Crab indulgence at the Kani Doraku Kyoto Honten

24 November 2016

Coming from a land famous for the Chilli Crab, we loved eating the mud crabs at home. After a day of exploring the sights around Arashiyama and Sagano, we decided to treat ourselves to a feast of Japan’s best crabs at the Kani Doraku. Kani Doraku is known for its huge range of delicious crab dishes and the restaurants were found in several locations around Japan. Its main store is located in Osaka’s Dotonburi Street and there is branch of this restaurant in Kyoto that we spotted along the Teramachi Dori, near Sanjo-dori. The restaurant is easily identified by its iconic giant crab figurine with moving claws and legs hanging on top of the entrance.

We went to the Kyoto branch without any reservations although it is recommended to make advance reservation since this restaurant is very popular. Fortunately, we did not have to wait too long before we were ushered to our table. We have to remove our shoes at the reception cum lobby and followed the usher to our table. The tables were set low on the floor, Japanese style sunken seating, with space beneath the tables for our legs so we were actually comfortably seated.

Crab kaiseki (Multicourse meal) dinner at the Kani Doraku for 7344 Yen per person. This was one of the more basic and cheaper sets.

There were ala-carte menu as well as their signature dish Kani suki (Crab hot pot) course and crab kaiseki (Multicourse meal) dinner. Since this was our first time in a Kani Doraku restaurant, we ordered the above set dinner that allowed us to sample a larger variety of crab dishes in this famous restaurant. Crab indulgence indeed but how often do we had a chance to eat these back home?

First course of appetisers - Assorted crabs in basket

Crab Sashimi. This was the first time I had eaten raw crab.  I still prefer my crab to be cooked.

Grilled king crab claw. This was much better tasting than the raw crab for sure. Sweet and moist and the smell of grilled crab meat cannot be beat.

The next dish was special and I had not tasted something like this before – roasted crab innards with crab meat. The innards were the creamy brown stuff, found under the shell of a cooked crab. Back home, this stuff is normally discarded as the focus was to eat the sweet white crab meat.  This dish came with the extracted crab innards served on a inverted crab shell. The innards, mixed with cooked crab meat,  would be roasted in this shell on top of a small table-top stove. 

Creamy crab innards on a crab shell and a table top stove to cook the dish.

Crab meat that was to be mixed with the innards and cooked slowly over a small fire. We needed to add the crab meat into the innards once we see bubbles forming in the innards.

Stir with wooden spoon to mix and cook evenly.  The innards may get bitter if over-cooked, so we removed the shell from the stove once crab meat is evenly mixed in the bubbling innards.

Ready to eat.

The crab innards dish is one of the most delicious crab dish I have eaten. The combination of sweetness from the crab meat, saltiness from the creamy innards and the fragrance from the roasting is …..super super yummy. I will order this dish again if I ever visit a Kani Doraku restaurant again.

Crab tempura (Deep fried crab)

Crab sushi served with soup, green tea and dipping sauce of soya with wasabi.

Last dish – dessert of orange, pineapple and persimmon.

Although it was pricey, dinner at Kani Doraku was enjoyable and excellent. Good ambience and service and a wide range of crab dishes.

Would I visit again? Yes! If I visit Japan again.