the UK based Restaurant and Hotel Review

Crustacean
Michael Hepworth discovers a secret kitchen in Beverly Hills

The buzz at Crustacean Euro/Asian restaurant in Beverly Hills is hard to deny with or without Warren Beatty or the legions of stars that frequent this trendy eatery on a regular basis. The cooking is Vietnamese style with the influence of the French colonial occupation, and owner/chef Helene An has her daughters working with her to create a restaurant that has become wildly successful, beyond her dreams. The 200 seater restaurant is a great people watching place for those for whom people watching is the biz.

Things are oing so well that another version has rolled out at the Aladdin at Las Vegas last November. One almost expected Catherine Deneuve to stroll in across the floor, which looks down onto an exotic under floor koi pond. It is covered by an inch thick slab of glass and the 29 koi fish that are swimming inside seem as happy as the diners who flock to this architectural delight which I am told is dedicated to the art of feng shui. The interior is stunning, with many features including a bamboo garden right in the middle of the main dining room. Crustacean is the highest profile restaurant in a mini-trend of similar style eateries such as Indo-Chine, Le Colonial and Jozu that are pushing this style of cuisine.

It is important to know a bit about the history of Helene who grew up in North Vietnam before fleeing to the south in 1955. The youngest of 17 children of the provincial governor and a royal family member, Helene married in 1965 to a pilot in the Vietnamese Air Force. Shortly after the fall of Saigon she ended up at her mother-in–law’s restaurant in San Francisco called Thanh Long, which is still open and is run by her eldest daughter. Working long hours as well as bringing up her five daughters, Helene opened up her first Crustacean in San Francisco in 1991. Her philosophy is quite simple. She says, “When I welcome guests to Crustacean, I am welcoming you to our home. And entertaining can be casual or formal, depending on my guests and what I know they would like. I offer this same philosophy at Crustacean."

Some critics have called Crustacean over-expensive and stingy on the portions especially in the early days, but when word got out that it was one of the places to be seen in, things picked up quickly. Beatty and his wife Annette Bening along with Kevin Costner almost always go for the Dungeness Crab, which gets the royal treatment in the kitchen together with the highly rated garlic noodles. Will Smith and his wife favor the giant tiger prawns, Mel Gibson and James Coburn adore the Chilean sea bass and Jeff and Beau Bridges love the grilled calamari and crispy rice paper rolls stuffed with chicken, black mushrooms and vermicelli. I remember my first experience with Vietnamese food was in Paris in the sixties when small out of the way places were all the rage. I also remember the food being extremely hot and spicy, but Crustacean seems to be of the much milder kind, and proabably nowhere near as authentic. Naturally I had to follow the selections of Mr. Beatty and went for the crab and the garlic noodles preceded by a selection of appetizers. These consisted of coconut prawn tempura, steamed chicken dumplings, seared salmon in a filo wrapper and marinated beef satay. Interesting enough without being outstanding - maybe next time I should try the Vietnamese pho noodle soup or the warm seabass salad. The roasted crab recipe is one of four recipes unique to the An family and is a closely guarded secret, and is actually prepared in a secret kitchen within the main kitchen itself. The garlic noodles, a lobster dish and the royal tiger prawns are the others, so since I have no idea how they were prepared, I can only comment on the overall taste which really was sublime.

The crab recipe in particular has been in the family for generations and the mystique that has built up over this dish is the cornerstone for Crustacean’s success. They get through up to 1,000 crabs a day, but now a concerted effort is being made to push some of the many items on the menu such as warm chicken salad or the wok egg noodles with Asian vegetables. Taking a leaf out of Spanish restaurants, they also serve a lunch of unique Asian tapas in the $7.95 to $14.95 price range. One example would be the rice paper encasing poached shrimp, rice noodles, green mango and a herb with a spicy peanut sauce. All these tapas dishes have also been selected as wine pairings at $4 a glass. There are 189 selections on the wine list with the best sellers being the Sanford Chardonnay Santa Barbara County 1996($35) and the Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Pierre Leon 1995 at $46

Crustacean is a very interesting concept with quite a lot of innovative things going on, and should definitely be considered as a must on your next visit to Beverly Hills.

FACT SHEET - June 2001

Crustacean, 9646 Little Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, California.

Tel 310-205-8990
Lunch:Monday-Friday 11:30am to 2:30 pm
Dinner:Monday,Tuesday,Thursday 5:30pm to 10:30pm
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 5:30pm to 11:30pm
Open for lunch

Valet Parking-$3.50
Dress-Smart casual
Reservations-essential
Dinner for two with wine $125

Please send your comments to us at: Dine-Online
NB Dine Online is an independent review magazine. We have no business connections with any of the restaurants and hotels we write about. We do not make bookings or reservations for you!

Back to Dine Online Home Page

Views or opinions expressed by authors are not necessarily those of the publishers, Clifton Media Associates. While every care is taken in compiling this publication, the publishers cannot assume responsibility for any effects arising therefrom.