My wife and I were a little apprehensive about trying this restaurant, as there were no reviews on…read moreYelp, and those on Google were less-than-enthusiastic, although looking more in depth, it seems that the negative reviews were all several years old, and things seemingly had improved significantly in recent years. And while there are no shortage of seafood restaurants serving fresh crab on the Steveston waterfront, we wanted to give The Crab King a fair shake.
I'm so glad that we did!
My wife ordered a King Crab for herself which, after tearing it literally limb-from-limb, eventually declared it to be tied for her favorite boiled crab dish anywhere! High praise coming from such a consummate crustacean connoisseur! For myself and our son, an order of fish and chips, and the grilled chicken sandwich rounded out our order, both of which were crispy, tasty and delicious.
Regarding the fish and chips, they appeared to be tempura-battered, and I'm still not 100% sure what type of fish it was. It may have been cod, but it seemed more like catfish, but either way, it was tender, juicy, flaky and delicious. No complaints here!
More than anything, though, the employees here went out of their way to make our experience enjoyable. Our toddler son, who is normally extremely well-behaved in restaurants, was having a bit of a fuss here and there. Without prompting, the servers brought us a little radio to play music for him, as well as a couple of toys to play with, one of them being a wind-up truck that they gave to him to take home! He loved it there, and still plays with it at home! They even played peek-a-boo with him from behind the counter, soliciting laughs and giggles, for the better part of 15 minutes! That sort of customer service is nearly impossible to find, and should be praised and cherished wherever it is found!
Whatever the past may have held for this restaurant, the Crab King is an entirely new animal now, serving up fresh seafood by uncommonly wonderful employees, in a fantastic floating location. They even offer to cook spot prawns and other seafood purchased from the boats docked at the nearby waterfront marketplace, for a modest fee. With all these things going for it, there's no doubt who wears the crown of Crab King in Steveston Harbor!