I toiled for ages with this place, should I go or not? I must admit I was running out of ideas for Beverly Hills. I had a gut feeling it might have been a mistake, but I had an idea in my head of what it could be like. At this point in my trip, I am getting restless with the cookery overall apart from a couple of places where we have had excellent food. This is where I start to miss Europe, and the quality offered back at home. I finally decided, screw it I will take a chance and go, with this feeling in my gut still dominating… I am not going to talk about the legacy of this place and the hype, I am here to talk strictly about the food always.
What was piquing my curiosity on the menu was their ‘secret kitchen’ Which is either utter drivel or something brilliant entirely. When you come to Crustacean it makes sense for the first time to choose something from this section. Only the AN family members cook in this kitchen; nobody can see into it or out. The food also comes in and out through a separate sliding door. The recipes are close guarded secrets…
I knew that I was walking into a celebrity hot spot, the atmosphere was ok on arrival but sitting at a table far away from the main dining area right next to a meeting that was going on, was loud and disrupting. They didn’t do much to improve the situation and I noticed somebody else get up to complain. At least have a separate area and cordon it off… We could hear the whole meeting like we were sat in it.
At an eye watering price of $59 I took the colossal tiger prawns with garlic noodles, blistered tomatoes, AN’s secret sauce. (From the secret kitchen) The sauce and noodles had lots of flavour, I must admit it was tasty but not exactly world changing. It made me think back to the noodle chef at Kazan, it was no way up to the standard there. The portion was large and ended up being quite heavy. There were only a couple of prawns with the focus on the noodles and the sauce.
Well at least I can say I have visited, and there you have it, always listen to your gut! I do not think it is worth the price and will remind myself not to visit celebrity hangouts again.
