The Crab
The Crab things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
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We visited this place to celebrate a birthday. I'd asked if they could do anything special like gather to sing happy birthday. It was refused. Then there is a sign that says 30 min wait for food. We waited 30 mins for a drink, another 30 mins for appetisers and another for the mains. OK, we were warned... kind of. It would have been fine except the first couple came in 10 minutes after us and got their food and drinks within 15 minutes. The second group came in before our appetisers were served and were eating their mains before us. Then a third table was seated and had their full meal before our mains...well two of our mains. There were 3 of us, and my main came about 5 minutes later. We were going to let that slide... all of it... because we were there to celebrate. The final thing that made this meal worse than disappointing was our collieflower cheese was very undercooked, the parsnips were hard and stringy, and my meal, when it arrived, had a nice lively black bug crawling through it. Was all of this on purpose because we weren't locals? Who knows, but when I showed them the bug, I was offered a free drink. Then they still charged us over £100 for the bill. No compensation what so ever, except to remove my main dish off of the bill. Dirty, dirty, nasty.... even the toilet near the front door had a smell to it. Spare yourself the agro if you are not from here. Stay away! Even the parking area adds more to your price to park if you don't use a card or cash. If you use the pay by phone app, you have an extra fee added. No warning was given for that either. It's just an all-around bad place to visit. If I could score this place a zero, I would. I am trying to hold my tongue and not lash out more. So I will stop here.
joh L. R.joh L. R.
00
We come to the isle of wight twice a year and always have a meal in the crab at least twice on our holiday but after tonight we would think twice about returning. Booked a table for 6.30 were seated and drinks and food orders taken drinks arrived but 1hour and 15 minutes passed before our starters arrived. During this time we heard other tables complaining about the time they had waited to be told the kitchen was running an hour behind but we had not been told this when we arrived. When our starters came my partner had ordered soup and was presented with a bowl which was only a quarter full I had ordered salt and pepper squid .the squid was lovely but it was basically squid in batter no salt and pepper flavour at all .when I told the waitress this she said she would speak to the kitchen but we got no feedback from her or the kitchen. Main courses arrived chicken escalope for my partner which he said was lovely lamb shank for me which was not so good needed at least another half hour to an hour cooking to make it tender. We then decided to order desserts from the menu only to be told that one of the desserts was sold out. By this time it was 8.45 so we decided not to bother with desserts paid our bill and left.
William TobinWilliam Tobin
00
I'm a member of a walking group called the walkie talkie,s We decided to hop over to the isle of wight on Tuesday .. our final destination was shanklin and I phoned ahead and asked if the crab could accommodate 10 of us for lunch and was told it wouldn't be a problem and they looked forward to seeing us :) The table for 10 was all laid out and we had a lovely warm welcome. We were asked about drinks and then after about 10 mins we were asked for our food orders . Considering it was quite short notice and there were 10 of us we didn't wait very long before our food was served and wow .. everything was beautifully cooked .and served on hot plates . We had a brilliant time at the crab and it really added to a fantastic day on the island I can't express enough our thanks to all the staff at the Crab in shanklin . If your visiting the island you must consider eating at the crab inn. If you are a large group I recommend you phone ahead or book in advance thou :)
andrew averyandrew avery
20
Myself and 2 friends had dinner here tonight. My friend received his meal quickly but it went downhill from there. My meal came 15 minutes later and our other friend never received hers. When she went to ask where her food was, the waitress came out to say the kitchen would "make it now". So they hadn't even STARTED cooking her meal? We pointed out the above issues to another waitress and explained that we had come out to have a meal together and had eaten totally separately. The waitresses response was "we have a small kitchen and limited staff tonight so we are all doing our best". Okay, that's fine. However, the orders were placed within 30 seconds of each other and your staffing issues are absolutely not the customer's problem. No effort to resolve our complaint was offered. The food was lovely but the service was lacklustre.
Louise FaintLouise Faint
00
Whilst recently visiting family we discovered the Crab. We decided to eat at lunch time. Out of all the pubs or cafes we ate at this has to be one of the best on the entire island. Considering we had two adults and three very hungry children our entire meal and drinks was just a little over £60 and the children had desert as well. The food was amazing see images. We can highly recommend the burgers, kids meals and the king prawn and risotto. The service was a little slow however the entire island is on a different time line. The way of life down here is much slower compared if you lived in a big city on the main land. We enjoyed our drinks looking at the building which boasts a thatched roof and lovely little village whilst we waited. This is a highly recommended place to visit for lunch.
Richard CRichard C
10
In 2 words, major disapointment ! The layout and look of the dining is very nice, the staff welcome and bar staff very friendly ! However, the food, we were offered a table straight away. We didnt order any starters, straight into the mains, steak meal and hunters chicken. But even though they were not busy at all, both were served cold ! and my steak, ordered as medium well, was most certainly not, see pics. My daughters hunters chicken was so cold the cheese was like a layer of cold plastic on the top. Both the chips and onion rings were also cold ! very disapointed ! even the plates were cold ? ! Very small amount of chips on my plate too. Not nice, not edible, really disapointed ! bar staff and waiters very friendly but the food was terrible.
Anthony PowerAnthony Power
90
Nearby Attractions Of The Crab
Shanklin Beach
Shanklin Chine
Pirates Cove & Jurassic Bay Adventure Golf
Pirates Cove & Jurassic Bay Adventure Golf
Rylstone Gardens

Shanklin Beach
4.5
(2.9K)Click for details

Shanklin Chine
4.3
(2.7K)Click for details

Pirates Cove & Jurassic Bay Adventure Golf
4.5
(564)Click for details

Pirates Cove & Jurassic Bay Adventure Golf
4.5
(552)Click for details
Nearby Restaurants Of The Crab
The Steamer Inn
The Waterfront Inn
Fisherman’s Cottage, Shanklin
Vernon Cottage
Old Thatch Teashop
The House of Spice
The Happy Haddock
The Village Inn
Pencil Cottage
Pendletons

The Steamer Inn
4.4
(1.2K)Click for details

The Waterfront Inn
4.2
(673)Click for details

Fisherman’s Cottage, Shanklin
4.3
(602)Click for details

Vernon Cottage
4.6
(468)$$
Click for details
Basic Info
Address
94 High St, Shanklin PO37 6NS, United Kingdom
Map
Phone
+44 1983 862363
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Website
greeneking.co.uk
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Reviews
Overview
4
(1.1K reviews)
Ratings & Description
Description
A Greene King establishment with modern touches under a thatched roof, pub food and outside tables.
attractions: Shanklin Beach, Shanklin Chine, Pirates Cove & Jurassic Bay Adventure Golf, Pirates Cove & Jurassic Bay Adventure Golf, Rylstone Gardens, restaurants: The Steamer Inn, The Waterfront Inn, Fisherman’s Cottage, Shanklin, Vernon Cottage, Old Thatch Teashop, The House of Spice, The Happy Haddock, The Village Inn, Pencil Cottage, Pendletons
