橋底辣蟹 Under Bridge Spicy Crab - Wan Chai, Hong Kong

It is nice to have a friend in foreign land, in Hong Kong, even though Hong Kong has not been entirely foreign to us. HY and I had followed a strict annual pilgrimage to this gastronomic and shopping haven, since 1998. Even so, the locals still beat us at sleuthing for the best food places. After all, they eat and breathe the air here everyday. It's always good to have this 'local' guide without having to fuss over where's the good food. Trust the 'picky foodie' Singaporean who live in Hong Kong. Ade's friend, SE, is a Singaporean living in Hong Kong. I don't mean that SE is a picky foodie. I was just generalising the typical Singaporean as being one that's acute at the taste buds, whether consciously or subconsciously, and with varying extent of acuteness of course.

SE led us to an "Anthony Boudain was here" restaurant, 橋底辣蟹 Under Bridge Spicy Crab.

As the name suggest, this seafood specialist has been in business for 20 years under a bridge (a vehicle bridge). Over the years, the seafood specialist flourished from a road side stall to a restaurant, still near the bridge, and with several branches around the Wan Chai district.

We had several dishes but the "名不虛傳" (directly translated as : a name that is indeed credible) dish is the Spicy Crab with Chilli and Garlic. When the plate of crabs was dished out, there was the obvious fragrance of the fried garlic. The crabs were buried under the generous heap of fried chilli and garlic bits.

Ade who claimed that she had a sore throat still went ahead to scoop several little spoonfuls of the fried chilli and garlic and pop right into her mouth. Great stuff! We decided to order a bowl of white rice to go with these fabulous bits of chilli and garlic. Even without the crab, the fried chilli and garlic went well with just white rice.

This was the crab claw that I had 'dug' out of the heap and devoured!

Having watch Anthony Boudain's No Reservations, if he bothered to pose a photo with a 'thumbs up', it's an indication that 橋底辣蟹 Under Bridge Spicy Crab Restaurant is definitely worth the visit.

Even though the address indicates that the address of the main branch is in Wan Chai district, the nearest MTR train station is the Causeway Bay station.

Main Branch:
414~424 Jaffe Road
Chinaweal Centre
Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Tel : 852 2893 1289
Under Bridge Spicy Crab Website