Cathy’s Place — Restaurant in Larrakeyah

This place is an experience more than just a dinner. Sorry about the long review but there is a lot to say!

Firstly, I’m not sure whether they serve much other than crab as the hostess basically just offered us mudcrab. Now this is not a complaint as it was bloody fantastic. I had the Singapore Chilli Crab (drool) and my wife the Salt n Pepper Crab (also drool). We selected the crabs ourselves which left us feeling a little like Homer eating Pinchy but the sadness of eating the crab I interacted with was fast replaced by the joy of tasting its tender, sweet flesh.

Service here is the experience. The hostess is a friendly woman with a very assertive, direct approach to communication. It’s a bit comical and mostly helpful. My crab bit her, made her angry so she quickly went and killed it in front of us. I felt like I was in a movie watching all this happen. She otherwise provided exceptional service!

The restaurant is very basic. It’s on a deck over the marina with a really nice view. Their decor looks like it was put together by someone very high on acid but is complemented well by funky soul music to which you enjoy your dinner. I have included a pic of a painting which should give you an idea.

Drinks are super cheap also and there is a fair selection of beers. I don’t drink much wine so couldn’t comment.

I gave it 4 stars as the place is a actually pretty basic and with two mud crabs you end up paying around $200 for dinner ($89/kg for crab). Objectively one would expect more for that kind of money. Having said that I would not miss this place if visiting Darwin, definitely my favourite...

Avoid if you’re bringing your kids, not a family friendly dining venue. I am giving a 5 star for the food because we ended up leaving the place and just to be fair to the restaurant. However with a $148 per kg price tag for the crabs and $49 for pasta/fried rice etc. we are expecting to receive some decent quality customer service rather than 1. not been directed to our seats and asked us to sit anywhere then moved us to a different table when we were settled with the bub. This can be avoided at the beginning by telling us they actually allocated a table (not be saying anywhere then changed their mind without any explanation but said this is not our table?!) 2. The high chairs are nothing close to Australian standards - with large holes and no safety belts at all so be careful if you’re bringing your little ones with you. And they are not close to a reasonable clean status at all. They are usually not that clean but the high chairs were not been maintained at all and are in a non-reasonable condition…3. We haven’t been given a menu or even a glass of water for almost 20 mins and were directed to pick up the menu ourselves. This is Ok except you would have expected some service with the $148 per kg price. 4. We left at the end due to the reasons above but the food could be very good based on other reviews so if you have time and budget to spend, you may still like to dine in. That being said, the $55 per person buffet restaurant near by is much better if you want to have a proper dinner with the bub. Great atmosphere and views. Staff are...

Cathy's place is absolutely outstanding in terms of both cuisine and customer service. A very special experience. The water views are stunning. Cathy is famous as the best crab cook in Darwin, and I would argue in the world. She is famous for her Singaporean chilli crab, and the lady having it at the next table raved about how delicious it was. There is a wide range of sauces. I selected the garlic sauce because I don't like much chilli so Cathy suggested it. It was so divine. It was a 2 kilo crab and came out redly spectacular, cracked up at the table by Cathy herself. It came with Cathy's fried bread rolls, crispy outside, soft inside. I gazed across the water at multimillion dollar mansions as I savoured the delicate white flesh laced with a sublime garlic symphony. No pieces of garlic are visible. The sauce was highly finessed. The minute I walked in Cathy made me feel like an old friend. She showed me a little birds nest in her tropical plants with live young. She is very friendly and made me feel as though I'd known her forever. Such a warm welcome is very rare. Combined with the most sublime crab in a stunning setting, I felt renewed. I floated out of the restaurant on a little cloud of happiness and watched the sun set on the beach behind knowing it was a memorable experience in my...