The Fat Crab Surrey — Restaurant in London

I will say the one in Clapham on my two trips is 5*. this is a great place to eat but this is based on my trip on in June.

I visited the cheam branch for the first time in June 2023 to celebrate our first year of marriage.

we started coming to the fat crab as a celebration dinner. we normally spend 100-130 for two of us with a mighty feast normally the lobster deal for two and crabs and prawns as an extra treat.

on the cheam visit I will say the crab was stunning like butter the flavour profile and the flakey meat was sensational and exactly what you want for crab

the crown jewel though the two lobsters for 60 or 70 quid was like rubber. The lobster was tough and beyond over cooked as we're the bag of prawns.

on telling the staff member I was instantly fobbed off being told "it's on a timer so its cooked"

any foodie knows lobster and after eating and heavily loving my visits at Clapham I was expecting the best seafood.

the prawns were solid and the lobster you could hear yourself chewing like tough beef.

never before have I asked this but I did ask if it was frozen lobster to try and work out why it was so tough. the staff brought out a live lobster...

granted I would do this to prove a point as a waiter but actually as a form of respect why not just sort the bloody lobster out? take it back and cook it properly. I said it overcooked on my first bite before my wife even tried hers. easy fix! I even offered the waiter to try the lobster so they can exsperiance the texture.

I found it was rude and not needed.

it put a real bitter taste in my mouth as this was our first wedding anniversary and we only venture to the fat crab for a big celebrational meal.

I will likely try the Clapham one again but the staff, food was no where near what I expect following my visits to Clapham.

I will say fries, crab lovely really enjoyed them and was the only reason I didn't walk out angry.

genrally the lobster is fantastic and the seafood is top notch here from my past exsperiance.

but even after complaining to be ignored when eating the more exspensive items on the menu was infuriating. Instead of sorting the issues the staff sat at the till on there phones.

my treat/ celebration meals might just go to miller and carter now.

such a shame as my wife loves seafood but this trip ruined our big meal out and our big milestone.

I have been really busy or I would of complained sooner but I'm not expecting anything from this I'm just hoping they take this on board.

but please do try the Clapham one I will be ignoring this one for...

STOP WAIT PAUSE HOLDON, WAIT A MINUTE!!! These five stars are because I believe in second chances. However, this review has been written days after my visit because of how enraged I was after my visit. My girlfriend summed the visit up best “if this was a first date, delete my number”. So I’m going to rate individual issues out of 0/10 and then provide a description.

Customer service- -1/10 The greeting was none existent. Waitress was not trained at all, we asked minimal information which she didn’t know. Utensils/condiments were not provided until way too late 😂 I’m laughing but if you’ve ever eaten crab on a hungry stomach with no napkins, it gets messy really quick. Food- 6/10 We ordered a wide range of items from the menu. The prawns were lovely. The fried oysters were nice. The quality of the lobster ruined the meal, tasted like some Iceland frozen lobster 🤣 I’m laughing still because for the price It’s crazy. Alcohol- 0/10 Why? Please why don’t you serve a wider selection of alcohol? It’s just a waste. Presentation(food)- 0/10 None absolutely none. This trip was crazy. The food comes in a bag. A literal bag. The bags you carry goldfish home with 🤣 #truestory. And we wanted separate extras and all the extras were stuffed in one lobster bag, which is a challenge when you don’t have a bowl 😂 . They are also were cheap on the tissue, it’s a nightmare.

Value for money- 3/10 So a meal for two with no hard alcohol cost £93. I left a tip because the waitress can’t be blamed for her role in all of this. You are sitting on a GOLD MINE,don’t screw it up. I traveled almost an hour to be disappointed.

Beautiful location but just a waste. I’ll be back or maybe try...

Overall Comments A very messy but incredibly tasty experience! Not for the faint hearted if you like eating with a knife and fork as this involves a bag, hammer and a seafood cracker! Well worth the effort for the food however as the quality of seafood is excellent.

Venue: 3.5/5  |  Service: 4/5  |  Food: 5/5  |  Location: 3.5/5  |  Cost: ££

Venue & Atmosphere: 3.5/5 Quite casual presentation, very clean (despite the mess guests can make when eating!) and a good layout on seating considering compact size of the venue. Not an enormous amount of atmosphere but quite nice for a casual eating experience.

Service: 4/5 Attentative staff, quick to help, very friendly and great recommendations and guidance.

Food & Drink: 5/5 Simply excellent! - Enormous portions and the seafood is very good quality, quick to come from order and hard to finish because of the size. All the food is exceptionally well prepared, cooked and tasting. Quite messy but we personally quite like that experience and it's very unique which is a memorable feature.

Location & Travel: 3.5/5 Easy to find location on North Cheam crossroad parade, local parking available but not always the easiest to get a space if coming at peak times. No local train station, so by foot or by car are the two access options.

Cost: £ - ££££ ££ - For the quality of seafood available here the sense of value is excellent. Very large portions and lot's of choice....