Phone: (021) 45843837
Kelapa Gading, Jakarta Utara