The Crab Shack Thao Dien — Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City

this came highly recommended on tiktok when searching up food to eat in saigon! i was absolutely dying to eat the milk crabs and rice, and it did not disappoint! the prices however, were pretty pricey but i would say almost worth it. just be prepared to break your wallet here.

i got the squid in thai sauce, combo 1 seafood boil (shrimp, crawfish, potato, corn, and sausage), and their signature seafood fried rice, ramen stir fried in garlic butter, and 2 milk crabs. the squid in thai sauce were a perfect appetizer, and favors were on point. the seafood boil sauce was so good, i should have done a higher spice level however! the stir fried ramen was okay at best, lacks a lot of flavor but is pretty good if you mix it with the seafood boil sauce! however, it was given to us for free if we wrote a review! the signature crab shack seafood fried rice was pretty good as well, again lacks some flavor but if you put the seafood boil sauce in and mix, makes everything taste so much better! and the milk crabs were divine, the flavors and richness were to die for! however it is quite misleading thinking the dish size automatically came with three crabs, but it is priced by the crab at market price. which i will say is kinda pricy, but is as expected.

the portion sizes are not exactly made to do family style in a large group of people ( i had about six people in my group ). i would most definitely come back for the milk crabs and a higher spice level on the seafood boil.

i do highly recommend this place as a good seafood spot! in total we spent over 3mil ~ $160 USD, a bit pricy given the portion sizes, but...

I've been craving for crawfish all day today. I decided to give this restaurant another chance so I took my wife here on Sunday. But sadly, it was just as disappointing as my first visit when they first opened back in 2014 on Le Quy Don street. The crawfish Cajun sauce was bland and lacked everything that makes Cajun cuisine distinct. A proper Cajun boil should be bold, buttery, garlicky and full of smoky spice from paprika, cayenne and black pepper, balanced with a hint of lemon and herbs. Here, the sauce was very oily and flavorless. The sauce didn’t cling to the crawfish or shrimp and neither absorbed any seasoning. Every bite tasted plain, as if the seafood had just been boiled separately and tossed in a light sauce afterward. Salad was meh 🥱.

Service was just okay, nothing memorable, and even small details made the experience worse. They’re still using flimsy poly gloves that are loose, tear easily and make eating messy. Vinyl gloves would be a huge improvement. They’re fitted, durable and cleaner to use.

Overall, this was a 3/5 experience: disappointing food, lackluster seasoning and no improvement since opening. Cajun seafood boils are supposed to be rich, messy in a fun way and bursting with flavor. This felt flat and unseasoned and I left wishing they’d take more care with their recipes and...

If you’re looking for a fun and delicious dinner, it’s the Crab Shack. I loved the cajun seafood boil, they pour it on the table and you get to basically eat with your hands 😅 it’s so much fun!!

You get these plastic gloves (they give you as many as you like it yours got too dirty) and they show you how to crack open. I had the Combo 1, especially loved the crawfish, it was soooo tender! I choose spiciness level 2 or 3, already spicy enough for me. But if you’re with other people who like it more spicy, they can give extra spicy sauce on the side.

They also have a bunch of other things on the menu if you’re with people who don’t love seafood, like salads, pasta, steak, chicken,…

The service is great, if you need help with anything, they are available for you.

If you are easily allergic to mosquito bites, maybe ask the staff for a spray, sometimes there’s some that find...