Crab House Café — Restaurant in England

A bit unprepossessing approaching the restaurant initially, once inside this place is a little gem. They provide a mindbogglingly wide choice of delicious fish and shellfish dishes beautifully cooked and presented.l highly recommend the scallops and the Monkfish stroganoff. Side dishes conplimented the food well.. samphire was popular. Options of chicken or steak dishes were available for those who dislike seafood. Only one person of a large group was a slightly disappointed, saying that the octopus carrapacio starter dish (upgraded to a mains dish) was somewhat overwhelmed by the bulk of the potato salad element and the raw chopped red onion flavour &it needed a bit more octopus to balance those. Extremely helpful staff catered for this large party on a hot & busy day with several people requiring extreme caution with food allergies (incl shellfish,poultry & chocolate) or Coeliac Disease who need totally gluten free food and avoidance of cross contamination). We sat outside, a much larger dining area than inside, on the wooden benches looking out across the sea inlet to Portland's huge pebbled strand under the Marquee shade on a beautifully sunny day. Garden armchairs were provided for several elderly or frail persons. Other bench tables beyond have palm umbrellas for shade. Children were welcome. Pricing was as expected for quality seafood dishes...not cheap but fair value. They kindly accommodated our privately bought birthday cake and table decorations, bringing the cake to the table sliced and with lit candles at the end of the meal. Toilets were clean. There's a good sized car park out front but you may have to park further down the cul de sac lane leading to the restaurant...

I visited the Crab House Café with my family and friends this Thursday (1 Jun 2023). Unfortunately, my experience was far from satisfactory. In fact, if I had the option, I would rate it a minus 5 stars.

The first major issue I encountered was with the kid's dish: fish & chips. It was shockingly salty, making it completely unsuitable for children. I was appalled by the excessive saltiness, as it not only ruined the taste but also posed health concerns. Children's meals should prioritize flavor and nutrition, and it was disappointing to see such negligence in this regard.

Another significant drawback of my visit was the lack of service. To my surprise, there was no attentive staff to cater to our needs throughout the entire meal. Instead, the only interaction we had was when we received the bill and were asked, "How is the food today?" This minimal level of service is unacceptable, especially considering the fact that they charged a 10% service charge. I couldn't comprehend how they justified the extra fee when they failed to provide any meaningful service.

Overall, my experience at the Crab House Café was highly disappointing. The excessively salty fish & chips for children and the absence of table service made it clear that customer satisfaction was not a priority for this establishment. I cannot recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for an enjoyable...

Exceptional, brilliant, wonderful. Full of superlatives for this place! The entrance is a bit strange and feels like you're driving into a warehouse but once you're there it is nice. Just bordering Chesil beach, the decor is welcoming enough. We ordered the scallops as all the other reviews raved on about it, but to be honest I've had better scallops elsewhere. They're not bad but not amazing. Quite small for "king sized" scallops. Not sure it's value for money. Probably should have gone for the mussels. For the mains we had Chinese "spicy" crab. More sweet than spicy and the sweetness did get too much later on through the course, next time I'd go for the standard crab to crack. But wow! The crab! Good solid size and boy did it taste good. Perfectly cooked. I could have that crab all day! Desserts were not bad, the apple pie was good, the affogato could have had a bit more substantial but it was ok. All in all a good place, highly recommended! And a big shout out to Dan, who was very friendly and...