Wu Kong Shanghai Restaurant

Alpha House Basement, 27-33 Nathan Road, Kowloon 
tel 2366 7244

13/F Food Forum Times Square, 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay
tel 2506 1018

During hairy crab season (November - December), we went to the Nathan Road (Tsim Sha Tsui) location.  What an experience!

It's best to pre-order, if you prefer female crabs (these are the ones with the roe).  We did, but I think in retrospect I prefer the male crabs.  The roe is a bit hard and nutty once it is cooked.  Where the roe is good is when they put it in xia long bao (the dim sum dumplings with soup inside).  Then, it turns a great dumpling into a little bit of heaven.

First, they bring the crabs out for you to view (it was a bit like seeing Chinese Circus crabs)...

Then they take them away and steam them.  When they bring them back to the table, they cut them up for you and then you dig in, using all sorts of strange-looking implements to dig the meat out of the shell.  I tried eating it two ways - the first is to eat each piece of meat as you extract it.  Yum.  The second is to extract a whole bunch of meat, put a little of the sauce on it and then pop the whole thing into your mouth.  Also yum.  It is definitely a personal preference as to how you eat it, but it is definitely an experience worth trying.  Just don't expect to do it elegantly.

Rating:  3