Crustacean Restaurant Beverly Hills, CA - Brunch, Lunch & Fine Dining — Restaurant in Beverly Hills

Wife and I finally decided to try this place for dinner, on 08/05/22, out of curiosity from the reviews. We spent the night in the area at the Waldorf as part of our anniversary weekend. This is a Vietnamese Fusion restaurant and their signature dishes have been said to be hyped-up versions of traditional dishes, which some Vietnamese restaurants and homemade versions can be had just the same (if not better) and much less. Their signature dish, "An's Famous Garlic Roasted Dungeness Crab," is a well-marketed example. It's delicious and tasty but nothing spectacular or outstanding to match the price. (4/5)The paired garlic noodles were simple and good, nothing wow either. (4/5) The "Little Gem Salad's" description sounded interesting, especially the hydro watercress. Hmmm? We love watercress and thought it would be the foundation of the salad but it was scantily found among the overwhelming cabbage leaves. Taste was good but the description was spectacular. (4/5) The "Line Caught Chilean Seabass" was good and tasty but also lack the wow or unique flavor factor. (4/5) Our server, excellent service, offered the evening special...simply an octopus tentacle. It sounded delicious and different when he introduced it. This dish actually stood out for both of us, the flavors and slightly grilled taste hit our taste buds with the wow factor, perhaps we were looking for uniqueness? 5/5. However, the price didn't exactly justified the taste but better than the other "large plates" we tried.

Overall, 4/5.

Side Note: They really tried to make this an upscale restaurant but appeared to make exceptions for people with deep pockets. When we made reservations through our concierge, we were informed of collared shirt, no shorts, no sandals, and no sneakers policy. I had business shorts, collared polo shirt, and business casual shoes. Restaurant said no, which we weren't disappointed cuz the place appeared to be upscale with a strict dress code. No problem. However, several minutes later, our concierge informed us that the restaurant made an exception for us. We were surprised and shocked. Upon arrival to the restaurant, the host or maître d', gazed at my shorts during check-in and as we were being escorted to our table for dinner. The ambiance was very nice and service started out really well. Upon sitting down, I noticed several tables, including a group of older Asian men, had T-shirts and sneakers! The Asian group had glaring T-shirts and white sneakers! Huh?! VIPs? Cuz the manager (or owner?) kept checking...

I think I’ve done it. After being a massive foodie for years and trying so many different restaurants all over the world, I think I’ve found my new favorite restaurant. It’s Crustacean Beverly Hills, and it is everything I want in a restaurant!!!

The atmosphere, the service, the food and the whole experience is top-notch. This place is absolutely amazing. So what did we get that was so good?!

We ordered the: An Sun Family Tree to start, which I HIGHLY recommend. It has many different appetizers that you can split between 2 people (if you’re struggling to choose because they all look good, this is the way to go) - our appetizers were the Signature Crab Puffs, Wild Mushroom Wontons, Filet Mignon Satay, a special Vietnamese meatball (which I can’t remember the name), and a special rabbit dumpling as well! Literally every single appetizer was exceptional - not a single one we didn’t like! I would order all of them again. Such a great start!

For drinks, we got the Crimson Spice and Lychee Cloud mocktails. For mocktails, they were REALLY good. I would get 10 of these drinks if I could!

For our mains, we split the An’s Famous Garlic Noodles, Crispy Orange Peel Chicken, and Kung Pao Eggplant. The garlic noodles are a must-have - our waiter Aaron said it is like their bread and butter. You NEED to get at least one order of this. The orange chicken was the best orange chicken we’ve ever had by far, and the eggplant was amazing! I don’t even like eggplant and never would normally order it but I would get this every time I come back, it was that good!

Finally, for dessert we ordered the Cherry Bomb Alaska, Vietnamese Coffee Beignets, and a Vietnamese iced coffee and hot tea. The coffee and tea were perfect, beignets rivaled the best you’d get in the heart of New Orleans, and Cherry Bomb Alaska was to die for! They use real cherries and the flavor is just amazing!

The best part about the meal was the service and the overall atmosphere. We came at 2 pm on a weekday and it was quiet - not very busy at all. The restaurant is so nicely decorated - they even have live fish swimming in the floor!! And our waiter was awesome. His name was Aaron and he was so helpful with suggesting all the best menu items - really a great guy. All in all, this was the best restaurant we have ever been to, and we will come back again and again! Crustacean is a...

Had lunch at Crustacean with some friends. They don't take reservations via Open Table so I had to call them in (if you provide an email address they will send you a confirmation).

AMBIENCE: The restaurant's dark wood interior and ceiling fans lend a colonial vibe from days past and the see-through Koi fish walkway gave it a fengshui feel.  It is, however, very cramped in certain parts of the restaurant. Luckily we went for an early lunch on a weekday so it felt laidback.

SERVICE: The waiter knew his stuff and we followed his recommendations for an appetizer and dessert. As for the entree, there was no question that I was going to order the Roasted Crab and Garlic Noodles.

FOOD:  I'm allergic to MSG so I called the restaurant in advance to see if they use it like most Asian restaurants.  I had to make a few calls because the only way I could find out was to call when the Secret Kitchen cooking staff were in.  To my surprise, they don't use MSG at all!  The trade off is, however, some dishes were a bit too sweet such as the GARLIC ASPARAGUS (seasonal item that the waiter recommended) and the GARLIC NOODLES.  The seasoning on the famed ROASTED GARLIC CRAB was savory and provided a nice counterpoint to the sweet crab meat. Thanks to a tip from a blogger, I decided to pay an extra $5 to have the crab shelled in advance -- sometimes I'm a really clumsy eater and didn't want to risk having a crab leg fly onto my friends' laps.  

I really enjoyed the meal, but if I were to go back, I would accompany my meal with either a dry white wine or Chinese tea to counterbalance the sweetness of most of the dishes.

PARKING:  Very difficult.  There's a 2 hour free parking lot nearby, but it's always full during peak times -- day or evening.  I ended up parking a block away at the metered parking garage at Camden near Santa Monica Blvd.

Very Americanized cuisine. For those looking for authentic or cutting edge food, this would probably rate less stars than what...