Dungeness Crabs Invade Chaya Venice

Chaya Venice Entrance

Never one to sit still, Chaya Venice is following-up its August Garlic Fair with a Dungeness Crab Fair. Available for two weeks only, the crab-centric menu features six new “special savory crustacean creations.” Chaya didn’t take the easy route by just throwing a crab cake on the menu or offering a whole steamed crab (although, I must admit, that a whole crab would have been hard to resist). Instead, crab is used a little more creatively – such as in a tamale or an “Asian crepe.”

Crab Asian Crepe with Thai Red Curry and Micro Cilantro

The highlight of the night was the Crab Asian Crepe ($15).  The description of a “savory blend of jalapeno, onion & crab with Thai red curry sauce & micro cilantro” reminded me of an okonomiyaki  (Japanese pancake). The crepe had a nice crispiness to its edges, and the toppings were flavorful. With a better Thai red curry sauce (my dining companion compared it to dynamite sauce), this could have gone from a good to outstanding dish.

Fingerling Potato Tower with Crab Salad and Aji Amarillo Aioli

Second place was the fingerling potato tower ($13). It did the best job of spotlighting the crab, this time in a crab salad with aji amarillo aioli sitting pretty on top of potatoes. The crab to potato ratio was a bit off, with a majority of the bites being solely the shapely and room-temperature mashed potatoes.

Crab Bisque “Hot Pot“

The crab bisque “hot pot” ($13) was visually enticing, but was on the heavy side and no single flavor had the chance to shine. It also wasn’t the easiest dish to approach – we were encouraged to pop the crab through the crust into the bisque, but the result wasn’t too pretty.

Crab Tamale with Crab Veloute, Shishito Pepper Pesto

The crab tamale with shishito pepper pesto ($12) was close to being quite good, but the tamale was just too dense and I can see the shishito pepper pesto being polarizing.

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

The meal ended with a nice take on bread pudding. I’m a sucker for croissants in all their forms – you should have seen my face when it came out still bubbling. The dulce de leche ice cream was a nice addition to this solid dessert.

I was a bit disappointed that the menu didn’t live up to previous limited engagement menus like the Japanese Beer Garden at Chaya Downtown or the Garlic Fair, but I still found a couple things I liked. Also on the menu are pinot noir braised short rib with crab & asparagus risotto ($28) as well as yukon potato gnocchi over sauteed spinach with pumpkin coconut milk lemongrass sauce crab and buffalo ricotta ($23). We had hoped to try the gnocchi since we were both burnt out on the short ribs, but had to cancel the order because we underestimated the heaviness of the other dishes.

The Crab Fest is available through Sunday, November 6, 2011. If you wait until Tuesday, you can enjoy bottles of wine for half off.

CHAYA VENICE
110 Navy St.
Venice, CA 90291

Note: The meal was hosted