Located at: Taj Samudra, 25 Galle Road, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka

Visited on: 02nd December, 2023

Revamped and reopened after a few dormant years, Crab Factory is hidden away inside Taj’s Indian restaurant, Navratna. Of course, it goes without saying that the mainstay and highlight of the restaurant’s menu is crab.

Diners are welcomed with a Sri Lankan-style fish cutlet that comes hot and crispy. It was delicious – a little on the spicy side, but not too much so – and was accompanied by a bit of fresh, grated carrot and beetroot topped with a sweet dressing, and a touch of sweet chilli sauce. A nice touch with which to begin the evening, I thought.

While the two mocktails that we ordered looked uncannily similar, they did, in fact, taste different. On the left on the image below is Tea Trailer (LKR 1,750), a concoction of chilled orange pekoe tea, fresh apple juice, dashes of lemon and Angostura bitters, topped with ginger ale. It tasted just as described, with the brewed liquor of the tea and the freshness of the fruit juices coming through, as well as a bit of pulp from the apple. On the right is Taj Beauty (LKR 1,750). This tasted a bit like a milder, fruitier version of the former, with its fresh strawberry, apple juice (they kindly substituted the apple cordial with fresh juice, as requested), lime juice and ginger ale. Quite refreshing.

Crab Factory offers a Mulligatawny Soup (LKR 1,800) on its menu, with the options of crab, chicken or vegetable. We went with crab. Two portions are plenty to be shared among three. The soup was wonderful with an earthy, comforting warmth, and a subtle but mouth-watering flavour that leaves you wanting more. The crab meat wasn’t a lot, but created a nice blend of textures with the soup.

Crab Meat and Cheese-stuffed Bacon Roll (LKR 2,800), from the appetisers, roused our curiosity. It came in the form of six bite-sized portions of bacon, cheese and crab meat, done two ways. Both forms were equally delightful, but my tastebuds were slightly biased towards the ‘deconstructed’ form, so to say, with its creamy cheese and crab meat core coated in chopped bacon bits. Melt-in-the-mouth sort of goodness.

From the selection of crab types, we went with the Mud Crab (LKR 13,000) which, being ‘regular’ in size, seemed like a good option and a change from lagoon crab which we usually have at home. Word of advice – lagoon crab is probably the best option to pick as the crabs are supposedly brought into the kitchen alive. On the contrary, the mud crabs are brought in frozen, and, of course, sea crabs have lesser meat in comparison to both of the above. While mud crabs do have a fair bit of meat, the freezing process makes the meat a bit dry, with the ideal softness and sweetness of fresh crab meat noticeably missing. A heads-up at the time of placing the order would have been useful and would have rerouted us to the lagoon crab. But, ah well.

However, the preparation of the crab – we went with Singapore Chilli – was, quite literally, finger-licking good. The dish tasted as vibrant as it looked, with the sauce being a perfect balance between sweetness and chilli (we requested for mild chilli). The egg-drop in the sauce gave it that extra bit of texture and character that made it utterly enjoyable. It was so good. Other preparation options included black pepper coconut, Sri Lankan curry with moringa leaves, butter garlic, chilli garlic, Kerala curry, Chettinad curry and tandoori.

The crab came with roast paan, coconut sambol and kiri hodi (coconut milk curry). The kiri hodi tasted good and the sambol was nice too, albeit a little on the spicy side. That roast paan, though, was the star of the sides – warm, crisp to the touch on the outside, and pillowy soft on the inside. It was so light, one could easily lose track of how many pieces they consumed. The taste and texture were spot-on – comforting and truly enjoyable, but not overpowering the crab either. Perfectly done, and perfect to spoon the crab dish’s sauce up with.

Finally, dessert. We were hoping to try their Rose Petal Ice Cream, but it was not available. So, they offered us a Pistachio Kulfi (LKR 1,800) instead. The kulfi was pretty nice, with a strong nutty flavour coming through, and there was a fair bit of chopped pistachio sprinkled on top as well.

The Passionfruit and Kithul Cheesecake with Tender Coconut Payasam (LKR 1,800) sounded enticing. I was initially a bit confused as to why payasam was included with the cheesecake, sort of making it two desserts in one. However, it definitely made sense when I tasted them both together! The payasam by itself was a nice, simple version with a good viscosity that was neither runny, nor too thick. It wasn’t excessively sweet either, and was a palate-pleasing combination of textures with the vermicelli. The cheesecake was lightly fruity, a touch dense, and had a scrumptious base. The kithul treacle definitely elevated the cheesecake. But, the harmonious combination of the payasam and the cheesecake together was something I did not see coming. Two seemingly contrasting desserts, so in sync together. Kudos to whoever came up with this one!

Our overall experience at Crab Factory was definitely delicious, memorable and good value for money.

Yummy rating: 4.5 / 5.0