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Sunday, April 6, 2014

~ Crab In Da Bag - Uniquely messy indulgence at Big Splash ~

6th April 2014 - Crab In Da Bag is a Southern Louisiana and Asian influenced seafood that has recently anchored at Big Splash. Yesterday, we joined a group of friends to check out the unique dining concept the seafood restaurant has installed.

Set in the Blue and White nautical theme, we settled down around a big square table that managed to accommodate our big group of 12 adults and 5 children.


Browsing through the menu, we decided to go for the Caboodle Boil (Titanic Pot - $299 and Gigantic Pot - $399) plus other side dishes. Out of curiosity, I looked through the dictionary and "Caboodle" originates in US in the mid 19th century which means the whole amount.

Prelude - Set up!
Instead of the conventional table cloth, large pieces of clean mahjong-like paper teared from the gigantic roll was laid. Looking for aprons? Put on the bibs (uniquely designed by Crab in da Bag) to shield your pretty outfits. Not forgetting the scissors and tools that we will need to crack those hard shells later on.


We are READY to get MESSY!

Where is our food ??????? (Pout!) -------> Here it comes!!!!!!!!!! \(^_^)/

What's so special about dining at Crab In Da Bag? It's unique concept is getting your hands dirty! No cutlery or crockery is served. As you will be stuffing food into your mouth with your bare hands, make sure your hands are clean before you dine!

Ewwww.. sounds a bit unglam? It won't be if you are dining with a group of buddies where lots of FUN factor is injected. Children LOVES this concept just as well as they can temporary forget their table manners and indulge in their food without getting scoldings from parents. Children LOVES to get messy and eat with their hands! 

As the name of the restaurant suggests, food (crabs, shellfish, noodles, rice etc) will be cooked and served in transparent bags mixed with different sauces. Serving staff brings the bag to our table, tied and toss it before helping us to open it.

To ensure the children also gets to enjoy the meal, we ordered 2 Kiddie's Bag and it is interesting to see how the staff tied and ballooned the bag before inverting the bag and opened it for our kiddos to eat. This is just like how I will eat my Bak Chor Mee in the plastic bag when I packet it from the stall. The only difference is I have my cutlery. Since this is for the kiddos, plastic forks were served.

Kiddie's Bag (SGD 13) - Linguine tossed in tomato-based sauce with sausages and corn on the cob. Comes with 1 bottle of Minute Maid Pulpy and 1 serving of Jelly.  

We also ordered a couple of side dishes including CiDB Wings, Captain's Fish Fillets and Crispy Chewy Baby Squids.  

Whenever the bell rings and someone shouts "AHOY!", that means a Caboodle boil is ready! A serving staff carried a large metal bucket filled with seafood to our table. Everyone is excited to see what's in the bucket! We were warned to clear our drinks from the table to avoid spillage. Everyone stood up, standby our cameras and kept the "coast" clear!


Within seconds,the metal bucket of lobsters, king crab legs, Sri Lankan crabs, yabbies, cray fish, squids, prawns, clams, sausages, potatoes, corn on the cob and lemons were tossed out on the table. Served with 3 different types of exotic dips (Malaysian Sambal Dip, Thai Green Bird Dip and Louisiana Garlic Butter Dip). Since I am not a fan of spice, the Garlic Butter Dip suits me best. However, I find all the 3 dips too oily for my liking. It feels like I am dipping food into oil and eating it.
 

Give the lemons a good squeeze, sprinkle the juice on the pile of seafood and it's time to dig in! If you do not mind to share food, the communal dining concept adopted here will be uniquely fun. Aim for that crab leg or sausages and grab it with your bare hands.

(Picture taken before I start my meal)

Here's some tips and considerations when you are dining at Crab In Da Bag: 
1) Make reservations especially if you have a big group.
2) Wear casual clothing that you don't mind getting dirty.
3) Be ready to share the costs. :)
4) Wash your hands before the meal.
5) Ensure you have taken enough photos and keep it in your bag. (BEWARE: Your hands will get dirty)
6) Most importantly, have FUN, enjoy the FOOD and COMPANY without the distractions from games and media tools.

Since your hands will be tied-up and dirty; busy cracking that hard shell or peeling the tiger prawns, we were really focused on our food and communicating with our friends. Even Hubby has to stop his game for awhile. It was an engaging dinner session as we shared the delicacies and teased each other how messy or clean our sides were.

The total 'damage' at the end of our dinner came near to SGD 1k! (The Titanic Pot and Gigantic Pot costs more than SGD 700 plus.) Considering that we had a big group of 17 (with 5 children), each adult paid ~SGD 80. Is it worth it? It seems a little pricey but considering the amount of seafood that we had, the unique experience and company makes up for the costs.

If you are considering an exotic and fun group dining, Crab In Da Bag might be your next destination.

CRAB IN DA BAG
Address: Block D, #01-25, 902 East Coast Parkway - Big Splash, Singapore 449874
Telephone: +65 6440 0083
Operating Hours: Tuesday - Sunday (4pm to 11pm) - Closed on Mondays
Website: http://crabindabag.com/


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