CRAB HOT LAU

2141 Kingsway, Vancouver

Tel: (604) 423-3633

Web:

Instagram @crabhotlau.vancouver

Advice: Reservations suggested for larger groups, closed Tuesday’s.

Specializing in Northern Vietnamese cuisine, Cherry the owner and chef had immigrated to Canada 8 years ago, as a business woman, she decided to open the restaurant which she did a year ago to serve the dishes of her home region of Hai Phong. Most of the time you can find her in the kitchen prepping and cooking and occasionally such as when I visited she was covering for the front of house staff that were off, taking care of customers. Over a couple of visits I have tasted my way through many of their dishes, learning about some ingredients I hadn’t known until discovering them in these dishes.

It is best to order by the numbers so do note the numbers along with these dishes to make for a smooth order during your visit. The #A6- Nem cua biển HP is an outstanding dish and one of their signatures; Square crab spring rolls mixed with crab meat, ground pork, shrimps, eggs, mushrooms, glass noodles, vegetables, served with homemade fish sauce. The #A7- Chả giò cua (Crab spring rolls) with sweet sour fish sauce homemade, is another popular and tasty appetizer.

I loved the #1B – Bánh đa cua biển BC- Crab Noodle Soup which is a well-known specialty of Hai Phong – the Northern Port City. Bánh đa đỏ” also known as Reddish-brown flat rice noodles, tasty broth made from fresh Vietnamese rice field crabs, served with meat sea crab BC, mushroom and vegetables.

The #A8- Nộm đu đủ, bò khô is a Green papaya salad with dried beef. Served with peanuts; we mixed it up and it was very tasty and not spicy. The #10 – Miến xào cua biển is a Traditional Vietnamese stir fry glass noodle dish with crab meat, mushrooms, and vegetable,; another tasty dish.

#A19- Râu mực chiên mắm was the Vietnamese fish sauce glazed squid and this was tender and flavourful with the accompanying sauce.

The Hot Pot is a great dish to share, though if you are on your own they can make the hot pot dishes for one as well. The #1 Lau Cua Dong is a house special Vietnamese rice field crab hot pot. Fresh crab broth served with “ Bánh đa đỏ “ also know as Reddish-brown flat rice noodles made from brown rice, seasonal vegetables, fish cakes, pork wrapped in piper leaf (this is a specialty ingredient that is imported from Vietnam). We both loved the tasty broth and the various ingredients making for a delicious hot pot experience.

The Watermelon Juice was refreshing and went well with the hot dishes.

For dessert we enjoyed the #S12- Chè đậu xanh trân châu dừa non a sweet mung bean soup with pearls and young coconut, served hot and it was very tasty.

This is a neighborhood gem worthy of your patronage, I can’t wait to return to discover more of their Northern Vietnamese specialty dishes.

Review by: Richard Wolak